Countries good for spotting chod

[Richard_FM]

Even in the days of global marketing there are still many places where it’s still easy to see lots of older & unusual cars On the roads.

Some people on Flickr seem to take holidays where they spend most of their time spotting cars of interest.

From personal experience Turkey was good for this as they have a few local companies making hand me down models after they finished production elsewhere.  

[davocano]

This guy gets around a bit; I would start with the Lebanon and continue to any or all of the former Soviet republics.

Greece and Malta are probably more accessible tho.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcars/albums

[bramz7]

From my own personal experience you can see a lot in Mediterranean Europe, but like the UK it can vary wildly between towns, cities, north and south. Greece is pretty good in Athens, although I've only been to Thessaloniki. The islands aren't what they used to be. If you went to a small city without an airport I suspect you would see a lot. 

Italy is my favourite. You really have to go south to see loads of stuff these days, but venture into any city and you will see something, generally easier to go off the beaten track. I've never had any hassle whatsoever. 

France is good, but can be a bit more tense feeling in the not so tourist areas (in my opinion). 

I took 500 photos while in Madrid last year, but I don't think that fairly represents the country, much like London doesn't represent England. 

Oddly Switzerland had loads of older cars considering its wealth. 

A friend of mine went to Lebanon and judging from what he saw (Argentas, a Maxi, loads of old American imports, basically everything ever made in Japan) it's the place to go. 

[Richard_FM]

I follow someone on Flickr who has been to Greece a few times mostly in Athens,  I’ve only been to the islands a long time ago.

Malta was quite good when I went 10 years ago though I imagine the JDMs are easing out the older cars.

I have seen some pictures from Lebanon which are very good plenty of older Japanese cars & a surprising amount of American cars.  I did wonder if they were originally imported to the richer countries in the Middle East then exported to neighbouring countries.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alpus/

 

[angle]

I've done a few holiday threads on here:

They're pretty much all just stuff I've seen walking around, rather than going out and looking. I think the best destination will depend on what sort of cars you're into - Sri Lanka had lots of obscure Japanese stuff because its RHD, north Africa gets a lot of 80s and 90s French stuff, ex-Soviet states for Soviet cars. Japan had much, much less interesting stuff than I expected, and most countries outside Europe have more old-ish Japanese stuff than you'd expect. The two may be linked. 

 

[Richard_FM]

Japan tends to export its old cars because their answer to the Mot is expensive to get through & this drives down prices.

At least there’s seems to be a collector’s scene there.

[lisbon_road]

The man recommended by Davocano above is good.  See the Ukraine in 2019, an Austin Montego, 70s Opel, other amazing stuff.

[Richard_FM]

There seems to be a lot of 1970s - 80s German cars that were exported to Eastern Europe in the 1990s & are still in use.
 

Mk2 VW Golfs seem to head east en masse.

[Jerzy Woking]

Albania is great if you like seeing battered up Mercedes of all ages, loads of them everywhere. People seemingly would prefer an old Merc rather than newer cars.

If you like looking at MkII Golfs (or the similar TAS) head to Bosnia. We rode through several fairly remote villages where every single house had a Golf parked out front, and mostly in white.

In Sarojevo there are hundreds of them. It is said that the Golf is what actuallly saved the city during the seige.

[Richard_FM]

Yes I’ve seen plenty of mk2 Golfs in news reports from south Eastern Europe.

When I was in Corfu in 1988 there seemed to loads of old Mercedes still in everyday use.  

[Tamworthbay]

Malta and Corfu used to be great but less so in recent years. Turkey is still great, especially out of the larger towns. Russia was surprisingly poor when I visited last year but to be fair I didn’t get to the quieter spots. There were a few though, my favourite above on the Nevsky prospect in Leningrad and god knows where below.....

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Georgia. It has to be Georgia. The poor standard of their roads turns everything to shite quite quickly.

When I was last in Malaysia in 2008, there was quite a lot of shite, especially in the rural kampongs.

Also Mongolia. This seems to have a fair bit of ex-JDM RHD shite, as does the extreme east of Russia - Vladivostok and that type of thing. 

[Richard_FM]

Portugal had a fair about of 1980s cars still in general use when I was there in 2009.

I could see some had been imported from France because of the yellow headlights.

It seems when countries get a bit richer people have the money to buy cars more often so the cascade of used cars becomes faster & the market for second hand imports drop,

Even Ireland used to import a lot of cars that British dealers had trouble selling, at least according to my Aunt & Uncle who have relatives over there.

[sutty2006]

Tenerife. I always enjoy a good shite spot session when I’m on holiday there. 

