Morocco - where old Mercs never die

"Hobbes.drives.an.A5" (Hobbes-drives-an-A5) 03/08/2015 at 16:50 • Filed to: None

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When I was a kid, a visit from my mum's cousin (my second cousin?) was always a pretty cool occasion, because he drove a Jag. I remember him telling me he'd never buy a Mercedes, 'because, young chap, they are taxis.' Growing up in London, I didn't really understand what he meant - after all, taxis were horrible rattly old black cabs that wouldn't go south of the river and Mercs were those lovely SLs that wealthy people drove.

It wasn't until I visited France and Germany that I understood what he meant - suddenly there were Mercedes 300s and 500s everywhere with little taxi lights on their roofs. Wow, I could actually pay for a ride in the back of a car that didn't look like it had been designed in 1930 and wasn't going to shatter my spine either!

I've often wondered what happened to these cars after they've racked up half a million kilometres or so and ended their lives as euro-taxis. Well, after a recent trip to North Africa, now I know. They just carry on as taxis in Morocco…

Morocco is an awesome country, which I highly recommend you visit. Of all the north African nations it's probably the most politically stable; it's reasonably secular - women are actually allowed to do stuff; but it's still incomparably different from what we consider the 'western world'.

The capital, Marrakech, is really two different cities - you've got the modern city, which is actually not so far removed from what we consider a 'normal' city to be like. It is full of bog-standard eurobox cars, which you don't want to see and I didn't take any pictures of. Then you have the old city, the medina - a maze of narrow alleys, hectic souks, beautiful riads where you can stay in relative luxury for bargain prices, oh, and psychotic scooter riders who will run you down if you get in their way.

This guy is taking a well-earned break before another shift of terrorising pedestrians

The medina is pretty much inaccessible to normal cars, so deliveries are made by mule, porter or by these cool motorised trikes. Also driven by psychopaths.

The city is hilarious, and home to every ex-taxi Mercedes built before 1998 I think. Unfortunately, like taxi drivers the world over, the Moroccans aren't the friendliest of folk if you're not actively providing a fare and for some reason aren't that keen on tourists taking pictures of their cars. So, here are some pics of other modes of transport in this amazing city.

Suzuki Carrys are narrow enough for the medina's alleyways too - and can be made to look pretty cool, with some tasteful colour schemes and stickers, I think you will agree

This Jetta was 'intimate' with the wall

Friendly roadside assistance guy

Outside of Marrakech, things can get even more interesting. Old Renaults abound, and some are in pretty good shape.

We went for a multi-day trek into the Sahara, which required a day-long drive south over the Atlas Mountains, and some extraordinary landscapes.

In the desert, the only way to transport your kit is by camel train, led by your friendly Berber guide.

That is, until the weather turns sour and you need to call in the 4x4s to rescue you from an encroaching sandstorm. Our rescue party comprised a Land Rover Defender and a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.

Guess which one broke down…

As I said, Morocco is pretty amazing and you should definitely go if you get the chance. I know it's a cliche, but it really is another planet. For those of us who love driving it's also a pretty potent reminder that there are many, many people in this world, who'll never get behind the wheel. Perhaps worth bearing in mind when we next are tempted to moan about our daily driver...

Steve in Manhattan > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/08/2015 at 17:01

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Back when they were selling the W123 here in US America, people who didn't want to pay the freight would import a gray-market car. It turned out that many of those cars had been European taxis with half a million miles on them and an odometer rollback. I recall also reading that the sellers were very careful to replace worn pedals and seats.

505Turbeaux > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/08/2015 at 17:07

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glorious, but they dont die ANYWHERE if you take care of them!

jkm7680 > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/08/2015 at 17:11

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I've got a few pictures of them somewhere, I'll try and dig them up.

Steve in Manhattan > 505Turbeaux 03/08/2015 at 17:45

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Still, if I spent 15 grand on a half million mile 300D, I'd be pissed off. Also, keep in mind that 300Ds went for more than 30 grand in the mid 80s.

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > 505Turbeaux 03/08/2015 at 18:16

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Weirdly, I've started spotting really nice old ones in London now too. Maybe I should look at an old Merc as my next car!

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/08/2015 at 18:21

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Oops, someone just pointed out Marrakech is not the capital of Morocco - that's Rabat. Sorry!

pip bip - choose Corrour > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/08/2015 at 18:29

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great pics!

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > pip bip - choose Corrour 03/08/2015 at 19:56

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Thank you!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/09/2015 at 02:05

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There's a P38 Range Rover bumbling around over there that has had its roof removed in favor of a cage. It would have been neat of you saw it and posted pics, at least for me, since I did most of the work on it.

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 03/09/2015 at 15:26

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Sounds pretty amazing, wish I had seen it. There are definitely some interesting conversions over there.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 03/09/2015 at 21:27

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Just picture it flat red.

