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Having noticed fascinated for years in the TV news how many (mostly old or even older) MB`s are being driven in Lebanon I came across an article in the German car magazine "Auto Bild" written by Joerg Wigand, all photos by Stephan Lindloff.

Benz-stronghold Lebanon
Volkswagen Mercedes ((People's car Mercedes))

Salad with star: The 35 year old fintail (190c) serves as market stand for a farmer

Between ruins rules a run for the cars from Stuttgart. The age is of no importance, the demand classless. A Mercedes it has to be. Much fits into it, much it takes.

Shooted up, patched-up, scratched, dented. Without star, chrome, lights. No KAT ((catalytic converter)), no TUEV ((German car inspection test)). Mangy and ragged. Sorted out. But indestructible. Still going strong. The car as an cat. Seven lives and highly alive even at high age. Mercedes and the Lebanon: Like being made for each other. Indestructible.

The legend drives: Ponton-Benz 180b,at least 35 years old with extended family	Old mosque and old Daimler: /8 of the first and second series (1968-1976)belong to everyday- life in Lebanon  ((Definitely wrong picture text: Both are second series /8))

Ruins and star: A 280SE built in the middle of the 70`s when the civil war raged for 15 years

Lebanon: Poor and maltreated Nearly four million inhabitants. Since the end of  the cicil war 1990 under control of Syria who has 30.000 troops in the country. Around one tenth of the country being ruled by Israel. Sect-state with 17 different christian and islamic religion groups. Average monthly income: 200 Marks ((USD 111)). 50 percent of the people living below the border of poverty of 100 Dollars. According to estimations of financial experts the Lebanon will reach the same living standard as before the war in 1975 in the year 2007 only.

Young hands on very old body: Children restoring an after-war 170  ((Obviously another wrong pic text)) Benz and mountain goats: The S-Class W 116 (1972-1980) is very mouldy

The country seven years after  a civil war lasting 15 years which cost 40 billion DM ((USD 22.2 billion assumed 1 USD = DM 1,80)) and 150.000 people their lives: In ruins, bankrupt, strenuously being at pains for reconstruction. The people: Fifty percent below the border of poverty, but busy, untiringly, optimistic. Agreeing on one thing despite all other splinterness: Mercedes-Benz it has to be and (nearly) nothing else. It's the car of the very poor, the not so poor poor, the wealthy and the super-rich. The brand for all classes and social strata. For Sunnite, Shiite, Maronnite, warriors of god, Hisbollah, Amal, PLO, Syrian occupying forces, Israeli protecting power, Palestinians, Druse, Christ, Muslim. Mercedes,the Volkswagen. The only constant factor and common interest of all the confessions, clans and regional princes.

Benz and praying: A 190 waiting for his owner to come from the mosque

Beirut and his Daimlers: Maltreated but not to be smashed

15,5 million cars have been built and sold by Mercedes-Benz from 1945 to the middle of this year. 9,2 million cars or 60 percent of the total output are still running. Half of them is older than ten years, but younger than the average lifetime of a Daimler which is around 14 years. In Germany.
But now we are in Lebanon where a 14 year old Benz already is in his best manhood. Where nearly the complete after-war production is en route every day. The former Switzerland of the Orient - a highly alive Mercedes-Museum.
In Tripoli, the million-city in the north we go to the centre Al-Tall with Nassr Moussawel. Nassr, 25 years old is the youngest brother of Ahmed (33) who from ((the German town of)) Viernheim takes star-products to his home country with the help of his three cellular phones. Both are two of five sons of Khalid Moussawel (60) who since 1960 every year thousand Mercedes takes into the Levante. Ahmed and Nassr from Viernheim (((German federal state of)) Rheinland-Pfalz), brother Nabil (35) from ((the German town of)) Wittlich (Eifel), Gamal (26) from ((the German city of)) Kaiserslautern ship 1200 cars a year to Tripoli where the fifth brother, Mahmud (28) sells them.

Left: Benz and mountains: End of the road for this tailfin conversion W110 in front of the Lebanese mountains Right: Well organized: The spare parts trade in Lebanon

The clan of the Moussawels is a very normal Lebanese family. An estimated 40.000 of their countrymen live in Germany. And 90 percent of them are in the car business. All together they land 3.000 cars - 80 percent Daimler - in the ports of Beirut, Tripoli, Saida and Sur month by month. Only gasoline cars because Diesels are not allowed. And from there to the whole Near East is being delivered. Jordan, Kuwait, Dubai, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq. 40.000 cars every year.
Sales with an average price of DM 10.000,-- ((USD 5.555)) per car: 400 million Marks ((USD 222 million))!

Handyman: Ahmed Moussawel organizes supplies from Germany. His partners in Lebanon sell the cars. For cash only and with profit of course. Only Dollars count.

A bottomless pit. A sea of stars we nearly drown in Beirut and Tripoli: 29 year old /8. Nearly 20 year old W 123. Ten year old W 124. 180 and 190 pontons from the fifties. Seven year old 300SE. In between a couple of pre-war models. And not to ignore the new E- and S-Class, too.
In every case Mercedes. Nowhere in the world their density is higher than here.
Nassr Moussawel completely unimpressed: "The Lebanese don't want no Ford or Opel.
No Jaguar and Citroen. All too complicated. They also don't want no American or Japanese cars. They want cars where the mileage reading plays no role, where it doesn't matter if one has fiddled on the mileage reader. The only other marques you can make a little money with are VW Bully ((Volkswagen van)), Peugeot 505 and nearly as new BMW".

