Port Elizabeth has always been known as a South African motor industry hub, going back to 1924 when the first vehicles rolled off Ford’s local assembly line.
PE’s automotive fortunes have ebbed and flowed since then, but one vehicle manufacturing facility born in the mid-eighties has survived all the economic tides that have flowed through the city – Hi-Tech Automotive.
Jimmy Price is the man behind HiTech Automotive. Jimmy is definitely not your average petrol head car enthusiast – in fact, he grew up in a family with no links to the automotive industry and he and his father were passionate about water sport. Jimmy competed in powerboating, water-skiing and raced hydroplanes, which he describes as “3.5 metre plywood coffins, running on alcohol!” Hydroplane racing was similar to the early years of Formula 1 racing: exciting and dangerous. With boats reaching speeds of 160kph, serious accidents were routine and often fatal.
Jimmy stopped boat racing when his father passed away, and after school, he went into the civil engineering and construction industry. He built up his own business interests in this field and at that stage, his experience of motor manufacturing was limited to rebuilding the scrapped Ford Topolino his Dad had given him while he was still at school.
In 1986, Jimmy’s friend Richard de Beer was building MGTD kit cars, and he received an order from the US for a number of kits. This was in the era of sanctions, and in the end, the order never came to fruition due to all the complications involved in the export process. However, Jimmy started thinking about the possibility of exporting a complete car, as opposed to a kit. He convinced Richard to join him and in the early nineties set up a basic facility on a farm just outside PE. Although Richard did not remain in the business, Jimmy slowly began the process of recreating classic cars for export and exploring ideas that could make his fledgling company profitable.
Denne historien er fra Edition 96-utgaven av SA Hot Rods.
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Denne historien er fra Edition 96-utgaven av SA Hot Rods.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
“My Pretty One” 1972 Opel Manta 1900
Owner: J.S Orlandini
Twin Turbo 350 Small Block Chevy
Designed and built by Nico at RS Performance
Building A Cal Look VW Beetle Part 1
There are few cars quite as cool as a souped-up VW Beetle that can easily kick the asses of more expensive car during a street race or on a drag strip.
Sema Battle Of The Builders
2020 Winner Brady Ranweiler 1963 Chevy 2 Door Wagon
Behind The Scenes At Disc Brakes Wildwood
Wilwood's new facility adds an additional 100,000 squarefeet to its manufacturing arsenal. The barrage of CNC machinery is run for two shifts each day, up to six days a week, with tooling designed in-house. That adds up to 10 tons of shavings spit out of the CNC machines each month!
The 100 Horsepower Upgrade: Cam Only 5.3L Test
What’s a cam swap really worth?
THE HISTORY OF RODDING SOUTH AFRICA THE FIRST GENERATION PART 3
In this issue, we follow the story of Eddie Jardine and friends during their rodding days.
Custom autosound
JAYCE’S CLASSICS SPARES OLD AIR PRODUCTS
E-STREET 2 EFI SYSTEM AFFORDABLE UNIVERSAL THROTTLE BODY ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION
Convert your V8 from a carburetor to the E-Street 2 EFI system in a single day with only basic mechanical skills and minimal tools.
AEROMOTIVE RELEASES NEW TRUE VARIABLE SPEED FUEL PUMP CONTROLLER
The state-of-the-art speed controller is designed to improve overall fuel system efficiency, reduce fuel temperatures and is compatible with Aeromotive’s line of brushless gear pumps.