Odd retro Mercedes dealer in South Africa... (plus others)

You do so many cool reports.

Thanks

Build quality or quality of maintenance? With stuff like those Datsun trucks you have to remember who buys them new and how they are treated. Those are the entry level workhorse. One step up from a pony and cart, and yes, those are still in use in SA a lot.

This is pickup lyfe



So folk imagine SA as a fine hunting ground for classic cars, well, maybe, but don't just think of the beautiful sunshine, friendly people and third world economy.

Many of South Africa's main cities are coastal and theres a LOT of salt in the ocean... Rust gets cars in coastal locations.

In the non coastal cities, riots and other issues are still fairly common. One of my customers lost 200 stores over one weekend due to arson. Old cars make easy snatches for burning barricades.

Then the areas outside of the main cities are rough roads and real terms poverty. You'll see cars with body damage almost as old as the car. pot holes you could go pot-holing in.

There are some sweet spots for sourcing: middle class, non-coastal areas.

I asked my car buddy to find me a Ford Falcon or Fairlane and he said "All gone man, driven to death by farmers in the 80s and 90s." Also the Aussies had a good run through SA 10-15 years ago repatriating anything even remotely Aussie Muscle like or American.

I've not seen a lot of Alfas, but I've seen a lot of "British" Fords and I've seen a lot of those land up here, and while they aren;t so rusty, they are sometimes absolute wrecks of cheap / home repairs and questionable mods using Chinese parts because Ford ones were too expensive etc. Like the Cuban American cars in a way.

Yeah, there are nice examples of anything, there are people with money and there are people who care for their old cars. And its a heaven on earth if you ignore the obvious issues.

I "always wanted" a Chrysler 383. Its basically a RHD rebadged version of the Dodge Monaco offered with one engine option (bet you can't guess) as a sedan or wagon from like 1969-1973. My brain says I'd be 100% smarter to import a Dodge Monaco from the US instead.

My dream is to road trip a car home from SA. But theres too many wars and social unrest areas to go through in Central Africa to do that safely now I think.

Same fella (I think) was bringing them in from Malta for a while....

Love that blue number in the first pic.