GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The spirit of challenge and love of classic cars pushed Palestinian Munir Shindi, who lives in the neighborhood of al-Tuffah, east of Gaza City, to spend a year and a half in his small workshop manufacturing a replica of the 1927 Mercedes Gazelle.

Shindi, who now works as an auto mechanic in his own workshop, only completed middle school. He arrived in the Gaza Strip from the United Arab Emirates a year and seven months ago after spending 13 years there working in a mechanic shop in Abu Dhabi, where he became a specialist in repairing classic cars.

He told Al-Monitor, “I worked in the Texas workshop in Abu Dhabi between 2002 until early 2015. I was working in the field of classic auto repair, in a specialty workshop. I repaired numerous Mercedes-Gazelle cars while managing this shop. It is rare to find a mechanic specialized in repairing this car model, given the scarcity of its parts and accessories.”

As soon as he left his job in the UAE, he headed back to Gaza to reunite with his five children. His passion and love for classic cars and his dream of owning one pushed him to produce a replica. He faced a number of challenges, including the difficulty of importing parts.