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HISTORY:
When Bob van Niekerk returned from the U.K. at the end of 1960, after having successfully setup the GSM Delta operation, he grabbed the reins again and continued production locally. It appears that very few Darts, if any, were built during 1960. The first car we can trace is 6103. We can only hope that 6101 and 6102 will crawl out of the woodwork in their own good time! How 6103 left the factory, and its early history is unknown, until Willie Meissner (Jnr) bought it from Droomers Garage, Voortrekker Road, Bellville in 1978. At that stage it seems to have been red, with a silver hardtop. Young Willie was then part of the S.A. Defence Force, doing duty and stationed in Bloemfontein. The condition of the car could not have been to great, as Willie then commences a restoration project in his spare time. Ably assisted by Dr Con Joubert, also in Bloemfontein. The car now changes to a light Blue, with white hardtop!
It must have remained with Willie for some time, because when Clarry Taylor bought it from Willie, in 1993, once again it is totally stripped, in a zillion pieces, with many bits missing! Clarry is very close to the ultimate perfectionist and is no stranger to restoring cars,. He has been involved in a few rebuilds in the past, and this one being his own, was to be not only rebuilt but restored, to its genuine original 1961specs! One must also remember that although these cars came off a “GSM production line” they were virtually hand built! I may be mistaken, but chances are that no two cars ever left the line identical in every way! My point is that the job Clarry did is probably worth 99%, as 100% more than likely not possible.
The rebuild that took six years to complete started with even the chassis separated from the body. The rack and pinion steering was replaced with the Anglia steering box, the 1600 cross flow engine was replaced with a completely overhauled 1500 Cortina GT motor. A new original spec radiator and shocks were sourced, various new lights, gauges, A-bracket, fuel tank, wheels and tyres, brake pipes and, re-wired and upholstered in November 2000 an almost “new car” re sprayed Navy Blue took to the road! Since then he has enjoyed completing over 14,000 kms, and the admiration of many!
The “bench mark” has been set….! Any
challengers?