Just as the Checker was once synonymous with "cab" in the US, nothing says "taxi" in Tehran like the retrograde Pakyan. But among the city's style elites, the boxy Pak-rat, built on an assembly line the state-owned Khodro car company bought from Hillman in the mid-1960s, is an ugly, gas-guzzling mess. The country's Environment Protection Organization is insisting the Paykan be discontinued and taken off the streets, because even with upgrades, it could never meet international standards on emissions and safety. Taxi drivers, however, would lament the cars' economy of operation, as well as being able to buy spare parts at grocery stores (not kidding).
Iran's Paykan Car on Its Last Miles [The Los Angeles Times]
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Iran s Khodro Motors Seeks Other Outsourcing Partners in India; Tata Talks Unsatisfactory [internal]