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Another photo taken by me back in 2005 in Tehran. Although it carried the GT badge on the rear fender, but as far as I could remember this was not a Paykan Javanan.

MKI in Malta

A Hillman Hunter MKI in the island of Malta.

Paykan Overload#45

Photo taken by me back in 2005 in Tehran.

A Trans-African Adventure

From the publisher Troubador.co.uk: "In 1970 newly-weds Ross and Sara set off, with extraordinary naivety and a lack of proper preparation, to drive from Edinburgh to Zambia in a standard saloon car. Appointment in Zambia is the story of their epic car journey. Sara was 21 (and could not drive) and Ross was 23 when they and their brand new Hillman Hunter (in ‘Golden Sand’, a colour chosen before they’d opted to drive through the Sahara...) started out. For eight weeks, in a trip of over 20 000 kms, they slept in the car, coped with illness and looked up the barrel of rifles from the wrong end. Apart from the car their only technology was a compass."

The book is available from their publisher, and from Amazon.

Another testament to the durability of the Arrow series, and yet another kick-in-the-teeth to its critics, you know who you are out there! ;)

Count The Paykans#67

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art photographed in 1977. The museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba.

Meadowhall Center

A 1967 Singer Vogue spotted outside of Meadowhall Center by Northern Soul. (Note that he hubcabs are from the Humber Sceptre model).

Abandoned Arrow#6

I pass by this poor guy a lot, the shop owners keep pushing it up and down the street cause it's an eye-soar. :(  Photos by me taken in Niavaran, Tehran.

Stow-on-the-Wold

A Humber Sceptre MKIII photographed by Ghost Garden taken at  Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, UK

Work of Art

I am very honored to write about this extraordinary art project by Anahita Razmi. 

"The Paykan Project":

The Installation “The Paykan Project” consists of an imported Paykan, the most common car in Iran and a mixed-media installation, composed of export papers, documents and a videoloop. In October 2010 I bought a used Paykan in Tehran and transferred it in a difficult two months overland journey from Iran to Germany. The Paykan originates from the British Hillman Hunter and is very rarely found outside of Iran. The iconic value, that is added to the car as soon as its crossing the Iranian bolder, constitutes an important element of the work. Additionally, references to the tradition of the road movie are drawn within the installation, that are furthermore linking contrasting contexts.

Coincidentally I meet Anahita here in Tehran couple of months ago, and we had a great chat about her project. I was also very pleased to know that my blog was a big inspiration for her! :) Her project was shown in Oldenburg & Berlin and currently it is at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. 

Thank you Anahita for this fascinating artwork! :) 

Top photo By: Frank Kleinbach

Frozen Eyes

Photo by David Rostance taken on Jan 9th 1982 at Wolverhampton, UK.

Abandoned Arrow#5

Photos taken by me last week in northeast Tehran.

Reims-Gueux

 

My dear friend Seth and his famous wagon on their recent trip to France. Check out his fantastic photos and his write up in this thread.
Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.

Paykan Overload#44

Greenest Grass

A green Hillman Hunter GLS on a green grass on a misty morning, what a majestic sight!... :)

Kid with a Camera

These photos were taken by a twelve or so year old me in the IranKhodro booth at the Tehran International Fair . Yes my Paykan obsession goes way back! ;)