Vintage cars come out of hiding
Cars date back to period between 1920s when oil was discovered, and 1970s, when Iraq had region’s best roads
Vehicles date back to period between 1920s when oil was discovered, and 1970s, when Iraq had region’s best roads
When Iraqi forces drove Daesh militants out of eastern Mosul a year ago, Nashwan Shakir Mahmoud raced back to his home, hoping that his red and white 1955 Chevrolet coupe had survived three years of war and upheaval.
When he saw that it had only suffered light damage from a mortar shell that landed nearby, he was overjoyed.
“I had an unspeakable feeling, I sighed in relief when I saw it,” he said.
He spent 10 days carrying out his own repairs and then drove it all the way back to Baghdad, a 13-hour journey that would have taken four in a modern car.
“When I reached Baghdad,” he said, “people were stopping me in the streets to take pictures and videos. It was like a dream to me and to the people.”
The 49-year-old father of six is part of a small community of vintage car aficionados who are hoping to rekindle their passion now that the war against the Daesh group is over. For many, the cars remind them of happier times in Iraq, before decades of war and chaos, which they hope are finally coming to an end.
“These cars have something spiritual that lets you feel the happiness of the good old days,” said Mahmoud, who also owns a 1964 GMC pickup.
The pickup is in a mechanic’s garage in Mosul’s Old City, in an unsecured area cordoned off by security forces. Mahmoud had two other vintage cars — a 1957 Dodge Coronet and a 1967 Dodge pickup — but US soldiers towed them away in 2006 after warning him against parking them on the street without getting them repaired, saying militants could use them to conceal roadside bombs. He said he cried when they were taken away.
Iraq’s vintage cars date back to the period between the discovery of oil in the 1920s and the booming 1970s, when the country was awash in petroleum wealth and boasted some of the finest roads in the region.
Much of that infrastructure was destroyed in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and the 1990 Gulf War. The sanctions in the 1990s made it difficult to secure spare parts.
In the chaotic years after the 2003 US-led invasion, many collectors kept their cars hidden or locked up, while the daily bombings, and the blast walls and barbed wire that sprouted across Baghdad and other cities, took the pleasure out of driving.
Now, many of those barriers have come down, and some collectors feel more comfortable showing off their treasures.
Sa’ad Al Nuaimi, 65, has parked six vintage cars in front of his coffee shop in Baghdad’s northern Azamiyah neighbourhood, including a green and blue 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air and two Townson cars from the mid-1960s.
“When you feel secure, you have the guts to get money out of your pocket to enjoy such beauties,” he said.
The government keeps its own trove of vintage cars, including a rare 1904 Jeep Levon and luxury models used by the Hashemite monarchy from 1921 until 1958.
Others belonged to Uday, the notoriously brutal playboy son of Saddam Hussain.
Ahmad Shukor, a 39-year-old engineer who runs a Facebook page devoted to documenting Iraq’s vintage cars, is now in the final stages of opening a vintage car showroom in the central city of Najaf. The owners of more than 60 cars have agreed to display them there.