The toughest cars in the world...

[onager]

I'm currently working in Egypt, where cars take an incredible beating.

Here are a few noteworthy survivors I keep seeing:

Lada/Niva--these little Icons Of Socialist Fraternity were exported by the thousands from Russia in the Sixties and Seventies.

Most of them are still in use as city taxicabs in Alexandria and Cairo. Those little bastards are harder to kill than Dracula.

For some strange reason, the windows in most of the taxis won't roll down.

This doesn't matter, since you get plenty of ventilation through the totally rusted-out floorboards. This also gives you the added benefit of helping the driver stop suddenly Flintstone-style, if necessary. Did I say "if?" I meant "when..."

The newer and spiffier Niva hatchback version is a favorite staff car for Egyptian military officers. One day I went over to see if I could help a driver with a problem he seemed to be having under the dashboard. A close look showed me that the whole ignition key cylinder was missing, and the driver was hot-wiring the Niva to get it started.

Peugeot 504/404--another one I see all over the place. The station wagons are popular as long-distance highway taxis. I often see them overloaded with 8 adults, several rugrats, and the luggage rack on top stuffed to overflowing.

55 Chevy--my commute to work from Alexandria takes me thru some small farming villages. One of them has about ten or twelve 1955 Chevy four-doors still running around. A couple of others are "being restored." (i.e., gutted and sanded down to bare metal or primer).

How the heck did they get there? This should be a good puzzle for archeologists hundreds of years from now. But the Chevies might still be running then.

A few Fords of 1952-56 vintage are also out there. Weird. One of them is a pretty spiffy pink-and-white 55 Ford station wagon.

Hyundai Starex mini-van--I've ridden more Egyptian miles than I want to think about in one of these things. It's ugly, uncomfortable, and has a loud/smelly diesel engine, but it always gets us home. And we've taken it to places where no roads even exist.

[Kolesar]

1. Who needs windows that open in Siberia?

[onager]

2. Update: Windows Broken in Both Directions

Having had the opportunity...unfortunately...to study a LOT of those Lada cabs first-hand, I should have said that sometimes the windows won't roll UP, either.

Maybe that was the Special Middle Eastern Option...anyway, the windows are always non-functioning. Sometimes down, sometimes up and sometimes halfway.

And for fans of pre-Glasnost spy novels set in Russia, a lot of the cabs are missing the door handles in the back. So once you're inside, it's sort of like being hauled off by the KGB, since you don't get out until the the driver (or you) opens the outside door handle.

Also, a lot of them still have the original Russian taxi-meters hanging under the dash, though they haven't worked since the days of Leonid Breshnev. Or maybe Khrushchev...

They're homongous, honking pre-digital iron boxes decorated with Cyrillic writing. Something like OBLEVDA-SPATSYA. And they take up most of the knee space under the dash on the passenger side.

These monsters are often sharing space with 1970s-style "flashing disco strobe light displays" which would work in sync with the radio, if any of the gear worked, which it of course does not.

[MercutioATC]

3. 1978-1983 Porsche 911

The "SC" series

Bulletproof 3.0l engines. Typically, they go 250k miles without a rebuild. I believe the record is north of 440k.

Mine, while admittedly having only about 106k miles, is nearly all original...I just replaced the rear shocks last year (that's 23 years on a set of rear shocks).

They're relatively inexpensive to work on when they DO have problems (some parts are damn expensive, though).

All in all, one durable little German car.

Fun to drive, too :)

[FM Arouet666]

7. I second the Porsche vote

Acknowledging that we are talking about the older cars. The 'SC's from the late seventies and early eighties are resilient, you can hammer nails with them all day and come back to shoot aces. The newer cars? I am beginning to wonder given that a loaner Cayenne is sitting in my driveway tonight while maintenance fixes a jacked up convertible mechanism on my car. The second service call in two months.