[1970mgb]

Eastern KY and Southern Indiana in the US are prime spots for seeing...interesting...old things held together.

My favorite was going to look at a Mogie(didn't buy it) and the owner pulled up in an A60 Cambridge. It was an..interesting...vehicle that had a Chevy small block 350 coupled to a Powerglide. He told me that he'd torn up the rear end a month after fitting that assembly, so had stuck on one from an 80s full sized Dodge sedan, and welded sheet metal fenders on to cover the wheels.

The Mogie would have actually been a decent purchase, as it had a 1250 Midget engine(it came with both original 1098cc(that was a beautiful time capsule complete with original Lucas plug wires) as well as the Midget that had donated the engine, but it was painted primer gray, had no exterior trim, needed hood hinges, and had too many other nagging problems that on the surface looked minor but I was afraid would be major to fix. Oh, it also had a poorly done Midget disk conversion that left you with no pedal feel and was frankly downright scary to drive.

It was interesting to see so many crazy little British projects in middle of nowhere Indiana, though.

[Mrcento]

Definitely Malta. Had a mate who went on holiday over there a couple of years back and it looked like shite-paradise.

ton's of 80's-90's stuff all plodding around, mostly a little battered but all seemingly totally rust free.

[Richard_FM]

Almost every other street in Malta seemed to have a Metro or a Mk3 Escort on it when I was there.

[DVee8]

The Canary islands are good for old chod.

 

 

[Slappy]

I wish, I wish I was into shite spotting when I went  to Malta in 2006, because sat  all week right outside the hotel that I stayed at was a motherfucking Tagora. I loved all the shed trucks that had modern cabs fitted over something 1960s too

[Richard_FM]

Islands seemed to be good for keeping older cars around, I presume because their aren't too many long distances to drive, and once cars get old it's expensive to remove them.

[Slappy]

Ok, this sent me down a rabbit hole, so I dropped a pin randomly on  streetview in Malta. In one service area here only 3 and a half years ago, we have the following: Tata Gurkha, Tata Safari, Skoda Estelle, a  Renault 19, a Datsun Cherry (I think, maybe!), what I think may be an early Suzuki Alto, 2 Daewoo Astra Belmonts, a mk 3 Escort. and some other assorted bits and pieces

https://goo.gl/maps/xR4KZ2FM9vy6xq7w6

[timolloyd]

Douala, Cameroon If your thing is utterly fucked 90s shite still on the road.

And you can still see Pug 504 and 504 in daily use in Hurghada, Egypt.

[willswitchengage]

Morocco - mainly old French stuff and the usual Mercs. I've been to about 40 countries now and this was overwhelmingly the highlight from a tat-spotting perspective.

Anywhere in the Balkans you can guess quite easily what you'll see. (Serbia 2016 below)

I've been to most of the CIS and Azerbaijan was the old place that still had Ladas in any significant quantity, but old commercial vehicles are everywhere.

In India you won't recognise many vehicles, but everything you do see is very Mad Max-esque. (I spent four hours on this bus)

[Richard_FM]

It’s interesting what happens when old car tooling gets passed down,  the Peykan production line ended up in Sudan after the Iranians had eventually finished with it.

[sutty2006]

I’ve seen Iraq is good for spotting 90s shite being ploughed off the road by American Humvees........ shame about the rest of its tourist industry. 

[Inspiral_Mondays]

Used to go to Russia a lot, especially Southern Siberia. The place was always chock full of right hand drive Japanese imports, many of which I‘d never seen before, even in Japan.

[Richard_FM]

46 minutes ago, Inspiral_Mondays said:

Used to go to Russia a lot, especially Southern Siberia. The place was always chock full of right hand drive Japanese imports, many of which I‘d never seen before, even in Japan.

I guess it’s easier to import 2nd handcars from Japan rather than bring them from further west in Russia.

[Inspiral_Mondays]

41 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

I guess it’s easier to import 2nd handcars from Japan rather than bring them from further west in Russia.

Additionally, most Russians would rather have their fingernails pulled out than drive a Russian car. Putin introduced a 25% duty on imported cars some years ago, in addition to the 20% VAT in order to protect the Russian manufacturers. However, people would still rather drive a 4 year old Toyota with the steering wheel on the wrong side than a new Lada.

[motorpunk]

14 hours ago, Mrcento said:

Definitely Malta. Had a mate who went on holiday over there a couple of years back and it looked like shite-paradise.

ton's of 80's-90's stuff all plodding around, mostly a little battered but all seemingly totally rust free.

Malta! I was there last Autumn. Saw some awesome old snot, here’s a fave;

[motorpunk]

Was in Latvia last year, went to drive Ladas and Volgas. Some great stuff there, too.