STEVE POLLARD Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Just out of curiosity, did General Motors export vehicles into the Middle East ? I've seen some postings on a few dedicated Chevrolet only FB sites of full size Chevrolets from the sixties and seventies that reside in Turkey. I have asked questions on these sites, but have not received a reply. Possible that they have been shipped into their country recently ? I have to say that they are in really nice condition ! Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Is Iran close enough? Many years ago I had a co-worker who was born there and had come to the US with his family when he was 12, after the fall of the Shah. He said his dad liked big American cars, and they always had one. The one he remembered most was a 1960 Chevrolet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE POLLARD Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share Posted January 26, 2020 Yes... Turkey boarders Iran, Iraq and Syria.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I recall a bunch of late 40s DeSotos in Istanbul. Taxi cabs. Also some big rig DeSotos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Does this help ? https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/historical-brochures/Corporate_GM_History/GM_Overseas_Operations.pdf BTW this has been bothering me for a while: the correct statement is "every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest responsive bidder." Particularly where safety of flight was concerned companies bidding on a contract had to prove to the purchasing agent that they were capable of fulfilling the contract. Of course this resulted in some strange products. For instance the contract for the F-16 required that every engine operate for (not sure of the exact number, it has been a while) 200 hours before needing a rebuild. This resulted in fighter aircraft being built with a governor. A few engineers risked careers saying this was stupid. (long story). " 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, STEVE POLLARD said: Just out of curiosity, did General Motors export vehicles into the Middle East ? I've seen some postings on a few dedicated Chevrolet only FB sites of full size Chevrolets from the sixties and seventies that reside in Turkey. I have asked questions on these sites, but have not received a reply. Possible that they have been shipped into their country recently ? I have to say that they are in really nice condition ! Some of the recent (last 10~15 years) Chev's in the middle east were Australian built GM Holden Commodores/Stateman's badged as Chev's https://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/holden-push-in-middle-east-20100823-13gac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Commodore Quote With the introduction of the third generation in 1997, Holden implemented its largest export programs involving Commodore and its derivatives. In the Middle East, South Africa and Brazil, the Commodore sold as a Chevrolet. High-performance export versions followed in North America, sold as Pontiac and later Chevrolet. HSV also exported to the United Kingdom as Vauxhall, in the Middle East as Chevrolet Special Vehicles (CSV) and in New Zealand and Singapore as HSV. Edited January 26, 2020 by 1939_Buick (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush Mechanic Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I was talking to a young Turkish gent with a classic there recently. He was saying that they have to ship them in from abroad, as they cannot find anything much locally.. But that may just be his take on it. We were camped at a lookout in Cappadocia, where the balloons fly daily, and each morning and evening, he and a number of other enterprising enthusiasts hire their classics out for 120 Euros for an hour. Young Eastern lady tourists are driven up there for photo opportunities. The cars were quite rough and well used. Dirt roads and lots of dust. Apparently they could import a car and pay for it in a few months. The small blue car is a locally built Anadol. I'm not sure where they import them from, but Iran is about 100 miles south. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Anyone ever hear the phrase Iraqi taxi that was A body Chevy made in Oshawa in the 80s. Iraqi put in a large order for the public and the majority were 3 speed standard. It was a nightmare for GM as the Iraqi were very hard on them. Ended up sending factory workers to fix the cars in a compound where they did not dare leave. So the guys just worked and made a pile of money. The order was canceled and the rest were sold off in Canada at a bargain price. Were excellent car and were always sought after by the public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I mentioned about the 1981 order to Iraq that went sideways here: Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozstatman Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 54 minutes ago, 1939_Buick said: Some of the recent (last 10~15 years) Chev's in the middle east were Australian built GM Holden Commodores/Stateman's badged as Chev's Seems I heard that at one stage they were selling Australian built GM Holden Commodores/Stateman's in China badged as Buicks. Do you know if that's correct? Edited January 26, 2020 