It took a lot of money and headaches to come to fruition, but Ballito’s Sean van der Merwe eventually speared his white whale – a 1941 Chevrolet Pickup.

Rebuilt over almost four years, the process cost Sean around R1.1-million and included sourcing custom parts from around the world and dealing with dodgy mechanics who left him high and dry. But despite the lengthy rebuild, in which time Sean and his family moved to Ballito in 2022 and left the car in Gauteng, it was a journey he considers worth the effort.

“I was looking for a vintage Chevy and visited a dealer in Polokwane who had three or four for sale,” said Sean.

“But there was a cherry red pickup hiding in the back he wasn’t selling that immediately caught my eye. It took a bit of negotiating but eventually we convinced him in 2020.”

It was running but in need of a complete overhaul to be regularly usable. Sean stripped the car’s ailing parts and replaced them with some modern touches such as power steering and non-manually cranked windscreen wipers.

“The chassis, body and hooter are original, but otherwise the internal parts are all new,” he said.

“I didn’t want her to be a garage princess that I could never drive, so made sure the finished product was something I’d like to use every few days.”

It now produces around 650 horsepower and is no slouch on the roads, drawing plenty of looks and thumbs up from passersby.

If it wasn’t distinctive enough, Sean also branded both doors with the sign of the gym he owns with his wife Thea, called Dynasty Elite.

The duo, who are both petrol heads, moved to Ballito from Mpumalanga after running a successful civils company in Middelburg.

They have owned many cars over the years, including an E46 M3 CSL, Audi S3, A45 AMG, 997 TT Porsche, 2007 B7 RS4 and a first foray into vintage cars with the 1984 Corolla TRD Liftback.

“I’ve always been a petrol head, since I was two bricks and Marie biscuit high!”

“My first car was a B16 V-tec and I also rode bikes for most of my life, both on the road and in regional races on the track.”

While his racing days may be behind him, you will no doubt see Sean enjoying the fruits of his labour while driving the Chevy through Ballito’s streets.

“I hope it is a conversation piece, obviously for promotion for the gym, but also for other like-minded people who come up and ask me about it.”

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