Just learnt from BBC TV that the Iran Khodro Company has stopped production of the infamous Peykan, based on the 1960's Hillman Hunter 1725cc and Iran's "people's car" for almost 40 years. Tehran's city sprawl has long been a sea of orange Peykan taxis driven by maniacs, much like the battered Fiat 124's of Cairo.
In 1978 I was posted to Tehran by my US employer to open up an office and one of ther tasks was buying a car, of course a Peykan. They were brought in from UK in kit form and supply was rationed, so all sorts of permissions had to be obtained
from obstructive clerks in all sorts of hot sheds where one had to line up for hours to get the various bits of paper stamped. My secretary was a very resourceful lady and after a day of this she turned up with a cushion under her black chadoor and wheedled her way to the heads of lines by tearfully explaining she was 8 months gone and about to faint in the heat.
You got were you were given, no choice of options or colour. We lucked out however, and were allotted a Javanan -- a twin carb Persian Version of the Peykan with built in headrests in the seats and some rather poorly glued wood replica on the dash and a 5 speed 'box. This model only came in battleship grey.
On the first evening I was driving back to my apartment when the entire LH wheel and hub fell off and vanished under a bus along Takht-e-Jamshid Avenue. There was no concept of a warranty or returning the car so Youssef the driver did what everyone else did and took it one of the workshops which lined so-called "Peykan Street". That little problem fixed, we drove it to Isfahan one weekend, about an 800km round trip and it used all its engine oil. Twice. Conventional wisdom was that every Peykan owner had to fix all the faults himself, after which the car ran fine. Which proved to be the case.
With the Shah gone and my position at some risk as the Revolution gained momentum, I was hauled out to Bahrain. No US auditor wanted to come to Iran at that time to check all the assets, so I gave the car away to Youssef. I bet it's still doing duty somewhere.
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Brings back fond memories of when I worked (in the UK) on the development of the Peykan's cooling system. Long live your Peykan.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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I bought a cheap, clean '71 Hillman Hunter in 1983 and ran it for a couple of years. The handling was a bit stodgy but it was quite acceptable for a 'boring saloon'. It was also, in my opinion, the nicest looking boring saloon of its time - at least from its mid-60's introduction until its late model ugly facelifts.
Cheers, SS
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Hunters were a fairly standard unmarked Met Police car in the seventies. Had a few routine stops by them when returning home in a tired condition in the early hours, but fortunately was never invited to go for a ride.
Last police car I can remember with a bell on it, too.
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Once hired a Hunter in Ireland from a major hirer. After a couple of miles I decided it was so bad I swapped it for another one. Then much later that day and miles away found the boot would not unlock. Called the AA out. Meanwhile removed the back seat to find spare wheel is stored at the back of the boot so now joy that way.
AA had no joy. By this time our planned evening was wrecked.
My fellow traveller then lost his rag, grabbed a lever and attacked the boot lid. Eventually he literally peeled up the corners which allowed access to the catch and the boot came undone. The AA man whent white and disappeared over the horizon.
When we eventually returned the car the answer was.
We have had a lot of them having this problem sir.
Reaching into the boot and lifting out a little fancy shaped plastic rod he declared this is the problem!
It links the lock to the catch and they drop out into the boot.
What can you say to a response like that?
We certainly did not pay for the damage.
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I once spent some time in Iran looking for a model Peykan. It is 1:10 scale and the crudest plastic moulding. Having searched for ages, the shop-keeper was apologetic and tried hard to sell me a Chinese matchbox rip-off. I didn't bargain hard for his model Peykan!
It now resides in a friend's collection of 2000+ cars. It has pride of place through sheer rarity value.
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When Mum worked for Godfrey Davis car hire, she was given a 1725cc Hillman Hunter as a company car. Despite covering over 60,000 miles in the 2 years she had it, astonishingly, nothing broke or fell off.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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I had a 1725cc - OGO276E - the only registration number of any of my cars, past or present, that I actually know/remember.
White with red plastic interior - it just doesn't get any posher.
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I once had a Hunter 1725 Dl (EMT777J), bought as a business car with a company car allowance. It was, for its day, a great car and in addition to driving around NW London every day and many evenings, (collecting money and/or promises) took us to the South of France with no trouble at all.
The company ("Britains Best Finance Company" - ring any bells?) changed their car policy during my period of ownership and allowed me to trade it in against a car from their approved list. I finished up with a Fiat 128 - YUK!
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Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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I still suffer from a whiplash injury sutained when I was 14 years old and a passenger in a Hunter GT, no head restraints, hit up the back by a Wolsey 1300, shunted into a Mini van.
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www.bilhistorie.no/e70/lav35.htm
Check out the RoStyle wheels - happy,happy days.
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