A little snippet of vintage Mercedes life in Syria

[j-galap]

Imperfect classics are certainly a thing on our side of the world, but they take it to a whole new level in the Middle East.

A friend of mine from Aleppo often sends me photos of old Mercedes he comes across over there. He sent me this one today. The owner still drives it regularly! Decided it was worthy of a quick share:









Could probably do with a little love. One main difference there is that most people don't have much in the way of disposable income, so a lot of cars are simply workhorses. Impressive it's still going though - can't imagine the amount of duct tape and zip ties that are likely holding it together

[engatwork]

Wonder what kind of oil he is running?

[NC240D76]

That is funny. I feel an Amsol ad coming.

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by engatwork

Wonder what kind of oil he is running?

Whatever he can get his hands on.

[sloride]

And people think we have it tough here. I doubt that would pass the TX inspection process.

[Tomguy]

Jeez, I thought my old 108 was a rustbucket!

[JMela]

Looks a little rough but likely better than the rest of Aleppo.

[cleeves]

Thank you for sharing these pictures! Tells quite a story.

It's fascinating artifact related to the study of brand perception between cultures, particularly on a brand so iconic and globally recognized as Mercedes Benz.

[j-galap]

Glad you all enjoyed.

As there's some interest, here's a selection of photos I took of old Mercedes in Aleppo when we were there in 2017. Enjoy





























And a few shots of Aleppo/Syria in general because why not

[Tomguy]

Beautiful, I really hope someday I get to go to Aleppo (As well as Beirut and Zgharta), but not likely within the next 5 years.

[j-galap]

Totally, now isn't the ideal time to visit Syria for sure There's so much to see and experience once things move on. Lebanon is fine (Covid notwithstanding) to visit - and exceptional Benz-watching territory, especially in Tripoli!

[JMela]

Thanks for sharing those - keep them coming.

[Squiggle Dog]

Awesome! When I was living in Saudi Arabia, there was a yellow W111 fintail taxi (they call them limos there) from Syria that I would see regularly. It was my favorite car and started my love for the fintails. I remember it had reflective triangles on the trunk and tassles around the windshield. I'd wave at the driver if he happened to be behind my school bus.

Years later, I've had several fintails, currently have one of the rare fintail wagons, and am the owner of Fintail.org. That Syrian started my love of them! I remember getting picked up from the airport in Turkey by a 1948 DeSoto.

In Saudi Arabia, we had almost nothing for trucks but those L-series Mercedes, which were built at the plant in Iran. I loved them. Here is a picture of my father on a Scud missile with one in the background.


I have collected some more pictures of vintage Mercedes from that part of the world to share with you.

[Squiggle Dog]

Some more.

[Squiggle Dog]

A dream other than the dilapidated condition of them.