From scrap to glam

Renowned disc jockey Adrian Washika prepare his 1961 VW Karmann Ghia for the CBA Africa Concours d'Elegance which will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club and will be held at the Nairobi Racecourse on September 27th. PHOTO| DIANA NGILA

What you need to know:

  • In Sati Jabbal’s living room, the centrepiece of the room is his restored 1925 DKW, now worth about Sh1.5 million. The motorcycle has won in its category for three years in a row.
  • When Sati was given the rusty shell of a motorcycle by the former owner, a gentleman named John, the only request he was given in exchange was that he send a photo after he was done restoring it. It took over three years to get the motorcycle to award-winning shape and its current value.

When Arun Pandit was driving through Eastleigh’s Mlango Kubwa Estate in Nairobi nearly 30 years ago, a makeshift chicken coop caught his eye. It was the shell of a 1968 Jaguar S type.

He asked around for the owner of the car and where the rest of the parts were, and after a few visits, he successfully acquired the shell and the parts he could salvage for Sh10,000. It took him two years to put the car together and get it running again.

Sitting at Arun’s Auto, which he runs with his daughter Beejal, is the former chicken coop in all its glory. The body is a gleaming shade of burgundy complete with the signature Jaguar sitting on the bonnet. Its latest valuation put it at between Sh3.26 million and Sh4.89 million (£20,000 to £30,000).

This is one of the entries in the 45th edition of the annual Concours d’Elegance to be held this weekend in Nairobi.

Vintage vehicles are diamonds in the rough. It takes the eye of a collector to turn a rusty shell that would be dismantled for scrap and convert it to a multi-million shilling vehicle, or maintain a childhood car and spend enough time and money on it to increase its value and appeal.

In Sati Jabbal’s living room, the centrepiece of the room is his restored 1925 DKW, now worth about Sh1.5 million. The motorcycle has won in its category for three years in a row.

When Sati was given the rusty shell of a motorcycle by the former owner, a gentleman named John, the only request he was given in exchange was that he send a photo after he was done restoring it. It took over three years to get the motorcycle to award-winning shape and its current value.

This year, Sati is entering the 1925 DKW, a 1958 Norton and a 1981 BMW. He is also restoring the Rwanda entry which is a 2003 Yamaha.

Signs of the work put into the restoration process are all over. Next to Sati’s 1958 Norton is a book titled Tuning for Speed by P E Irving.

“We have just completed that bike. It’s the exact same model as the one on the cover,” says Sati whose passion for motorcycles spans over 35 years.

“I would see them around town as a boy and promise myself that I would get one,” he says. True to his promise, he has collected several dozen of the motorcycles from classics to new ones.

HOBBY

This hobby has seen him turn into a keen competitor in the Concours since the early days when it was held in Embakasi, alongside Arun.

But not all the motorcycles Sati restores are vintage. Next to the Norton and 1951 BMW is a newer 2003 Yamaha from Rwanda. The bike sits with parts taken off.

“We have finished with the engine and giving it a new coat of paint. The previous colour was all wrong,” says Sati. He is working with two mechanics to get his pieces ready for the show this weekend.

Arun has two other vehicles he is showcasing at the vintage car pageant. A green 1971 BMW 2000 series sits across the Jaguar in his garage and next to it, another BMW, this one a collector’s item. The 1974 BMW 2002 Turbo is valued at between Sh9.8 million and Sh10.6 million (£60,000 to £65,000) as only about 1,600 units of the Turbo were made, with very few still in running condition globally.

The first time he saw the BMW 2002 Turbo, he was mesmerised. He had been sent by a family friend to pick it from the port in Mombasa on his behalf. “I made a deal with him that when he wanted to get rid of the car, he would sell it to me,” explains Arun.

A few years later, he was the new owner of the car. “Because of the few units of this car that were made, people assume I have modified the BMW 2002, so I have to keep insisting that it is an authentic turbo,” he says.

For this particular car, he has had to deal with the official dealer in the UK to get parts. “I had an issue with the fuel injector for the car. I had to mail it to them and they sent it to the manufacturer. Once it was fixed, which costs an arm and a leg, it was brought back sealed and with instructions not to open it again,” explains Arun.

This was only done after he sent the engine chassis number so that the car could be verified as an authentic piece.

Sentimental value

The green BMW 2000 has sentimental value to the family. “It is the family bridal car. My mum got married in it and all my uncles picked up their wives for the wedding in it,” explains Beejal. Later, the car was to be used as a ‘school bus’ with Beejal’s mother using it to ferry all her children and those of her friends around. “My mum was the only lady driver,” says Beejal.

As part of the restoration process, the cars are stripped entirely from the body to the engine and even the upholstery. Each part is then examined to see what needs replacing, what needs fine tuning and what new parts need to be bought.

This hobby does not come cheap for these enthusiasts. Parts for vintage vehicles are not readily available in Kenya and even globally. In an age where carburettors are today museum artefacts, most parts for vintage vehicles can only be imported from other collectors.

For Sati and Arun, they get some of the parts online, including from popular site e-Bay and in a worst case scenario, from the manufacturers themselves or their official dealers.

Arun, who was on holiday in the UK with his wife, also brought back parts to fix his car and imports some through Impala Auto Spares.

In his experience restoring vintage vehicles, Arun has noted that over the years there are more people who are passionate about it, but not all are willing to put in the amount of money needed to take these vehicles apart and put them back together.

“There are times I have been working on a restoration for a client and halfway through, they pull out because they think it is too expensive,” he says.

A paint kit for these vintage cars costs nearly 10 times more than that on a regular new saloon. “When we were looking for paint for the car, we had to import the kit and it was like Sh200,000. I nearly pulled out my hair when I saw the price,” says Beejal.

'SOMETHING LIKE FINE WINE

The expertise is also something like fine wine, it gets better with age. With over 35 years’ experience as a mechanic for motorcycles, Sati has been restoring his bikes and for friends. Arun who worked with car dealership Ekta Kenya, now Subaru Kenya, for over 30 years has vast experience with motor vehicles.

Restorations are never complete. That is the common statement by each competitor. Every year, they take the cars apart and piece them back together with new modifications.

“Concours gives me the opportunity to maintain them every year and to better the car each time,” says Arun.

Adrian Washika, a DJ, has been working on restorations for nearly a decade. “I have learnt the correct way of prepping the body, from sanding it down to bare metal, priming and eventually painting. I have also discovered how one needs to be very patient and take their time. A good restoration cannot take less than six months. Also the right tools are essential. No one can restore a car the right way without a MIG welder (a wire welder),” he explains.

He had been looking for a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia for years. Luckily, a friend of his purchased a 1961 model of the car from a farm in Meru and Adrian bought it from him.

“I had been looking for this model for a very long time and I must say, it is one of the most beautiful cars ever designed. My friend luckily came across another one and then offered to sell me the one I am now restoring,” says Adrian.

The grand reveal for the finished product will be at the event. The rusty scrap, says Adrian, is what car fanatics call a rust bucket. It was a shell with no floor, engine, glass and suspensions, among other basics, needed to have it running.

“I love vintage cars and how they look from the chrome bumpers, to their simplicity. I also like the whole restoration process and customising the cars with my own personal touch but still preserving the character,” says Adrian.

He has other projects lined up including a 1967 Mercedes W108 series and a 1971 VW Variant Squareback.

The Concours will be held on September 27th at the Nairobi Racecourse and will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club.

This article was first published in the Business Daily.