At the start of the Eighties Alison and I would go dancing every Wednesday at Scratch, a reggae club here in Cape Town. It cost 50c to get in. Regular price on weekends was R1.50, too expensive for us penniless arts students. The police would hover outside expecting trouble. Alison and I couldn’t afford alcohol let alone anything worse, for us music was the drug.
I eventually drifted away from reggae but keep a deep affection for it. South Africa went into Covid-19 lockdown at the end of March and as an older person I was feeling apprehensive about the immediate future. I resigned myself to reigniting my car drawing habit, what with photography forays being off limits, and frustrated that level 5 lockdown prevented us from exercising outside. One morning I opened my diary and the daily quote was from my old reggae friend, Bob Marley: “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet”, and right there I thought I won’t let this situation overwhelm me, let’s see what can I learn from it.
Level 5 eventually gave way to level 4 and limited exercise was allowed. We could walk or ride bicycles within a 5 km radius of our homes between 6am and 9am.
I dusted off my mountain bike, desperate for fresh air. By this time I was working from home which meant I had to be at my laptop by 7.40am, showered and presentable from the waist up for Zoom meetings with my team. As we were going into Winter that meant a cycle ride starting at 6am in the dark. I wasn’t holding out for any photo opportunities..
Minutes into my first ride I saw this gorgeous ’71 Ford Ranchero parked at my local filling station. This is essentially a Ford Falcon XY Utility renamed for the South African market. The Falcon name had little traction here, and using the Ranchero name gave the car some American cachet I guess.
While researching info on the Ranchero I found out this particular car is for sale online on Gumtree. It’s still listed at 176 000 Rand, which converts to $10 350, which I don’t think is cheap. It’s a nice straight vehicle but the rust in the doors and fenders needs urgent attention. The ad says it’s a V8 and has air ride, whatever that is. What’s going on with that suspension?
When I was a kid growing up on the shores of False Bay, not far from here, these were popular with private deep sea fishermen who used them to tow large deep V hulled boats which could handle the rough seas off Cape Point.
On weekends I could cycle later, as long as I was home by 9am. Everybody flocked to the beachfront, desperate to get some exercise, for themselves and their cars, which need to stretch their legs too!
Revisiting the W123 Benz in the first image, they are still so plentiful nobody gives them a second glance, but this one got my attention with its wacky paint job. Regarding the back window commentary, ”Always be a pirate.” The world has quite enough pirates thanks!
Here we have a 1980 Ford 1-tonner with a 1600cc four pot engine, based on the Mk V Cortina. The Cortina bakkie was initially introduced here in 1971 and has a great reputation as a tough workhorse.
The Jaguar XJ6 series 11 Executive was assembled at the Leykor plant here in Cape Town up until 1981, two years after series 11 production had ended worldwide.
Even though I’ve known these Jags for so long seeing one in the flesh always comes as a shock. The proportions are just so unlike anything else around here, so long and low, and the green paintwork really suits it. I guess the plastic bag over the grille is to keep out the cold sea air for easier starting. I think the chrome wheel arch covers are a period accessory.
It just struck me all these are all cars from my student days. These were driving past Alison and I as we crossed town to Scratch.
I have returned to work full time now. Cape Town has just passed the infection peak. We are still at level 3 lockdown and can now exercise with fewer restrictions. I’m still figuring out how much life has changed but I’m determined to not get ‘wet’!
I really like the 1956 Plymouth Belvedere die-cast and your drawing of it. Nice work!
Thanks CJ! To me 50’s die-cast models capture the spirit of a car so well. When the engineering for opening doors and suspension came along in the 60’s a lot of the purity of line evaporated.
Hang in there friend. The whole world feels much like you do. Hopefully very soon this virus mess will be over and life can return to “normal”! Great pictures of some interesting cars!
Thanks for the support Joe, it’s easy to feel vulnerable when regular support structures look shaky.
The air suspension is why it can “lay frame” and with the touch of a button raise up for driving. So I’d say considering the work required to make that happen means it is worth the asking price, if that work was done well anyway.
Thanks for clearing that up S, I was really puzzled!!
It seems weird to me that they’d go to all the trouble and expense of air suspension on an otherwise stock vehicle, yet not fix the visible body rust.
I’ve long wanted to travel to South Africa. Lately traveling anywhere presents itself as a tiresome endeavor though. Perhaps one positive to come out of this whole pandemic nightmare, for me anyway, will be that once travel is once more viable I’ll actually take the initiative to make it happen rather than saying “someday”. Note to self.
That last photo is s great shot of that beautiful Jaguar, but am I the only one who finds the rest of the photo’s composition to give off a bit of a dystopian vibe? Everything but the Jag itself is in grayscale. Makes that lovely green color stand out even more.
What an interesting comment about a dystopian vibe to the pictures! I’d like to hear others opinions on this too. I welcome an eerie feel in my pictures, and often hang around until the elements align before snapping a picture I’m happy with.
Hope to see you in SA sometime soon!
It occurred to me too. The eeriness is heightened by the empty roadway and the sameness of all the other cars visible.
Thanks for taking me somewhere far away again.
My favorite is the top shot; I’m a fan of creatively-painted cars, and that one is quite nice, especially so in that setting.
My appreciation of painted cars is growing. I’m fascinated how as cars grow old their personality or that of the owner can takes the conversation in a totally different direction to what the manufacturer intended. Stuttgart didn’t have this in mind in 1975!
I’m not much of a fan of art cars, but that Mercedes is outstanding. And given the background, I’m just imagining the side design as a sea serpent.
I never knew that XJ6s were locally produced in South Africa. It’s remarkable to see any pre-Series III XJ6 out and about. Regarding the dystopian comment above, I don’t quite see it that way, but to me it looks like the green XJ6 landed on another planet. Nothing in its shape or color anywhere to be seen.
I love the Cortina bakkie as well. Thanks for posting these shots; I always enjoy your finds.
Thanks Eric, can’t believe I hadn’t seen the sea serpent connection!
The Ranchero is $10K-odd USD, and the 176K Rand translates to about $14K AUD.
But today in Oz, that would buy you a rusted, broken remains of a manual 6cyl XY, likely not even running. A V8 XY ute that still needed some work like this one would be easily $40K AUD, so the price is surprising.
In the State of Victoria, we’re back in heavy lockdown (8pm-5am curfew, 5k limit, one hr exercise) and even that is hard to take, let alone the level 5 SA ones. But then, Australia has had 350 deaths out of 25 million mostly-urban population, and I know SA (with very diff circumstances) has been hit hard by the virus, so I do my best to sit it out, and try my best to feel the rain. (I do get a little bit wet, on and off, to be truthful!)
I’m glad to hear you can do a bit of exercise again, especially as it means we get your great pictures.
Incidentally, I know a little about the SA situation because my ISP is entirely staffed from there. Due to some ongoing issues in my area, I’ve had some very nice chats with folks spread all over the place, including Cape Town, all working from home. And often with slower internet than me….
And I thought the Ranchero was overpriced! Good to get some perspective..
Always love your witty writing!
I’m most intrigued by the Ford 1 tonner…
Brilliant spots. The Ford Bakkie looks great. We had them in the UK badged as the P100, both as this generation and then its replacement, based on the Sierra. They had the option of the Pinto engine or a turbo diesel. Very tough trucks that took lots and lots of abuse from tradesman and just kept going. I think the usual rust was the killer though, they are very rare now.