![Peykan chaldoran](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Peykan_chaldoran.jpg)
The Paykan ( fa, پيکان meaning ''Arrow'') is the first Iranian-made
car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
produced by
Iran Khodro (formerly called "Iran National") between 1967 and 2005. The car was very popular in Iran from its introduction until its discontinuation. It is often colloquially referred as the Iranian chariot.
The Paykan was a
Hillman Hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
built under licence, but had some unique body work and locally developed variants (most notably, the
pickup, which used a different body shell from
the one sold elsewhere).
History
![Hoveyda and his car](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Hoveyda_and_his_car.jpg)
The design was introduced to Iran by
Mahmoud Khayami
Mahmoud Khayami, CBE, KSS, GCFO (7 January 1930 – 28 February 2020) was an Iranian industrialist and philanthropist of French nationality.
Life
Mahmoud Khayami was born in 1930 in Mashhad, Persia where he attended elementary and high scho ...
, co-founder and, by then, owner of the
Iran Khodro (formerly called "Iran National") company and factory, who accurately predicted that Iran was in need of a simple "no-frills" motorcar within the price range of ordinary people.
In 1967, Rootes began exporting Hillman Hunters to Iran Khodro in "
complete knock down
A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, then exported to another country or region ...
" (CKD) kit form, for assembly in Iran. By the mid-1970s, full-scale manufacturing of the car (minus the engine) had started in Iran.
In 1977,
Roy Axe
Royden Axe (September 1937 – 5 October 2010) was a British car designer.
Early life and career
Axe was born in Scunthorpe and attended Scunthorpe Grammar School (now St Lawrence Academy).
Axe began his career in 1959 with the Rootes Group ...
designed a new Paykan facelift model using many interior and exterior parts from the
Chrysler Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
.
In 1978,
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
took over the Rootes company purchased from Chrysler Corp, after Chrysler exited the EU market; a year later, Peugeot ended Hillman Hunter production in Ireland. Following this, the Paykan's engine production tooling was moved to Iran and was in full-scale manufacturing under Peugeot licence. This ended in 2005 with the final Paykan leaving the assembly line.
Irankhodro tried to replace Paykan with a so-called "New Paykan" but Peugeot did not agree with the naming. This revealed the fact that the intellectual ownership of the Paykan brand and logo still belongs to the PSA (Peugeot Société Anonyme) as a legacy of Rootes group.
Design
Although the Paykan was based on a 1966 Hillman Hunter, there were many changes and modifications made to it over the years – notably the substitution of the original 1725cc Rootes engine with a
Peugeot 504
The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations – but also as twin two-door coupé ...
-derived unit. The modifications to the exterior included revised headlights and taillights. A Paykan
Pickup was also offered.
There was another pickup truck based on the Hillman Hunter sold in South Africa – the
Dodge Husky – but the two models used different bodies. The South African version has a thicker B-pillar and retains the saloon's lines along the side panels. The tailgate and rear window are also subtly different.
The Iranian government reportedly offered Iran Khodro a large cash incentive to end Paykan production by 2005, labelling the car as an environmental hazard because of its unacceptably high fuel consumption. During its last years, the order backlog was nearly two years long.
The
Samand
The IKCO Samand is an Iranian sedan produced by IKCO. The Samand production project began in 2001 and the first car was sold in 2001. The Samand inherits the mantle of Iran's national automobile from the Paykan, which was sold by Iran Khodro fr ...
, commonly referred to as the "New Paykan", is currently being produced by Iran Khodro as a modern substitute for the Paykan class of cars. In 2005, Iran Khodro announced that it had sold the discontinued Paykan's motorcar production line to the Khartoum Transport Company in
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, while car-parts production for the Paykan still continues by third-party manufacturers in Iran.
File:Hillman Hunter.Arrow.Paykan.JPG, A Paykan seen in Tehran.
File:1971-Paykan-Deluxe.JPG, A 1971 Paykan DeLuxe.
File:Paykan gathering in northern Tehran.jpg, A Paykan gathering in Northern Tehran.
File:Tehran Snapshot 00593.jpg, A Paykan Pickup.
Legacy
Despite the vehicle being fully discontinued in 2015, the Paykan still left its mark on the Iranian automotive industry. The
Peugeot ROA
The Peugeot ROA or RD is an Iranian made car (by Iran Khodro Co). It is a developed version of the Peugeot RD1600. The car is a combination of Paykan and Peugeot 405. The body of ROA is a copy from Peugeot 405 and its engine and chassis are dev ...
, which is still produced today, shares the Paykan chassis, although its bodyshell is from
Peugeot 405. A similar vehicle based on the Paykan chassis is also produced under the
IKCO Arisun
The IKCO Arisun 1 and Arisun 2 is a small coupe utility (pickup) designed by Iran Khodro, based on the Peugeot 405. Production started in 2015, and it costs about $7,000. Production was temporarily halted in December 2016, but has since recommen ...
name, although it is stylistically based on
Peugeot 405.
See also
*
Automotive industry in Iran
*
PaykanArtCar, art project involving a Paykan
References
External links
Iran Khodro Industrial Group News story: Iranian car hits end of the road
{{IKCO vehicles timeline
Iran Khodro vehicles
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Sedans
1970s cars
1980s cars
1990s cars
2000s cars
Iranian brands
Cars introduced in 1967