Generations: a family love affair
Right-hand habit saved young driver
NOT only was Johannesburg businessman Abdul Gani Carim brought up in the world of cars, his wife is obsessed with classic vehicles as well.
Carim, 35, lives in Roshnee, Vereeniging, and runs the family car dealership, which was started by his dad more than 30 years ago.
It was his wife, Zaheera, 32, who spotted what has become Carim’s latest classic — a candy-apple red 1967 convertible Mercedes-Benz 250SE — two months ago.
Carim wasted no time in securing the deal and driving the car home to his wife and three children, Abubakr, 9, Omar, 7, and Khadija, 3.
“My late dad, Abdul Bashir Gani, owned a classic- and sports-car dealership, Triple A Motors, in Boksburg in the 1980s,” Carim said.
“I was . . . in absolute awe each time he drove one of the classic cars into the showroom. I wished that one day I would own these cars — they were just so beautiful, and they don’t make them like they used to.”
At the age of 16, Carim got behind the wheel of an imported left-hand-drive 1983 Datsun Stanza with his older brother, Faraad Gani, and headed for the Benoni highway.
“We were pulled over by a policeman and I was in a state of panic — beads of sweat rolling down my face, thinking to myself I would be grounded for the rest of my life. He walked over to the right-hand side of the car and asked my brother for his driver’s licence. Faraad quietly handed it over to him — the officer looked at it and gave it back to him, instructing him to wear his seat belt. We had such a laugh over it — but I learnt my lesson and the next time I got into the driver’s seat I was a legal driver,” said Carim.
He bought the Mercedes-Benz from his friend, restoration specialist Johan Ackerman.
“The car was a four-door 250SE and was customised into a twodoor convertible by Johan. It has a four-speed manual gearbox. For a little entertainment he added a XTC CD player and a six-inch DVD screen. The custom cream leather interior and a matching custom soft-top roof complete the classic look,” said Carim.
There’s a fridge in the centre console to keep the fruit juice cold.
The car was featured six months ago in Dr Victor’s music video album For Your Love.
Carim isn’t a one-car man: he also owns a 1969 BMW 2000CS and a 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport SE MPV, and has possessed at one time or another numerous other classics, including a 1966 Ford T-Bird; 1965 Chevy 2 Nova; 1971 Mustang and a 1991 Honda NSX — but it is the Mercedes-Benz that rules his heart at the moment.
After Zaheera and his children, of course.