The highlight of the annual general meeting of the Old Motors Club is the presentation of the Events Attendance Trophy, which goes to the member participating in most club events. This year the coveted award went to Joseph Zerafa, who despite being a relatively new club member, participated in all of the two dozen major events that were held over the past 12 months.
Although Zerafa always had a soft spot for old cars from his childhood, he was always a very busy man and was unable to find time to develop this interest.
“I dropped out of school to start working at an early age. I come from a family of entrepreneurs, mainly my grandfather George and his brother Joseph, who also had an intrinsic love for cars and bought the best models available locally,” he explains.
In 1976, aged 18, Joseph bought his first car, a brand new orange coloured 1400cc Mitsubishi Celeste, a car which was more expensive than a Mercedes. Only 20 were imported. He took great care of it, taking it out only for Sunday drives while using a Fiat 500 to carry loads for his everyday work.
A self proclaimed workaholic, Zerafa tried his hand at everything, and his colourful career included stints as an industrialist, construction worker, selling mobile phones, textiles – the list is endless. At 31, he got the opportunity to buy a 1985 Ferrari GTB 208 turbo.
“The metallic silver machine, with its V8 engine, mechanical injection, and handmade tubular frame, really impressed me, although, with my hectic work schedule, I had very little time to drive it,” he admits.
Although work was uppermost in his mind for the first five decades of his life, Zerafa always planned for an early retirement. Aware that he needed to find an interesting alternative to compensate for work, he started buying old and modern motorcycles to repair once he would have time on his hands. At one time he had 13 bikes, but on the advice of his wife Bernadette, the number came down to six.
At 54, Zerafa opted for semi-retirement. He immediately started working on the restoration of his Mitsubishi, which he had kept from his teenage years.
“Although it needed an overhaul after all those years, the vehicle still had all the main original components in very good condition. It didn’t even need a respray.”
I fell in love with the 1932 sliding head Morris Minor
But being the thorough perfectionist, he gave the car a tender loving care makeover. All the work was carried out by himself, for in his teenage years he went to the Umberto Calosso technical institute to follow a part-time two-year course in auto mechanics.
His varied career also included a 16-year period working as a part-time mechanic.
In 2014, having completed the Mitsubishi project, he got to know that there was a Morris owner who wanted to sell his car in part exchange with motorcycles.
“We met, he liked my three old bikes, and I fell in love with the 1932 sliding head Morris Minor. I bought the black vehicle, which was in production between 1931 and 1934.”
Although in very good condition, it was not good enough for Zerafa who also started to restore it according to his high standards. He even bought a lathe for the turning and fitting works needed, and took private lessons in the subject.
While browsing online, he saw a BBC film which featured a 1927 royal blue Morris Cowley.
“I was flabbergasted and went after it. Some detective work led me to Pat Farmer, the PRO of the UK Morris Register. He helped me to trace and buy it. It was in a fair condition, but having been idle for two years, it needed another TLC treatment.”
The royal blue vehicle led to the beginning of a great friendship between Farmer and Zerafa, who also became a member of the Register, a club for Morris vehicles designed before 1940. Last year Zerafa won the Pre-War section of the Concours d’Elegance of the Mdina Grand Prix with the Cowley.
An elderly neighbour of Farmer had an old car, and having had his licence revoked because of hearing problems, wanted to sell it.
“It was a 1947 black Morris Minor Series E, designed in 1938. I could not help buying it, although its condition was disastrous,” he says.
All iron and wood, the coach built vehicle needed radiator repairs, rewiring, hydraulic works, replacement of broken pins and the floor boards, patching of upholstery. That’s a lot of work, but Zerafa did it all with passion and patience.
Last year Farmer told Zerafa that his own 1936 Morris 16/6 EMU was, at 16 feet long, too big for him, and had to go.
“Besides the old car, he also offered me a complete spare engine with gearbox, and many spare parts. Moreover, it had won the 2015 Midlands Concours d’Elegance, and Farmer claimed that it was the only 16/6 still being driven on UK roads. How could I refuse?”
With the dark green and black Morris, Farmer sent him a to-do list, which included brakes all around, and the removal of a steel sheet on the roof to be replaced by a sliding head. Zerafa obliged religiously without question.
True to form, once the work on this vehicle was completed, Zerafa was on the lookout again, this time for a Morris 10/4. Since prices for old timers in the UK had soared, he looked elsewhere, and found what he wanted in Holland. It was a 1934 10/4 special coupe which the dealer said was in mint condition – although when it arrived in Malta, Zerafa found otherwise.
“The owner had passed away while the car was being restored, and his son hastened the process without due diligence and sold it to the dealer. The green and black spray was fine, but the floor, brakes, and wiring needed repairs.”
Doing all the work himself, another restoration project was embarked on, and completed.
Zerafa joined the Old Motors Club in 2014, soon after buying his first Morris. He is a regular participant in events, enjoying talking to similar old car enthusiasts. He is always accompanied by his enthusiastic wife Bernadette, who has personalised the Morris cars by giving them, in order of purchase, the names Lilly, Miss Cowley, Molly, Emma and Maggie.
Finally, Zerafa has a dream – that of setting up a Malta Morris Museum, filling it up with Morris vehicles designed before 1940. In fact, he has already bought a large garage in Mosta to start working on realising his vision.