(first posted 1/30/2014) Long known as one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, Beirut’s streets show a car culture reflective of the diversity and flair of its citizenry. Old is, of course, a relative term, and in the case of one the world’s longest inhabited cities, we’ll use the term to describe the country from the period following independence through 1975, when street scenes became decidedly less idyllic.
Despite large numbers of poor, Lebanon has long been known for its significant middle class and its population of downright wealthy entrepreneurs. Outside of Europe, especially in the Middle East, disguising wealth is less of a priority and combined with a strong French influence and close ties to the West, the country enjoyed a unique mix of cars from every corner of the capitalist world.
This is clearly evident in this picture, where a Citroen Traction Avant can be seen trundling along an old Beirut street next to American pickups and sedans. There are a number of small cars pictured as well; see if you can identify them all.
In this seafront street, a white Mustang can be seen in front of what appears to be an old Cadillac, behind which is a Renault 8.
In this somewhat older shot, we see the rear quarters of a BMC ADO16 four-door of some sort, and behind the Mercedes Pontons is a white Fiat 1500 sedan.
This picture does not seem to have been taken in Beirut, but still shows a typical mix of cars, with Mercedes sedans alongside Detroit boats. The latter were ill-suited to a mountainous country full of narrow, winding roads.
Nevertheless, American cars seemingly dominate the landscape, although by the mid 1970s, this began to change, with upscale European sedans becoming more popular.
American sedans have always been popular in the Middle East, as we can see. But when compared to the hot and flat Gulf states, their presence in Lebanon made less sense.
Small European hatchbacks and sedans from France and Britain caught on sooner in Lebanon than in some other markets. It’s hard to think of a better sort of car for the country than one built with long suspension travel and an appetite for winding country lanes.
Of course, cruising down the Corniche with the fresh Mediterranean sea air in your face is most fun in a classic American hardtop.
The long civil war created an entirely new class of wealthy people who, along with a hardy and tenacious middle class, kept the market for new cars in tact. In pictures taken of the devastation in the ’80s and ’90s, European cars predominate. However, it’s much more enjoyable to devote our attention to a place and time forgotten among Westerners today.
These photos are an incredible look into an overseas automotive world that I had never thought about. The presence of large numbers of American cars is especially surprising. What was the source of the photos? Were some of them family photographs taken during visits to Beirut?
You may find the attached photo interesting. It is an Iraqi Airways postcard that shows a Baghdad street scene with a variety of American cars and a Volkswagen.
There was an article in the German magazine Auto Bild during the 1990s about mass unofficial imports into Lebanon of used Mercedes from Europe. It had interesting profiles of Lebanese in the used Mercedes trade and some great photos, but sadly, the article’s photos long ago disappeared from the net. Only the text remains archived:
http://www.oocities.org/motorcity/speedway/5350/lebanon.htm
Love that postcard! There’s some vintage iron and some vintage tin: The ’60 Chevy and the 737-200.
Probably both long since recycled into Cruzes and Cessnas, respectively.
As I mentioned in a comment the other day, American cars were very desirable pretty much everywhere in the world through the fifties, and the American manufacturers exploited this through aggressive export sales. For instance, Kaiser-Frazer, despite being a new company, sold close to 10% of its output in exports. But not as complete cars, but CKD units assembled locally at various assembly sites in Europe and the Middle East. I’m going to do a post on it.
I found out last week that Kaiser-Frazer actually contracted with Mitsubishi to build the Henry J in Japan in 1951. I knew there were a fair number of small British and French cars built in Japan under license from the ’50s through the mid-60s, but I had never known the Henry J was as well.
“mass unofficial imports”, that’s one way of putting it. Another is to say that cars were stolen all over Europe and shipped to Lebanon, which had a very lax registration policy. I guess some bribes were involved, but the thick end of it was that the cars received a new identity, and could thus be exported further. A black market economy whitewashing stolen cars. And Mercedes was a very popular car down there, thus would get a hefty premium…
I was looking for a nice (or cryptic) way to say it! Russia was also a major destination for stolen Mercedes from Western Europe during the 1990s, I remember.