by Ozstatman (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Ozstatman said: Seems I heard that at one stage they were selling Australian built GM Holden Commodores/Stateman's in China badged as Buicks. Do you know if that's correct? Looks like parts, but not complete assembled cars. But not 100% sure From ~2007 https://www.motoring.com.au/shanghai-auto-show-holden-caprice-struggling-in-china-as-buick-park-avenue-24571/ Quote The next generation of the Holden Caprice may not be exported to China after sales of the current model have slowed dramatically there. Holden exports the Caprice in body parts and ‘kit’ form and the car is assembled in China and sold as a Buick Park Avenue. But the boss of General Motors in China, ex-pat Australian Kevin Wale, says he is unsure if the next model would follow in the current car’s tyre tracks. and https://www.caradvice.com.au/2114/holden-exports-to-china/ http://m.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/holden-gm-exports.htm Edited January 26, 2020 by 1939_Buick (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 I own a 66 Corvair Monza that has paperwork that it was supposed to be shipped to the middle east. Don't know what happened to that sale, as it was sold in California, ended up in DC. Car is optioned as one would think to go to the middle east: 95 HP engine. Runs on regular low test crap fuel. Beige inside and out. Blends in with desert sand and rejects sun's rays. Tinted glass all around. Same. Factory Air! Keep passengers cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozstatman Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 35 minutes ago, 1939_Buick said: Looks like parts, but not complete assembled cars. But not 100% sure From ~2007 https://www.motoring.com.au/shanghai-auto-show-holden-caprice-struggling-in-china-as-buick-park-avenue-24571/ https://www.caradvice.com.au/2114/holden-exports-to-china/ http://m.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/holden-gm-exports.htm Thanks 1939_Buick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Oshawa had a department called CKD Complete Knock Down. They would have a car built on the assembly line then sent over to the parts warehouse where CKD was. The car would be taken apart boxed and then shipped overseas. I believe it was phased out in the late 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezestaak2000 Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 i worked at the GM assembly plant in wilmington in the mid 60's.i would think that would have been where the chevies and full sized buicks bound for that part of the world would have been built. the only exports i can recall were bound for central america. many had heater delete, kilo speedometer, and low compression V8 (chevy) options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 They definitely did. For tax reasons many export orders were filled by the Oshawa Canada plant. In the eighties they made a special edition Chevrolet Caprice with heavy duty air conditioning, cooling system etc and built to a much higher standard for export to middle east oil exporting countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Burtch Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) Oshawa CKD operations lasted well into the 1990s. I don't know the final date, but the first large volume car exports to China were Buick Regal kits from Oshawa. Edited January 27, 2020 by Tom Burtch added information (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Lets see if these pictures show up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzcarnerd Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 On 1/26/2020 at 6:46 PM, Joe in Canada said: Oshawa had a department called CKD Complete Knock Down. They would have a car built on the assembly line then sent over to the parts warehouse where CKD was. The car would be taken apart boxed and then shipped overseas. I believe it was phased out in the late 70s. The Pontiacs and Chevrolets that came from Oshawa to New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s came SKD - semi knocked down. The bodies arrived painted and trimmed and were united with their mechanicals on the GMNZ line. Australia had a different system, using the facilities of GM Holden body production. As far as I know the bodies were put together in the main Adelaide plant, and then the cars were shipped semi-complete to the plants in the various state capitals for final assembly. The Australian cars were required to have a much higher percentage of local content than in NZ. Orders for right hand drive versions of cars that were not available out of Canada were filled by the Tarrytown, New York, plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) 1971 I worked one summer in the parts warehouse on scraping. We scraped everything from engines to stickers that were obsolete. Would love to have some of the parts we scraped as it was all 1960s parts. Oshawa was the main parts warehouse in Canada and was open for business at the desk from 7:00 am to 12:30 am and it was handy. We were right next door to CKD but we were not allowed to even go in there to look around. Edited January 27, 2020 by Joe in Canada (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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