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 03/10/2015 at 17:41

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Excuse the language, but that is cool as fuck!

sklooner > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 13:22

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I was there around the time of Desert Storm, I remember being told that you could get flogged for drinking a beer but hash was 50 cents a gram- surprisingly I don't remember a lot of the photos I took

Hotdogjudge > 505Turbeaux 04/06/2015 at 13:37

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well corrosion is a natural enemy in some areas and not everyone have the possibility to have the car sheltered. I sold my W124 with 650K kilometers on the odo, because corrosion was starting to take it's toll. The drivetrain was still running perfectly fine.

Nabzy > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 14:04

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I feel sorry for your lack of knowledge! Marrakech isn't the Capital city of Morocco...Rabat is the Capital

ali > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 14:09

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The capital is Rabat, not Marrakech ;)

FYI, all the cabs are diesel, even if you see "300 SEL", they all have been swapped to a diesel version. But it's not going to last long, government want to replace them with more eco friendly cars (picture below) where you can actually fit 5 persons (right now 2 persons sit in the passenger side, yes : 2).

Ian McDowell > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 14:21

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"guess which one broke down"

Hrrgggg idk the old car or the new one??

505Turbeaux > Hotdogjudge 04/06/2015 at 15:31

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what motor? They were all pretty good but I am curious. 650k is a hell of a run for an m103 without some serious engine work

Ashley Pomeroy > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 15:50

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Cor, I was there back in December. The taxis are either old Mercedes (the Grand Taxis) or Fiats, huge great swarms of relatively-modern-looking Fiats, as if the government had them all replaced overnight ten years ago.

I remember walking past a street mechanic pit, basically a row of garages where the taxis are maintained; it had an air of Mad Max about it, with rattly old scooters and old Mercedes being maintained with spare parts, buzzing around. The air always smelled of unburned petrol, spices, and the faint whiff of horse pee, and it was always grey-blue from the dust. Fascinating place. It'd probably survive if the rest of the world had a nuclear war.

gokstate01 > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 17:29

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Someone recommended this book to me a few years back—a great read. Definitely outlines one trajectory for used European Mercedes: Title: "My Mercedes is Not for Sale."

Hotdogjudge > 505Turbeaux 04/06/2015 at 17:59

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That was the 2.5 liter diesel with 5 cylinders and - important - no turbo. These engines are known for 1M+ if you do basic maintenance. I still miss that car!

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > gokstate01 04/06/2015 at 18:06

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Thanks for letting me know, I will have to read it!

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > Ashley Pomeroy 04/06/2015 at 18:08

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I know, it's pretty extraordinary isn't it. Some of the more 'interesting' repair jobs showed a lot of imagination!

505Turbeaux > Hotdogjudge 04/06/2015 at 18:08

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yup, very good engine right there. RIP?

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > ali 04/06/2015 at 18:09

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I know, someone pointed it out to me after I posted the blog! Teaches me to fact-check and review before posting in future... :)

six2 > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 18:13

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Traveling overseas, Albania and Tajikistan had a shocking percentage of german cars, of which Mercedes was still king. In Tirana or Dushanbe, maybe 30% of the cars on the roads were Benzes. So nuts!

Break-Mend-Continue > gokstate01 04/06/2015 at 23:15

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I have that book, it was fantastic.

alexotics > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/06/2015 at 23:46

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Having spent some time in Marrakesh and Essaouira, I can vouch for everything that was said above. Absolutely fascinating to see all those 240 diesel Mercs puttering around. Makes for a beautiful land scape and some unforgettable (for me) late night drives.

bobrayner > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/07/2015 at 04:22

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We need a Jalopnik roadtrip down there...

Mauritania and Burkina Faso are even more striking: Pretty much everything on the streets is either a 1980s/1990s Mercedes car, a Bremen van, or an old bullnose LA-series Mercedes truck.

Gabiatche rides 2CVs and DSs for a Livin' > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/07/2015 at 04:55

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It's actually going even further: Euro cabs usually end up first in eastern Europe, mostly those coming from germany/austria, sold on the way by turkish and balkanic cabbies in their country of origin, while the french/spanish ones end up in morocco and algeria. there they serve another round as taxis before being sent to subsaharian Africa. I bet if their odometers where still working one of these cabs would definitly beat the record...

Hobbes.drives.an.A5 > alexotics 04/07/2015 at 16:18

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Excellent pics, thank you for sharing them!

alexotics > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/07/2015 at 16:52

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Those were just from Google. I took some shots from the back of taxi cab rides in 240Ds with the interior eaten away by the sun. The shots turned out magical but unfortunately they're stored somewhere far away on an external hard drive.

braintrain > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/07/2015 at 19:24

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The capital of Morocco is Rabat.

Manuel Lopes > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/11/2015 at 15:40

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Pajero sport? don´t you mean L200?

Manuel Lopes > Hobbes.drives.an.A5 04/11/2015 at 15:41

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Marrakesh is not the capital of Marocco. Rabat is the capital