Dr. Clarence Harms’ Jeep was once a symbol of an unfulfilled dream. Then it became a part of his family. Now it’s restored and better than ever.
Back in 1996, Dr. Clarence Harms, a professor emeritus of biology, and his wife Mary Ann were planning to make a trip to New Zealand. They never made it. For some reason, the trip fell through. Instead, they spent the money they had been saving for their trip on a Jeep.
During a ride in the 1980 CJ-5, Mary Ann stated there would be “no New Zealand.” That lead to her and her husband calling their new vehicle “NoZea.”
Harms drove NoZea on-road and off-road. It caught fire. Its parking brake failed. Eventually, NoZea’s mechanical problems caused it to become a big metal lawn ornament. Someone came by to offer to buy NoZea…for parts.
That’s when NoZea started down the road to restoration. Harms asked his children if he should sell his Jeep. His daughter Danette told him, “You can’t sell a member of the family.”
Soon other members of the family stepped in. Harms’ son Duane and Duane’s son-in-law Jared Pink agreed to restore NoZea from the ground up. That “ground” part proved to be the hardest. During transportation to Georgia in 2015 for her much needed TLC, NoZea’s original frame broke. So Duane and Jared bought a another Jeep in hopes of harvesting its metal spine. That vehicle had been in an accident and proved to be useless to them. A second frame they looked at was equally unusable. Fortunately, the third time was the charm. Finally having found a frame they could build on, the pair spent an estimated 1,600 hours over the course of nearly two years bringing NoZea back to life.
Earlier this month, Duane and Jared brought NoZea back to Harms for its big unveiling, complete with a camo scheme reminiscent of the one it originally had. There was one thing missing, though. According to New Castle News, “The last thing to be added was the Jeep’s VIN plate, and Dr. Harms was given the honor of riveting that into place before he and Mary Ann hopped in and took NoZea for a spin.”
We wish Harms and his family several more happy journeys in the family Jeep – even if they’re not to New Zealand.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
