About life, and everything else : Steering a life filled with alluring automobiles.

I believe that every person has a story to tell and before you judge - you should always remember this. However, when that person also collects cars - there will be plenty more stories to tell and sometimes the stories that they cannot or will not tell, are the most interesting of all. Some may go like this: "I just hope that when I die, my wife doesn't sell these cars for the same price I told her I bought it for. It will be an absolute travesty".

Well, fortunately, the well-known Herman Nel does not have a story like the latter - at least this is what he assured me and despite him being quite a naughty bugger - I believe him - hmmm - reconsider - yes, let's leave it at that.

His adult life started as a bywoner on a farm where he was given a small piece of land to utilise at his discretion. As time went by he rented more land to keep sheep and because of the drought in the Freestate - this was in the early 60's - he often bought ewes with lambs for one pound ten. He later moved to Griekwaland East to find better grazing but the long and the short is that through the years he bought various farms, and with government money on the boil too, eventually settling in Komatipoort.

Herman in his 1912 Model T.

"There was no-one in my family - except my own son - who had any interest in things mechanical," says Herman. "I could however never get enough of playing with and collecting dinky toys. I never played outside with any of my toys and I still have every single one as part of my collection in the museum. I studied them in detail which eventually gained me extensive knowledge on cars in general. My dad drove a Chev and I loved Chev's but that was because of, if I look back, stupidity,” he says and that far-off-look comes across his face.

But then he married his wife Marie. Her dad loved Ford's. And a German teacher of his drove a 1957 Ford which he considered "just the most beautiful thing he has ever laid eyes on" and he still does. So, other than being a Ford fanatic, and naughty by nature, he also loves tractors and he does have a few in his museum just outside of White River.

He used Ford bakkies on the farm and this also stimulated his love for Fords. And then we sort of explored the Ford Kuga issues of the moment. He holds an interesting, and not too far-fetched theory about this, but let’s just leave it at that.

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His first car was a 1960 Beetle – “a car with a good heart” and the first and the last successful German car ever built,” he says. Next was a 1964 Zephyr 6 Sport fitted with a Lambons front suspension? “It was affordable and very popular in those years”. And then he tells me about six young girls (ages 17-21) – in a restaurant in Chicago and their love for Chevy’s Nova’s and Cadillac’s - sugar daddy’s and the rest. These large cars were considered safer than smaller cars but what he loved most - besides the girls (I thought that - I did not say it), was the massive chrome surfaces on these cars. “Ek’s mal oor chrome”, he chirps.

We reminisced a little about a Jaguar Mk11 with gold plated spokes on the rims - “it was a special edition,” he says. Yes, he also loves Jaguars - owned a number of them and have some in his collection.

His favourite 1957 Ford Fairlane 500.

His first restoration was a 1957 Fairlane (part of his collection) which he built from five different carcases, three of which he which he salvaged from previous road administration/maintenance camps. The restoration took four years to complete. “It is important to me that all restoration projects render an authentic and as close to original as possible, product. For example, I import all the spark plugs because the small cup on the tips of these, carry the Ford logo. I import all the parts required for restoration. One can also source most through a local company called Import it All. Parts for English brands - except Jaguar, are very difficult to find. Interesting to know is that Henry Ford 3rd was nuts about Jaguars - but he could never admit to it".

More Fairlanes.

Then we got sidetracked by a story about American visitors building a church in South Africa - visited his museum and the relationship which has developed since then. One of these visitors and an employee of Ford, told Herman that Henry Ford the 3rd loved the Jaguar brand so much that he instructed his executives to go and buy the Jaguar manufacturer. Yes - well travelled and connected Herman certainly is. Herman also owned an E-Type which proved not to be a favourite with his wife though. The S-Type’s parts carry the Ford logo - the XK comes with a four litre Ford engine - the man is a walking encyclopaedia of motoring knowledge and insights.

After his first Zephyr, which he bought new, Herman drove seven Mercedes Benzes, inclusive of a 350S in a row - but he prefers not to talk about these. Then came a Rambler, a Kombi and two Sierra station wagons – a 1993 model with which he did 380 000 trouble-free kilometres. It was serviced on the farm. Then there was the Falcon and a 1967 F100 bakkie fondly referred to as the Green Mamba. A Peugeot was followed by an absolutely useless Chev C10 and from 1977 onwards he only owned Ford bakkies.

A Fiat 1500 which spend more time at the dealership - received more new engine installations than the letters in his names and is hated by his wife, is also still part of his collection.

But as is part and parcel of any interaction with a collector of Herman’s stature, there is always another story that just needs to be shared. Once he registered his disdain with Ford’s executive management about them not having a car that can compete with Mercedes and the rest. On Sunday's he had to park his Sierra a few blocks away from the church as all the good parking spots were taken by those other cars. This did not sit well with him. Ford introduced him to a car only available in Australia at the time and to be imported at a cost of R800 000 but of course this “was somewhat ridiculous and I declined”,

A1923 Lincoln; a car for presidents and even the Mafia, and sporting some interesting features like twin rear-view mirrors.

We spoke about his long-time relationship with Colin Lazarus of Lazarus Ford in Gauteng and yes, of course, there some stories to tell also.

Herman, if I force your hand about your favourite favourites in your collection or otherwise, which cars would that be? “He became very quiet - my three 1957 Ford Fairlane’s inclusive of the Thunderbird and the Club Victoria. Then there is the 1936 Roadster, a 1980 Thunderbird which was released to celebrate the brands 25th birthday and which carries a nameplate on the dash with his name on, the 1940 Ford bakkie, his Model T and A and the 1923 Lincoln of which there are only three in the world.

And then the stories really started to filter through - too many for the scope of this article - about some cars that were hidden - so-called raffle winnings - Model T’s bought for R7000 - a Thunderbird for R23 900 - a 1963 Lincoln with Mafia connections - a Bible quote about Babel and the pursuit of money/greed and so forth. “Collecting like this is an illness - only you don’t become sick or die because of it,” he says.

The 1936 Roadster and one of my personal favourites in the collection.

And the strategically placed chairs around the museum? “Those accommodate my quiet time. I sit there and observe the cars - the collection totals 70. No, I am not doing nothing - I am busy with strategic planning. There are project cars among the completed cars. Every car - even those that one initially considers ugly, offers specific beauty elements and in time, one learn to love and appreciate these,” he concluded.

Herman does accommodate visitors to the museum in small groups of 6 and by prior arrangement only. You can contact him on 084-577-8681 and visit his website at www.oldcarhaven.co.za for more on the history of this collection. And in case you are wondering - it rained cats and dogs on the day I visited thus the reason for not being able to photograph the cars outdoors.