They are not supposed to be sold only in Russia, in fact.
https://www.datsun.ru/news/datsun-lebanon.html

There's a car photographer on Flickr called Andrew who lives in Athens but has been studying Arabic in Beirut and photographing the local automotive life, including cars from Syria.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/carspotterandrew98/

There are still plenty of 1980s cars on the road in Lebanon, including some very beaten-up Japanese cars still working as taxis. There are also recent Chinese cars, Iranian cars from Syria and even the Datsun-badged Ladas that are supposedly only sold in Russia.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/carspotterandrew98/33733625096/in/dateposted/

AFP news agency has made a short news clip from the Aleppo collection:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfBqzQxfNbI&feature=player_embedded

The collector, Mohammed Mohiedin Anis, was gone for awhile but now he is back home after Syrian army regained control of the city. Unfortunately some of the cars had been damaged. There are bullet holes in many of the cars.

Dual headlamps, hood and fender emblems and short bed indicate a 1958 ½-ton Task-Force Apache 31, to be precise.

Yeah I hear you. I live in the suburbs of Southern California - the more well-off areas especially consist almost entirely of 2010-2016 model cars. I have to venture to the poorer areas to find anything older. Fortunately, there are a bunch of 1980s cars in the poor areas that peak my interest.

Mercury is a 1956 Montclair; the red convertible is a 1942/1946-1947 Cadillac.

I sincerely miss seeing interesting old cars in Syria, especially in Damascus. It was a unique place where I could see mixture of old and new cars unlike here in America where it's mainly just dull new cars and is not easy to find cars that are 20 years or so older. To this day, I still regret not making more of an effort to go out to streets of Damascus when I was still living there and take photos of fascinating old parked cars. I have a few photos like that somewhere in my hard drive and might upload them but still I wish I had a lot more to show. Unfortunately that opportunity has long since passed and with the way things are getting progressively worse by the day in Syria, it does not seem to likely that I ever be returning to Damascus anytime soon.

That last one is disgraceful!

Very interesting story and pictures ElSaxo! Thanks!

Green car is a Buick, former presidential car is a 57 Cadillac, red one a Hudson, blue/white a 1955 Mercury, yellow pickup a Chevrolet and red convertible a Buick.


Citroen in Damascus Old City


Citroen in Damascus

Website with pictures of old cars in Damascus streets
http://bashny.net/t/en/290568

Not for a everyday use, but still worth it in my opinion. Some time ago I've seen this interesting Reuters article about a car collector in Aleppo, Syria, with some very nice cars. I can only recognize the Citroen CX and the Volkswagen Kurierwagen, what's the rest?

An unusual collection
Aleppo, Syria Abdalrhman Ismail
Updated 17 March
9 images

On a side street of Aleppo’s al-Shaar neighbourhood is an unexpected sight in the war-torn city. The road is lined with classic cars, a collection belonging to Mohamed Badr al-Din.

The 66-year-old enthusiast, nicknamed Abu Omar, inherited his large collection from his father. Some of the cars belonged to former Syrian officials and in more peaceful times were used in movies and television shows.

The cars, which have been damaged by heavy shelling, are protected from passers-by by Abu Omar’s guard turkey.

Before the conflict, Abu Omar planned to open a museum to display his collection. He hopes that the turmoil in the country will end so that he can pursue his hobby and repair his cars.


Aleppo and surrounding areas have been hit by heavy fighting in the conflict which is now in its fourth year and has killed some 200,000 people, according to the United Nations.

Keeper of the Cars from Aleppo



Mohamed Badr al-Din (R) stands in front of his vintage cars along a street where he keeps them, in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo January 31, 2015. The 66-year-old collector nicknamed Abu Omar inherited the hobby from his father and has a large collection of vintage cars, some of which he says belonged to former Syrian officials and were used in several movies and shows. Before the unrest, Abu Omar planned to open a museum to display his cars, which are guarded from pedestrians by a turkey that he owns. He hopes that the turmoil in the country will end so that he can pursue his hobby and repair his cars, which are heavily damaged from shelling. (Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)



Mohamed Badr al-Din removes a cover from one of his cars that he says belonged to former Syrian President Adib Shishakli, along a street where he keeps the cars, in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo January 31, 2015. (Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)







Mohamed Badr al-Din walks past his turkey that guards his collection of vintage cars from pedestrians, along a street where he keeps the cars, in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo January 31, 2015. (Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)







Children run from a turkey owned by Mohamed Badr al-Din that guards his collection of vintage cars from passerbys, in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo January 31, 2015. (Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)





Mohamed Badr al-Din stands in front of one of his vintage cars as he holds up a photo of a car used to transport presidents and officials during ceremonies, in the al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo January 31, 2015. (Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters)