Builds Old Landy: An HJ45 Story/Build Thread

[CaptClose]

...to Jim and Ryan to for always answering my questions and respecting me like an adult even though I'm a kid...

I forget this young man is just 12 whenever I’m around him. His brother is the same. A testament to his parents no doubt. Perhaps it’s the cruiser commonality between all of us, but I feel like he’s just one of the guys. I can’t even remember what I was doing at his age... riding my bike and causing mischief in the neighborhood most likely. Keaton and Liam give me hope for the future of society. We need more like them.

 

[Grant Woodbridge]

Grant- any additional source information you can share? Do you have a connection to the company in some way? Curious why Mercedes Benz.

My sister in law works there. The factory basically keeps the lights on here in East London. It has seen many changes over the years. Back when they did the Cruisers it was called M.B.S.A. They have always built the C-class Mercs.
They used to assemble Honda’s , Mitsubishi, Daimler. To name a few. Due to political reasons a lot of the company’s have gone.

 

[Grant Woodbridge]

Here is my brothers cruiser. You can see the load body.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Grant, that is amazing. Thanks for sharing. Do you have a pic of the tailgate and bed? Looks like a 2H?

We are in search of a tail gate for the future.

 

[Grant Woodbridge]

Will keep my eyes out for one. In Africa these are tools most tail gates are the first things to be damaged. I will get a picture for you.

 

[Cowboy45]

Here is my brothers cruiser. You can see the load body.
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Dang! That is one sweet truck, and to see a finished product of what ours could look like is so cool!

 

[Cowboy45]

Thanks for sharing too! Very interesting!

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

My sister in law works there. The factory basically keeps the lights on here in East London. It has seen many changes over the years. Back when they did the Cruisers it was called M.B.S.A. They have always built the C-class Mercs.
They used to assemble Honda’s , Mitsubishi, Daimler. To name a few. Due to political reasons a lot of the company’s have gone.

@Grant Woodbridge,

I did some checking and came across an interesting blog with great background on the automotive hotbed South Africa has been for pretty much all the significant car manufacturers in the work since the 1930s. Eye opener.

In short, car manufacturers sought out contract hires in South Africa to help assemble cars for the market and affiliated shipping routes. Manufacturers included Ford, Dodge, GM, Alfa Romeo, Fuso, British Leyland, Mercedes, and....Toyota. They all shipped car kits in packages that were reassembled in SA. Reportedly cheaper to do this.

For many reasons (including political) many faded. Toyota remained dominant as did Mercedes. I share some excerpts that allude to Toyota unrelenting pursuit of perfection. Toyota maintained control of quality while others did not. The load bodies were more rectangular because Toyota (and other car manufacturers) did not invest in tooling and stamping equipment in SA.

CDA, the predecessor of the now East London Mercedes plant, built Toyota vehicles. They had capability to produce more rectangular load bodies which might be the creators of Old Landy’s camper shell. It is made of thicker gauge and stamped metal.

Here are some excerpts from the blog. I thought the forensics done by the Toyota Engineers to a paint issue was hilarious.

For those history buffs, have at it:

Motor Assemblies: MOTOR ASSEMBLIES LIMITED

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

My sons also found pics of tailgates used on South African load bodies.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

The Dead Sea scrolls on Andres and his journey with Old Landy has come to a startling intersection with my life.

I grew up in Kenya (East Africa) and lived there between 1973 to 1990 in Nairobi, the capital. I was 2 years old when we first moved to Kenya. My father was an ex-pat working for the Kenyan government. I have been around cruisers since my time in Kenya.

Anytime you ask “what the hell is a car doing in a remote place”- it is hands down a Cruiser. Growing up, we routinely went to the National game parks (Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, etc.). Cruisers were the vehicle of choice if you wanted to get back to camp before dusk in one piece.

Reading Andres blog (excerpts below) as he martyred on from the tip of South Africa to Switzerland, I was floored to read that he visited Kenya and Nairobi in December of 1982.

