Classic Car Restoration

I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. Over the last decade I have successfully restored my grandfather’s Cadillac and, more recently, an Austin Mini I bought from Lahore.

Cadillac Fleetwood 1973

From the age of 6, I remember seeing a mammoth sized car concealed under dusty covers in the garage of my ancestral home. As a child, that space intrigued me, as I witnessed it gradually evolve from a parking space into a repository for people’s unwanted household belongings. Manoeuvring through the clutter, I’d peek inside the car, hoping one day I’d be able to sit behind the wheel.

My fascination with the car had no limits. I would lose myself for hours in the garage admiring its curves and edges, chrome and trimmings, and its sheer size. As a 9 year old the garage became my retreat – a place to get my hands dirty, tinker, disassemble and reassemble people’s old belongings for experimentation. This hands-on experience fuelled my motivation to one day revive the car.

In a house of 35 people, no one was interested in driving a big old rusty car from the 70s when they had the luxury of driving newer ones. However, I saw it as an opportunity to take ownership. I began by cleaning the garage, throwing away unwanted belongings and wiping off the dust from the car.

As a child I’d observed my father’s passion for the car, reading the GM Shop Manual in his free time. As I grew older I pushed him to start fixing this beauty. Thanks to the garage and the thick nylon covers, the car looked great, even 40 years after it had rolled off the assembly line. Under the dirty covers the paint was intact, the interior upholstery was in pristine condition, and to top it off it still had the original mats which is considered quite valuable in the classic car market. It now brings joy to my heart being able to drive the car around my neighbourhood, and to observe people show their appreciation for a car I’ve loved since I was a child.

Through this journey, I inherited a passion for restoration and creative problem solving. Initially, I would get frustrated when something wouldn’t work with the car, but observing my father, I learnt how to navigate unforeseen circumstances with ingenious solutions. I realised retroactively that this too was a form of design that I have been using for years without having a name for it. I recently gave an interview to PakWheels in which I talked more about my journey of restoring and maintaining the Cadillac.

Austin Mini 1974

In August 2020, I bought a 1974 Austin Mini from a family friend in Lahore. Since I couldn’t go to see the car in person, I made the decision by looking at these 4 pictures only.

I reached out to Zahid, my mechanic, and Ghani, my car electrician, to assess both the mechanical and electrical issues with the car. Their task was to help me assess the scope of the restoration, and estimate the investment I would have to make going forward.

The first step was to take out the old wiring and rewire the entire car. I wanted to install a modern indicator assembly and make sure all the interior and exterior lights, horn, and ignition were operating. For that we made a trip to ‘Shershah,’ Karachi’s biggest junk yard. Navigating through the space was challenging due to its sheer density, however it was a great place to find all we were looking for.

Next, Zahid polished the brake disks, repaired the wheel bearings, and replaced the brake pads which had been stuck to each other for presumably two years.

After freeing the wheels and rewiring the car we attempted to start it. This was when fuel came into play. We found out the fuel pump in the car was not operating and had to be replaced before the car could start.

After driving it to and from work for a month I became comfortable with the car. However, one afternoon on my way back from work the front side of the chassis broke and my car began steering on its own while driving. I managed to drive it back home safely and immediately called Tariq, my auto-body repairman. Upon first glance, he told me told me that the front side of the chassis was broken and to fix it he would recommend removing the engine from the car to do some foundational repairs. He also advised me to replace most of the rusty parts of the car with new metal sheets. Below are some pictures of us repairing the body.

They did a fabulous job fixing all the dents and replacing at the rusty parts. Once the work was done we had to repaint, and I decided I wanted the car to be red with a white top. Since I didn’t have the budget to buy new chrome parts from England, I also chose to black out the wheels and all the chrome on the car. Below is my inspiration.

Once the car was mechanically sound, with all rust and dents removed, and painted to perfection, it was time to get the interior fixed and the seats reupholstered. Below are pictures of the old interior.

We insulated the interior from the engine bay as best we could, and added a new black carpet. The seats in the car were not original, but we decided to keep them anyway, altering the base to make them more comfortable. I paid an upholsterer, and worked with him to design the new look: black seats with red stripes to match the theme of the car. After all this interior work was done, the car was finally fully restored. Minis are quite rare in Pakistan and I am proud to have restored another head turner.

What's next?

In the West, you can get spare parts. Here we have to be creative with whatever is available. Instead of buying parts online, I have learned to scavenge the market to identify usable fixes and managed to bridge the gap between technology and illiteracy. Even though Zahid and Ghani could easily troubleshoot issues with the car, they were handicapped due to their limited access to smartphones and not knowing the right way to search the internet for diagrams, videos and car forums to learn more. I am interested in exploring how low-literacy users, such as skilled labour, can use voice recognition to harness the power of the internet.

Taking a hobby and thinking about it from a social perspective, I realise classic cars consume a lot of gas and feel responsible for driving them so often. I am now in the process of collaborating with a fellow engineer to replace the engine with an electric motor. The idea is to use my car as a prototype and pitch the electrified Mini to the classic car community in hope of receiving another project to electrify. To follow my journey, check out my Instagram page.

Ali Askari