Inyoni Creek resident restores vintage car

A cracker of a car has been restored to its former glory by Inyoni Creek resident Mr Albert van Heerden and the owner of the old car, Mr Lawson Flint.

It took them three years to get the 1949 Morris Minor Series MM low light Tourer in top shape. Modifications and part sourcing were their biggest challenges.

Their determination paid off and the now bright-red car is once again a head turner.

Mr Flint acquired the car in 2006. Then green, the Tourer had been totally stripped.

He was having it professionally restored but in 2012, with the car only 70% complete, he accepted Mr van Heerden’s offer of taking over the job.

“When the car arrived at my son’s business it looked fantastic. On closer examination, it was discovered that a poor job had been done on the underside. After several months of toiling, it looked like the car might have to be scrapped,” said Mr van Heerden.

This was a great disappointment to Mr Flint, who had already spent a great deal of money on the project. He decided to instead find another body.

“A 1949 Morris two-door sedan body was found in Pretoria. The floor was scrap and the chassis legs were cut out but the task of putting it right commenced. Tooling was made to ensure the new floor was exactly as the factory manufactured it 60 years ago. What could not be purchased, I made,” said Mr van Heerden.

A resident of the Rand Aid Association retirement village for nine years, Mr van Heerden was a member of the Morris Minor Owners’ Club for about 18 years and spent 32 years in the earth-moving industry.