[masshole]

4. Volvo of course

No car compares to the Volvo's from the 70's-early 90's (the last year of the famous "Red block" engine was 1993).

I presently own three, an 84 240 sedan with 220K, an 87 740 turbo wagon with 158K, and an 87 760 turbo wagon with only 126K on it.

None of them have required any major repairs, the biggest issue is the wiring harness' Volvo utilized in those years - they were made from "environmentally friendly" material, and tend to degrade rapidly (I've only had to replace one so far). The 84 240 has a little rust along the edges of both rear fenders, and a small spot behind the front wheel well. The 2 87 740's are entirely rust-free.

[Book Lover]

5. My 88 740 turbo sedan is doing pretty darn well also

Is *that* why my dashboard gauges are going a little haywire? Do you recall if replacing the wiring harness is a complex (read: pricey) repair?

Also, I live 1 mile in from the ocean, and nary a spot of rust on the body. The gloss coat on the front hood has flaked off over the years, but no rust anywhere.

[masshole]

6. neither complex nor pricey

The wiring harness that usually needs replacing is the main engine harness, I bought a "new style" harness here: http://www.bartonharness.com/. I highly reccomend doing business with Dave. I paid $180.00 for my harness and it took about an hour and a half to replace, it was much easier to replace than I first feared, I'm just a "shade tree" mechanic too, no fancy tools or knowledge here ;)

As far as your dash guages acting up, the first thing I'd check is the connector on the back of the instrument cluster. Besides the speedo and odo cables there is just one conncetor back there. Remove the two screws holding it in place and gently pull it forward towards the steering wheel. You should have enough room to see/reach in back and check the connection. If it's just the turbo guage acting strange it's probably the vaccum hose that connects to the guage from the intake manifold thats deteriorating ($3.00 repair).

If all your warning lights (oil, battery, etc.) are lighting up or blinking while the car is running that could be an indication of failing engine harness (exactly what mine was doing), particularly the red wire that comes off the back of the alternator.

Do a search at either of these Volvo sites for more information.
www.brickboard.com www.turbobricks.com

[Book Lover]

8. A thousand thanks

I'll let you know how it goes!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. The Peugeot 404 was called the "world's toughest car"

I've seen some with more than 500,000 miles on them. The East African Safari has been called the world's toughest road rally, with more than 3,000 miles running through torrential downpours, floods, mountains, and terrible roads across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika. In 1963 the Safari had 84 starting cars with only 7 making it to the finish line. The Peugeot 404 won that terrible and brutal race in 1963, 1965, and 1967. These old Peugeots have been used as taxis throughout the world, especially the diesel models. I rode a 404 taxi in China in the late 1990s. They weren't that exciting to drive but they were built like tanks. If there are still some of these 40 year old cars on the roads of Egypt it's a testament to their simple but very sturdy construction.

[BlueCollar]

11. I'll attest to that

Growing up in Peru in the Andes we had a 404. Took a beating a never had any problems of any significance...mostly flat tires and the occasional boil-over.

We'd take that car over the Andes into the jungle or into the desert...very reliable.

[Lefty48197]

10. '95 Dodge Neon

Seriously. I've taken one down so many trails that I thought I would NEVER get out of, that I've earned a ton of respect for that little car.

[CanuckAmok]

12. Ah, the Pugeot 504!

What a wonderful car. I had one while stationed in Europe, and when back in Canada I bought my neighbour's completely rusted-out 504 Automatique for $150.00.

I've had rides in Rollers and Bentleys, but the ride in that second 504 is unmatched! Too bad it disintegrated.

[Throd]

13. I will have to dispute that.

The biggest P.O.S. I have ever owned was a 1976 504 wagon. It was engineered by drunken apes.

My 1981 Ford Fairmont was a nightmare too. I ended up pulling off the license plates and left it behind an abandoned strip mall.

On the other hand, I am still trying to kill my 1968 Oldsmobile. The bitch just won't die!