Joint Syrian-Iranian car plant opens (under the name "Sham," the old Arabic word for Syria)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 3/9/07 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

DAMASCUS, Syria - President Bashar Assad on Thursday inaugurated the first stage of a joint Syrian-Iranian auto factory, test-driving one of the new cars and declaring that the project will boost cooperation between the allies.

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With Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoodi on hand for the ceremony at the Syrian-Iranian Company for Manufacturing Cars, Assad called the project a testament of their "historic" cooperation.

"Our political relations are rooted, old and excellent," he said. "This project comes in the framework of boosting economic cooperation between the two countries. ... We are proud of this project."

Marketing of the car — which under the name "Sham," the old Arabic word for Syria — will start in April, said plant manager Ziad Kattini. Some 10,000 cars are expected to be produced annually, with 40 rolling off the production line daily in the plant's initial phase.

Later, Davoodi held talks with his Syrian counterpart, Farouk al-Sharaa, on Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Davoodi also discussed increased cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, industry and housing with Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otari.

[NormsRevenge]

Now if they could just get every 10th car off the assembly line to stop from blowing up prematurely..

[sageb1]

I would have a difficult time buying a car called "Sham."

[Viking2002]

Comes standard with passenger-side suicide bombs. No deactivation switch, tho. :-)

[RedRover]

So Sam the Sham was really Sam Syria?
Say it ain't so!

[Reaganesque]

Shades of the Chevy No-va fiasco in South America. "No va" meaning "doesn't run" in Spanish.

[El Gato]

"No va" meaning "doesn't run" in Spanish.

Close, it means "No go" or less literally "doesn't go". Still, a nonstarter.

[Migraine]

Shades of the Chevy No-va fiasco in South America. "No va" meaning "doesn't run" in Spanish.

...or the "Mystique" some company made a while back (sounds too much like "mistake")...

Of course, in that neighborhood over there, maybe they ought to go with a car called the "Turkey"...

[LexBaird]

Is the shrapnel package standard or optional?

[Reaganesque]

Hmmm, I wonder, then, what "Sham-a-lama-ding-dong" means?

[El Gato]

I imagine that the "Sham" is something like a Yugo, or maybe one of the those Soviet copies of the Fiat 124 produced in the from 1970 to '83.

Yugo

VAZ 2102 "Zhiguli"

[El Gato]

...or the "Mystique" some company made a while back (sounds too much like "mistake")...

Mystique was the Mercury version of the Ford Contour. Very popular in parts of Mexico. Our exchange student had one of the vintage as my wife's Contour. Very strange to see the same instrument panel with km/hour on the speedometer and km on the odometer. (actually both cars had both English and Metric markings, but the Mexican Mystique had the Metric larger, the Ford (assembled in Mexico however) had the English markings larger.

Not a bad car, the Mercury Cougar uses the same engine and other running gear.

[Eagles6]

You can't make stuff up this good. The bomb in the trunk is standard of course.

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

What do you mean? If they don't blow up, it's a design flaw!

[BnBlFlag]

I'm sure the vehicles are a real Sham too.

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

I think sham is perfect! If anybody thinks that they're only going to produce vehicles in this plant, they're crazy.

[Migraine]

Mexican Mystique had the Metric larger, the Ford (assembled in Mexico however) had the English markings larger. Not a bad car, the Mercury Cougar uses the same engine and other running gear.

I knew someone out there would have a Mystique tale. What's in a name? A rose by any other name...

[sheik yerbouty]

Not to worry! He was Samudio Dominguez, and became a minister in Texas..

[sheik yerbouty]

It is probably based on an Iranian shi'ite box called a Peykan..

[RedRover]

Where'd you hear that? From Hattie or Mattie?

;)

Long may Sam run.