Shite of Jordan

[Adrian_pt]

So I went to Jordan over the summer and spent a very happy week there. As well as being blown away by the country I was astonished at the amount of shite on offer - not all Mercs and Japanese tin either, but everything from an Austin Montego to a Wartburg 353. Most of what I saw I snapped, although invariably a few got away, including what looked, from a moving car window, suspiciously like a Honda Quintet .... Anyway, here is the first batch of photos, all from the coastal city of Aqaba. And yes, that is a Dacia 1310....

[Inspector Morose]

Oh please tell me you've got a pic of the warty!

[Adrian_pt]

Missed the Warty, sadly, but hope the following will compensate:

[SambaS]

LONSDALE?

[Junkman]

LHD, so Mitsubishi Galant.

[DSdriver]

Excellent, If their neighbours stopped having wars and stuff and they tidied the place up a bit i might be tempted to visit so I could lust after old 504 estates.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Not this then .

 

 

[Alexg]

That,s some brilliant spotting. I guess you didn't get to pap the Monty though?

[Lord Sterling]

This is great Adrian. It reminds me a lot of Syria. Thanks for posting these up.

[Junkman]

About 20 years ago the area was abundant with yank waftbarges. Have they all vanished?

[ShiteRider]

That pink piece of shit had all that time and money spent/wasted on a bodykit and respray, yet they couldn't even fit the number plate straight. I imagine this speaks volumes about the quality of 'workmanship' involved.

[londonm]

That Range Rover is amazing, what is going on in that f**kwits head to think that looks classy? Where was pic taken?

[saucedoctor]

Ms Price is selling it, londonm. It's in the papers, apparently.

[Adrian_pt]

Still a few Yank tanks around - in fact my host's family owned a particularly rare one, a 1982 Buick Riviera convertible owned from new.

 

And yes, the Austins got snapped!

 

Now: going from Aqaba to Amman, via the desert (where Land Cruisers go to die), and ending up looking at some pretty high-class barnfinds... classiest of which was of course the Renault 10.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

A flipping Marcos Mantis in Jordan!!!!! WTF

[dollywobbler]

Not sure that's a Mantis. Doesn't look quite right. French plates?

[Adrian_pt]

Pre-2007 Jordanian plates. French origin of the car though....

[Hertz]

It's good but not quite right as Roy Walker would say...

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Aha! Ligier JS

[Adrian_pt]

Correct! Next ten. This lot is from Jarash, Madaba, and the outskirts of Amman. Highlights are the R12, Lancia, 929 Estate (Marina-tastic, I always thought) and the Fintail with W114 tail-lamps. Quality is not great (from a rapidly moving car) so apologies...

[r.welfare]

Never mind the Ligier. Is the blue coupe below it a Maserati Indy?

[Adrian_pt]

Yup - both the Indy and the Ligier are owned (since new, I think) by the same guy who will restore them. Parts are tricky however. My host, who was tolerant of and entertained by my papping all the shite on Jordanian roads, took me specially to see "an old Maserati in a shed" - I was expecting a knackered Biturbo and certainly not an Indy!

 

Next batch contains Saab. BMW, Renault 12, Lada and Chevrolet action. The red Beetle had a "low number" plate worth several times more than the car. Taking the last picture almost got me arrested. I still have no idea why.

 

 

[Adrian_pt]

A few more, from downtown Amman.

[Manbearpig]

I know this is a car forum but could you give a brief summary of what was awesome/un-awesome about Jordan, as it's somewhere I have wanted to visit (and Syria unfortunately)

[r.welfare]

Oh my. That dusty green Buick Regal is superb.

[brickwall]

I lived in Kuwait for a bit and there was a fair bit of chode amongst the poorer tribe folk. All stuff over a number of years old got shipped off to Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and stuff.

 

Chevy Caprice Classic Rules OK (in white)

[Lord Sterling]

I lived in Kuwait for a bit and there was a fair bit of chode amongst the poorer tribe folk. All stuff over a number of years old got shipped off to Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and stuff.

Funnily enough I lived there for a small while myself (around 4 months) I spent a bit if time papping shite too but can't remember if I posted them up here, I know I didn't do a dedicated thread. I'd go back to Kuwait like a shot if I could.

[Junkman]

Kojak's Buick!

[Adrian_pt]

Jordan's a good place - first time I'd been to that part of the world and I loved it. I was staying with a Jordanian friend which probably helped.

 

Pros - extremely friendly, hospitable people; pro-Western in outlook; politically stable; the desert is superb; wide range of stuff to do and see, including a lot which is off the beaten track; cheap-ish; plenty of character, with old towns not ripped apart by developers; low crime; decent food; lots of chod to photograph; not crooked by the standards of that part of the world; relatively relaxed attitude. "Middle East for beginners"!

 

Cons - if you don't speak the language, prepare to get ripped off; it's bloody hot in the summer (I had about 48); it's not particularly "Western"; war isn't geographically very far away and you will see occasional reminders (eg Syrian refugees in UN tents); hire cars have recognizable plates which increases the risk of getting pulled over and hassled by less than reputable people.

 

Would recommend. In fact, I'm going back...

[brickwall]

I liked Kuwait. It had a certain charm about it. The Middle East is a great place if you like old buses and lorries. The lorries seem to run for ever over there and there and there are some amazing bodges involving timber post shoved into the leaf suspension etc.