With biggest difficulties therefore Koreas car manufacturers plough on the near east Mercedes-clod. A brand-new Daewoo Tico costs DM 10.000,-- ((USD 5.555)). Down payment: 500 Dollars, the rest in low rates. Despite that: They are very hard to sell because their "resale value decreases a third after only a couple of weeks" says Nassr Moussawel. "Real money can be  earned with Mercedes only".  Earning money with Mercedes. The Lebanese, linguistically talented, enjoying life, tricky, freedom loving and combative are the world champions with that.  A model from the W 123 line from 1979 is being bought for a maximum of 1000 Marks ((USD 555)) in Germany and shipped for 900 Dollars charges to the Levante. There it costs 4.000 to 6.000 Dollars depending on its condition. Only greenbacks count otherwise you would have to trade with bags. Because one Dollar is more than 1.500 Lira. A 29 year old /8 costs 4.500 Dollars in Beirut and still 1.500 when it served in its former life as an taxi. A 190 from the W201 line costs 5.000 Dollar. And gets always more expensive the longer it lives. Because even the old-timers from Stuttgart always get more valuable. A 300E from 1989 cost 9.000 Dollars three years ago and now its on sale not for below 11.000.  Annoying but not really damaging to business is the law enacted many years ago saying not to let in cars to Lebanon older than eight years. Paper is patient, the country a huge oriental bazaar and the demand for old cars as big as the cleverness of the dealers to get over trade restrictions. We are not allowed to say how but can't help to win some charm out of the logic of a dealer who says: "What a shame to send an old W123 up the river for DM 150,-- ((USD 83)) scrapping fee when it will bring 1.500,-- Dollars profit over here".  Oh yes, the profit. That's where those men who always have a wad of 20.000,-- Dollars in the left pocket of their trousers whilst the right one holds a gun. Louder they are when lamenting over the presently bad times. It's heart-breaking: "Gone are the golden times during the war when more was destroyed than we could get into ((the Lebanon))". The more comforting Mohammad Ajan (32) lets us have a quick view into his cards in Tripoli:

"A fully equipped 300E from 1990 did cost me DM 20.000,-- ((USD 11.111)) in Cologne ((city in Western Germany)). Here I get 18.000 Dollars for it. Deducted 2.900,-- Dollars customs fee and DM 900,-- ((USD 500)) for shipping that's roughly DM 4.000,-- ((USD 2.222)) for the left pocket of my trouser". But he always finds something to criticize: "Oh, would there only be more cars of this sort. They are in short supply and therefore are being searched for like crazy". The objects of the general desire despite the star do have alloy wheels, automatic transmission, power locking, air condition and a dark colour.

Gypsy camp near Beirut: Mercedes (left with C111-rims) are natural even in a corrugated-iron hut camp  ((Wrong picture text again: Definitely no alloy-rims but imitation plastic hub caps)).

Such Mercedes Ilas Khouzamy (31) does search for, too, whom we meet in ((the German town of)) Viernheim and is a trade partner of the Moussawels. He personifies another species of Lebanese car dealers - the travelling knight. Four times a year he comes from Beirut to Germany and searches the markets, reads free papers and finally buys eight to ten cars whilst his three week stay which he sells at home with a profit
of 10.000 Dollars. A Lebanese grandma would have to knit long for the money.
About 300 travelling dealers do come to Germany regularly with very much money in the left pocket of their trousers to get as many Daimlers as the market can deliver. That with this chance to earn money not all male Lebanese are coming to Germany has only one reason: The visa for Mercedes-country is very hard to get.

And, why the heck, all this? Why even Daimler? BMW is buildinggood cars, too. Shaker Quaqish (45), Jordanian with German passport, at home in Weinheim ((German town)) and one of the very big godfathers of the business explains shortly and precise: "BMW`s do earn the half only because Mercedes' have status and sturdiness and sell quickly".  Even shorter it says Khalid Moussawel, a big one in wholesale. In his lemon plantation he shows us his favourite car - a 180 from 1958: "Not for sale" he says. It may be true. But we are in Lebanon. Here it only depends on the offer.

Khalid Moussawel, the godfather of the trade with his jewel -a 32 year old 190

End of article written by Joerg Wigand, all photos by Stephan Lindloff
Translation by MBEP webmaster - remarks as usual in ((blabla)), but (blabla) belongs to the original text!
In Germany many people wrongly call Mercedes cars "Daimler" (which is a great shame for a car magazine to do so): The holding was named "Daimler-Benz" (since 1998 "DaimlerChrysler") but the cars "Mercedes-Benz" so it's "Mercedes", "Benz" or "Mercedes-Benz" but not "Daimler", which is the name of a British car built by Jaguar.
I'm sorry for maybe misspelling the names of countries or names of groups
of people - I couldn't find all of them in my dictionary. And I don't make any political statements with this text, it's just a translation to show there are a lot of Mercedes-crazy people all over the world ;-)

Last revised technically: Jan. 25th 2000  Visits since Dec. 6th '98..

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