So keen on his green machine

When Desmond Naicker's son turns 18 in two years' time, an Amazon-green 1962 Ford Zephyr awaits him.

Naicker, 42, bought the car - which was just a shell without doors - 12 years ago for R8500 and immediately began restoring it.

The Zephyr was known to be one of the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until it was replaced by the larger Ford Consul and Granada in 1972.

"It's a very unusual car. So when I saw it, I wanted to challenge myself to do it up," said the Chatsworth resident.

Naicker, who works for an engineering company, changed the car's suspension, adding Jaguar suspension on both the front and the back. He upgraded the brakes to four-way discs, upgrading the six-cylinder engine to a V8, redid the interior and added in a three-inch monitor screen on the deck and a seven-inch, roof-mount DVD screen with surround sound.

To achieve the effect he wanted, he used the parts of four Zephyrs.

"I drove around looking for these cars and bought them, then stripped them and used the parts," he explained.

When Naicker bought the car, it was light green. He wanted to retain the colour and ordered a paint called "Amazon green" from the US.

"It cost me R1800 a litre. A good friend of mine painted the car.

"The paint acts like a reflector so at night when light hits the car, it appears blue, which helps other cars on the road to see me."

He even painted the engine green.

Over the past 12 years, he has spent R50000 on the rebuild. He said he had received numerous offers for the car but refused to part with it. He's intent on keeping it for his 16-year-old son, Darren.

"He keeps it polished and clean. When he turns 18, he will get it. When he was younger, he used to help me when I worked on it."

Naicker was once offered R55000 for his Zephyr. The prospective buyer was so intent on the car that he was willing to throw in a classic British 1955 Morris Oxford 1000, but Naicker refused.

The car has so far won 32 awards at various show-and-shine car competitions and often emerges as one of the most popular vehicles at shows.

"This car just does not want to let go of me. When I take it to car shows, it is the only Zephyr around. People - especially the older generation - come up to me and tell me that it brings back memories because they owned one just like this one decades ago."

A member of the Chats Car Club, Naicker said he suffered from acute arthritis and it would sometimes affect his work.

"A few years ago, my club helped me get the car back on the road. I was sick and the car was just sitting with a broken engine because I could not fix it.

"The club raised money and rebuilt the engine."

Naicker is in the process of building a 1974 Chevrolet Firenza.