Rare Cars Seized Following Iranian Revolution Now On Display At Museum

[AvesPKS]

New York Times

The New York Times (9/8, Fathi) reports, "Museum guides like to say that the rare Mercedes-Benz 500 K carried Hitler to review his troops. They know that the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV was built to be bulletproof, ordered by a safety-minded Shah Reza Pahlavi after an assassination attempt against his son. These two automobiles are among about 40 classic cars seized after the Islamic revolution 25 years ago that are now on permanent display at a modest museum on the outskirts of Tehran. A huge warehouse behind the museum houses another 140 cars waiting to be restored. Closed to the public, the damp, dusty warehouse holds piles of broken furniture and dozens of Mercedeses, a handful of early Rolls-Royces, and coveted models of Austin Healys, Citroëns and other examples of the world's finest automobiles." The Times adds, "The museum provides silent testimony to an era when the power and wealth of Iran's rulers placed them on the level of Europe's royal families. ... The museum officials said that about 2,000 cars were confiscated after the revolution but that many were sold in the early 1980's to raise money for the war with Iraq."

 

[Schadenfroh]

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