The Paykan was the first car manufactured in Iran. Produced from 1967 to 2015, it started life as a licensed copy of an outmoded British vehicle, the Hillman Hunter, but it nevertheless became a symbol of national pride, priced for middle-class Iranians.
Paykans eventually became ubiquitous on the streets of Tehran, serving as sedans, wagons, pickups and taxis. In 1974, as a token of connection (or collusion) between two regimes, the shah of Iran gave a Paykan limousine to Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator.
That very car made news again this May among Iranians, at home and in the expatriate community, when it appeared for sale at a Bucharest auction house.