Rolling in a 1948 Chevy Fleetline, Tongaat restaurant owner keeps the past alive

Trapped in an era many people today may be unable to remember, Tongaat local Hamza Chinsamy has a passion for things of days gone by.

If you met the father of three in the street you would not be blamed for thinking you’d wandered onto the streets of Havana.

From the style of shirt, to his restaurant decor at My Food Joint, right through to the car he drives every once in a while – a 1948 Chevy Fleetline, the same model vehicle as the one featured in The Godfather, and once driven by Al Capone.

Despite having seen better days, this Fleetline still has the same stage presence as Elvis Presley did, drawing the eyes of motorists and pedestrians alike.

Son to a former Gauteng gangster named ‘Mr Frank’, Hamza originally bought the Fleetline for R30 000 before restoring it to its former glory.

The restoration, done by a Camperdown mechanic named Roy Bipath donkeys years ago took nearly four years.

The restoration took that long owing to only being worked on over weekends.

Hamza fondly recalls how his brother-in-law organised the sale of the Fleetline in 2005.

“I still remember how we drove it for the first time from extension 1, along Nirvana Drive to extension 13 of Lenasia in Johannesburg,” said Hamza. 
“What a feeling that was.”

The 43-year-old Hamza relocated to Tongaat in 2015, adding that he first had the Chevy galvanised to protect it against rust on the coast.

“I wanted the coastal lifestyle. You cannot drive 5 minutes to get away in Gauteng. Here, it is 5 minutes and you are at the beach.”

Recalling the quirky habits of the former green-painted car (now to shades of blue), he said that turning may be easy but when it comes to parallel parking it’ll give you a sweat.

“Other than that, driving it feels like you are in a boat.”

Plans have in the meantime been made to see Hamza’s prized possession fully restored once again – for a princely R100 000 over a period of one year.