What I’d love is a postcard from Baghdad in the ’80s, taken at the height of that country’s development, with JDM Nissan and Toyota sedans everywhere, along with Benzes and Mk1 Passats.
When I was living in Japan in the 1990’s, there was a good business of Russian mobsters stealing high-end cars and then shipping them out on Russian ships. They didn’t seem to mind the RHD!
Those cars were already all over Russia by 1992-93. I saw Japanese RHD cars everywhere from Vladivostok to Moscow in those years, mostly midsize sedans, but also large cars (Toyota Crowns, possibly) and minivans. The steering wheels on the wrong side clearly did not matter to people, the cars being high quality vehicles for a bargain price made them widely attractive.
I’m sure there was the criminal element involved in theft of newer cars, but for the most part, these cars were simply bought at auction at 7 years old for a laughably low price and shipped over on anything and everything, lots of photos from the 90s with Russian fishing trawlers with cars stacked/jammed in every which way. Now, the criminal element came up when the cars reached port. Many cases of cars being taken at gunpoint right at the docks, or in transit to sales lots, or while being run into inner Siberia my car-runner middle men. Wild times to say the least, a gold rush in the dark days of the 90s when salaries weren’t being paid and everything (infrastructure, social order) was collapsing all around.
Traffic in Baghdad often consisted of exactly those cars in 2009-10, although they were dented, faded and worn-out looking. Iraq has been flooded with new cars since the start of this decade, though, so the streets probably look very different now. I have heard that American cars with V-8s (Mustang, Charger, etc.) have become very popular, and that street drag racing was becoming a major problem (or good thing, depending on your point of view) a couple of years ago.
I grew up in Kuwait in the 80’s. Gas was cheap, and most Kuwaiti oil company employees drove Caprice Classics as company cars, Cadillacs for management. Kuwaitis drove Mercedes 560SELs and the occasional Rolls Royce. Indian and Asian professionals drove Toyota Cressidas or Mitsubishi Galants. My favourite was our neighbour, a professional footballer (soccer) who parked his red Alfa Romeo Milano next to our Mazda 929. Pic is from an Australian post here.
Another source says it is the Iraqi News Agency building on Abu Nuwas street, Baghdad!
Some great vintage photos! Hope there’s plenty more where they came from!
If any of you have an opportunity to see a 50’s era French “Noir” film (usually B&W), that is predominately filmed in Paris, it’s fun to watch the street scenes (particularly night shots). A surprising abundance of 50’s American steel.
It is great fun. I recommend Rififi.
With all of the French influence, I would’ve expected the Citroen DS to make an appearance, but I didn’t spot any in these pics.
But there are some interesting oddities: the tank pic has what seem to be a green Mercedes 600 (behind the yellow w116) and a silver Talbot Tagora (to the right of the tank)!
I’d say that green car is a Volvo 244.
Ack, you’re right. Now that I peer at the screen, I can see the little chrome triangle at the top of the C-pillar.
As the doctors say, if you see hoof-prints, don’t start looking for zebras.
Fascinating!
In the fourth pic, the “Fiat 2300” is actually the smaller 1500.
In picture #3 the “Cadillac” between the Mustang and Renault 8 is actually a ’58 Chevy 2-door hardtop. Either a BelAir or an Impala.
And the “Renault 8” is actually a Fiat 850 🙂
AAAAA!!!
Okay, both the Fiat and the Chevy I can forgive myself for.
I agree, Fiat 850 is correct, the front bumper is not the R8 is “stair” style. The roof is also more rounded than the R8.
I’m thinking Bel Air or Biscayne . . .
I am of the age that considers Beirut to be such a tragedy. Video of burning, bombed-out buildings and the rat-a-tat of automatic weapons fire regularly graced the evening news during the years I was old enough to pay attention. Such a shame given the natural beauty of the area and the time and money invested into the city by so many.
These pictures show a happier time, and a really cool variety of cars.
