Iran Snapshot: Loving the American Car (Koscs)

Jim Koscs writes for The New York Times:

The scene has been played out so many times as to border on cliché. It begins with an impromptu meet-up of two Chevy Camaros, each announcing its prowess with a V-8 rumble. Then, despite good-natured banter between the drivers, an unspoken challenge is made. Finally, a tire-smoking showdown ensues.

One big difference this time: the encounter, which took place at summer’s end, did not begin on the main drag of a small Midwestern town and pursue resolution on a deserted country road. Instead, the Camaros, a pair of pumped-up early ’70s models owned by friends, faced off at the Azadi Stadium Race Track in Tehran.

The setting was a gathering of the Tehran Café Racers, but aside from few minor details — Persian lettering on the license plates and on the cans of Coke sipped over lunch — it could have taken place at many racetracks in America. The loose-knit group, an affiliate of a Florida-based club, is part of Iran’s enthusiastic classic car culture. Vintage Detroit models play a big role in the activities, and driving events take precedence — the track session was the group’s first since its founding this year.

“I was expecting a better turnout for the American car contingent,” Ramin Salehkhou, a 44-year-old American-educated lawyer who started the Tehran branch of the club, wrote in an e-mail. “But three of the guys, owners of a 1968 Dodge Charger, a 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 and a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, had to bail out.”

A rare high-performance Camaro belonging to Mr. Salehkhou is at the core of the Tehran group’s formation, and Detroit was well represented among the 30 cars at the track. American cars usually account for 30 to 40 percent of participants at club gatherings, he said.

In addition to Mr. Salehkhou’s Camaro and its drag-race rival, other attendees included a restored 1965 Mustang convertible, a ’67 Mustang GT, a ’72 Mustang Mach 1 (also owned and restored by Mr. Salehkhou), a ’71 Dodge Charger and a ’73 Corvette. Also on hand were a Chevy Blazer and a mid-1970s Buick Park Avenue.

Most cars took to the track for hot laps and drag racing. The Buick’s owner entertained the group by doing power slides around the road course, a feat made easier by the 454-cubic-inch Chevy V-8 that replaced the original Buick engine.

Among the 1960s and 1970s vehicles joining the day’s fun were a number of Mercedes-Benz sedans, coupes and SL roadsters; a 1975 Maserati Khamsin that was once part of the shah’s Imperial Garage; MGB and Triumph TR6 roadsters; and even some Volkswagens — a quasi-military Thing and a pair of vintage Beetles.

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