When an attractive woman takes a step like Monica Bellucci in the movie “Malena”, the world stops for men. The eternal brass creation from a past time also takes that kind of attention on roads. It brings a glimmer of nostalgia for everyone. Nedim Husic Braco from Sarajevo owns one of those – beautiful blue convertible Opel Olympia from 1952.
The slick “grandpa” that was made in 1964 has been in Braco’s ownership since 1984. Besides his, this rare car, which was manufactured in 5000 copies, is also located in Belgrade in a museum.
“I worked at the airport. During the Olympics in 1984, an aircraft mechanic from Belgrade drove the Olympia. He got a call to go to America to school. I looked in the parking lot every day. Before he went to America, I asked him to sell it. I could hardly convince him, but I managed at the end, ” recalled Husic, adding that, no matter that each commodity has a price, he tries to keep the car in its best condition and pass it on to further generations.
When you love something, you do not complain if you spend some extra money on it, because driving an old-timer is a culture of life.
“Last year he was on restoration – the roof, bumper, and grille. I waited a long time for the piping that is the decorative rubber around the windscreen, which I ordered from Germany. It all costs a lot of money. But when you love something, you have no regrets. If you ask me how much fuel it consumes, I could not tell you. Owners of classic cars do not look at whether it consumes 10-15 or even 20 liters. I pour as much as I need and I do not regret,” said Nedim honestly adding that driving the Olympia cannot be paid with any money.
He passed his love for classic cars on to children – his daughter Maja and son Sanjin.
“Maja has always helped me, especially when I was working on the car in the garage – she would hand me over the tools and enthusiastically watch what I do. “
There is an interesting story about the car he gave to his son Sanjin.
“Going through Zenica, I noticed an Opel Record from 1965 hooked up to an external toilet of a restaurant. It was love at first sight! I went in and asked if they would sell it to me. The owner looked at me and said; ‘Who would even take that off of the toilet?’
“I’ll take it off”, I said. They brought a truck and we took it off. I admit, if I had known that the restoration will last so long, I would not have bought it. It was a challenging project, but when I saw Sanjin’s enthusiasm, I knew I did a good thing”, said Husic, adding that they have sold it to the representative of Opel in BiH, who now keeps it in the exhibition room.
(Source: Faktor.ba/Photo: K. Softic)