I recommend Robert Fisk’s Pity the Nation if you want to read a good account of those years.
I think the photo that you mention isn’t in Beirut is actually Beirut. When you hover over the picture it says “Beyrouth1968”. Beyrouth is Beirut in French.
Wow, what a great set a of pictures! It is so cool to see these cars from around the world fitting into a very unique habitat. As JPC points out, I find it slightly melancholy to see these vibrant pictures, given the turmoil that the city has suffered through, but an amazing chronicle of cars nonetheless.
Great story and pics. The Middle East has too many cities that were once beautiful that are ruins.
What I think is neat to spot are the few DeSoto Diplomats.
According to the Production Orders which are in the Studebaker National Museum, at least one 1958 Packard Hawk was sold new and shipped to Beirut. It was a ‘special order’ car with black exterior, white leather interior, and the only Packard Hawk with red carpeting. And a red/white/blue emblem of sorts was applied to each door. I was hoping to see this car in at least one of those photos.
Wow, what wonderful scenes! Being of Lebanese descent (my relative, Emile Lahoud, was Lebanon’s president for a while), it’s indeed sad that today, a city once widely known as “the Paris of the Middle East” is usually referred to as “war-torn Beirut.” C’est la vie…
Wow! Emile Lahoud’s relative, right here on CC!
I saw a Ford Consul MK2 100E Ford Prefect 55/56 Morris Oxford or Isis some Simca Arondes in that first street scene just 50s cars nuthin to see here
In the first pic there is a Goggomoblile what a contrast to the American steel,also is that a Morris Oxford by the second [very fine] lamppost?
The colors and cars are reminiscent of early 1970s Athens
I remember the appearance of regularly parked Buick Century colonnade sedan around 1976 with Arabic license plates. Eventually I figured out they must be ‘rich Lebanese people’.
One difference–American cars in Athens were rather rare by the early 1970s–and with Greek plates exceedingly rare. When you spotted a US car, 98% of the time it was owned by a US serviceman (AF or Navy) (recognizable by the yellow “ksi alpha” plates), 1% had diplomatic plates (besides the US embassy, Asian embassies had them), or it was an old car with Greek plates. In Greece, a car can last forever…. I’m sure Lebanon is like that also
However, in old Greek movies (from 1950 to mid-60s), when relatively few people had cars, when there are cars shown, they are mostly American.
Thanks for posting those vintage photos of a healthy Beirut.
Somewhere I had a travel brochure from the mid-sixties for the Phoenicia Hotel which had just opened there a few years before. It was/is a full five-star facility with all the amenities common to any famous five-star seen in the US or Europe. I remember it was closed for a few years while the political unrest went on in the 1970’s.
The hotel is spectacular, with one of the best breakfast buffets I’ve ever had!
Brunch at the Phoenicia. Made-to-order man’oushe!
My mother was saddened by the Lebanese war in the 70s. “It was such a nice city, what an awful shame. It was the nicest city in the Middle East”. Some of the older pics could be from the era she was there, early 1960s.
My dad worked at an oil refinery in Iran in the early Fifties and visited Beirut several times – he said it was quite a beautiful city back then.
I visited Beirut in 2018 and had a wonderful time. The food was fantastic and the country is spectacular. My wife’s cousin’s were great hosts. There were lots of European and Japanese cars (especially Hondas) as I recall. I think this picture is of the same building pictured in the 8th photo from the top. I took the picture from our hotel, the Phoenicia. The lovely old hotel across the street on the waterfront is one of the many empty buildings in the city (most have more scars from the war). The current economic situation is dire, with the country torn apart by competing factions and external influences.
While most of the cars in Beirut were fairly new, we did see some survivors, like this old Peugeot, which we came across on a side street one evening after dinner. This one made my wife happy, since her dad drove a similar Peugeot when she was a kid!
It would be interesting to compare Beirut’s cars with Damascus and Amman.
Also the picture with the armored vehicle is probably 82-83 during the US intervention since it’s an LVTP-7 amphibious APC and the USMC is the largest user and the only other nearby operator was Spain.