I WAS THERE at the same time he was. We missed each other.

Still blown away from this realization.

I attach excerpts of his blog of how he entered Kenya from the southern neighboring country, Tanzania. Note he mentions some of the same national parks I referred to. I also attach an image that captures the wildlife scenes in the game parks in Kenya. Pics are not mine, but shares how cruisers and nature are inseparable. We did not need WIFII or thumbnastics. Being with nature meant all.

The last blog excerpt clip below from Andres indicates he is off to Eldoret. Another place I have been to. He is heading north towards Ethiopia/Eritrea and the Suez Canal.

Destiny? Surreal!!

 

[cwwfj60]

That’s exciting stuff @ceylonfj40nut. I got the chills reading that on my end....very cool and surreal for sure

 

[CaptClose]

Very cool... “not a single word true, story for every question...” haha.

André is like or Han Solo and Indiana Jones!

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

That’s exciting stuff @ceylonfj40nut. I got the chills reading that on my end....very cool and surreal for sure

I was @Cowboy45’s age when Old Landy was in Nairobi. I was learning how to do engine overhauls on my dad’s Minis at 11 years old. @Cowboy45 is doing engine overhauls with me at 12. Old Landy comes by us at the same stage in life.

 

[Viking Hagar]

Brilliant story.
Good to see a Cruiser from Africa finding it’s way to another passionate owner on another continent.
Enjoy the restoration and keep on posting
Regards from Cape Town

 

[dogfishlake]

Wow, what a great past story, present story, and future story. Most amazing that I was fortunate to meet you all just as this present story began. I am excited for you @Cowboy45, this will be a Cruiser life story in which the torch will be well carried by you I am sure.

I am looking forward to following along!

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Brilliant story.
Good to see a Cruiser from Africa finding it’s way to another passionate owner on another continent.
Enjoy the restoration and keep on posting
Regards from Cape Town

Thanks @Viking Hagar. Great to have you on our journey from one of the places Old Landy is from. Love that.

 

[Cowboy45]

Brilliant story.
Good to see a Cruiser from Africa finding it’s way to another passionate owner on another continent.
Enjoy the restoration and keep on posting
Regards from Cape Town

Thanks @Viking Hagar. Great to have you on our journey from one of the places Old Landy is from. Love that.

I am so happy to see people from the same continent that Old Landy was in let alone the same country watching the thread. It feels like we all share a certain connection to Old Landy and where it has been.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Dipped into the Archive of my life. My mom. She is a walking encyclopedia. Dropped her a note. She shot me some pics of our time in Kenya that shows some glimpses of the time and look of Kenya when Old Landy passed through. I am younger than 11 in some pics. Kenya did not change much as I grew to 11. These are not iPhone quality, rather Dad’s one ton Nikon which took 20 minutes to get right before each pic. He had a separate light meter that he whipped out that shot our eyebrows to Mars.

This is one of us at the Equator in Kenya. I am third from (left...or right). Mom and Dad flanking us on either side.

 

[Cowboy45]

Wow, what a great past story, present story, and future story. Most amazing that I was fortunate to meet you all just as this present story began. I am excited for you @Cowboy45, this will be a Cruiser life story in which the torch will be well carried by you I am sure.

I am looking forward to following along!

We now both have 45's so we won't be going into this journey alone. I am excited to see your build as well. I'm not much of an eloquent writer like the rest of you are (I guess it comes with age), but I hope you realize how thankful I am to you Patrick.

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

My Mom also had some pics of us in the National Parks in Kenya. These pics are us in Amboseli where Andres visited. Shockingly, they have gotten out out into the wild to snap a pic next to wild life. In this case Giraffes. My parents were living on the edge. Lions abound. You don’t want to be outside your vehicle at any time when in the parks. One of the pics is of my parents in the background with me looking at them as they head closer to the giraffes. I have no doubt Andres did similar. Also included is a pic of the family at the entrance to Mt. Kenya National Park.