Elmat's theory: Anachronic cars deaths have correlation with the death of regimes and changes in economies
<<Those who lamented the death of the Trabant in East Germany, as well as the Austin Mini and the Volkswagen Beetle – neither of which have anything to do with those twee, soulless chickmobiles being marketed as “Mini” and “Beetles” today – get out your hankies: The (Iran's)Paykan is ending production.>>
Elmat's Theory:
The Mini death: Thatcher reforms sucess starts a wave of de-regulation and privatization
Trabant death: death of communism
VW Beetle is emblematic.
Was last produced in: South Africa, Mexico and Brazil
South Africa death of VW Beetle=death of Apartheid
Mexico and Brazil death of VW Beetle=death of statism and closed economies in South America and dawn of Globalization era
Death of Iran’s Paykan???: Brace ofr it! Regime change in Iran will come soon!!
<<But as of yesterday Iran’s Khodro Company, which made the first Paykan in 1967 and has turned out 2.2 million since, has produced the last one. By far the country’s most popular car, 40% of the cars on Iran’s roads are the slightly glorified boxes on wheels.
However, since the 1990s Khodro and other Iranian carmakers have won licenses to produce Renaults, Nissans and other more desirable cars. Plus the Paykan is one of the major causes of pollution in Iran.
“Paykan shouldered Iran’s auto industry for years. But we could not continue our support of domestic products at any cost,” Industry Minister Eshagh Jahangiri said in ceremonies marking the end of Paykan’s production.
The Paykan has been described as “a four-cylinder time capsule” whose design has not noticeably changed since 1967, and which gets 12 miles to the gallon rate. Its name means “arrow” in Farsi, and it’s the budget car, costing about $5,000.
Iran seeks to join the World Trade Organization, and if it’s accepted it must end its twelve-year old ban on car imports.
First CoffeeSM would like to reassure readers that neither Michael Isikoff nor Newsweek magazine were used as sources for this column.>> |
