Would do whatever it is on this car deserves a place in paradise but. The speed of a sales job means. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. To be doing while they are battling you know my truck still going up to 6000000 kilometers i spend more time caring for him my then my family acted up on me to. Come here. Because i only want this car here because its a good cause. The people only hear it on for a poor country boy like me. That. Mercedes calls them every day classics chorus from the latter part of the last century in germany theyre now collectors items but in north africa and latin america many are still in use as work courses helping people earn a wage. This is the Mother Church every year hundreds of thousands of car fans make the pilgrimage to stuttgart and the control center of mercedes. More than 130 years of automotive history are on display and the Mercedes Benz museum. Among the 160 vehicles on display are legends like the 300 s. L. Prototypes that never went into production. And silver arrows that made motor racing history. The museum also boasts regular road going models from yesteryear restored to tip top condition and available for sale assuming youre ready to spend the price of a new car on a 40 year old model the stroke 8 is the germans called the new generation w one 114115 was launched in 1968. The egyptians called it can see it a piglet of all things because thats what they thought it looked like. Tariq law is a taxi driver he drives a mercedes 200. 00. Cairo on the nile the biggest city in africa on the longest river in the world. Tariq is a very special taxi driver his clothes are stylish as his car. His 59 his mercedes only 25 years younger. Hes been driving a cab for almost his entire working life. Tariq is not keen on a new car as he calls them plastic cars that i see. You know in addition to have a very fancy you know such a busy life why. Would i if i was. Really having to see have a prayer to god to stop anybody catch me. Is there maybe is no copy but hes going to pull my head strong what. I like what see with his right. Blood study im more people here i was in dont be able to look into. The ability to know is like the start of pleasure quiet and to beautiful. Is like watch and sometimes visually didnt it that i would like to shut in the shift such got the same exist. As lives. In sharm el shaking in St Catharines monastery or half a days drive from cairo and like the pyramids popular tourist destinations. But the city itself is a juggernaut it has 20000000. 00 inhabitants but hardly any. Up way or tramlines public transport is minimal if you dont want to go by foot here if you need a car or taxi. There are over 50000 cabs in cairo. But drivers like taare are now a rare breed because the state subsidizes new taxes that have catalytic converters. Egypt is fighting pollution a huge problem especially in cairo. The aim is to banish dirty older models. Tariq has to keep his 200 running because theres no chance he could register and nother old mercedes as a taxi. For him a worrying prospect. Even. In plastic. Like the news. Every few months for a change but. This. Is a good change a good. 80 years but from time to time tariq does still have to take his mercedes to the garage. After all it has about half a 1000000 kilometers on the clock. The trunk lid is jammed a minor problem and one thats quickly fixed. I tonics 200 is one of the last in cairo but in the nile delta he says theres a city full of old mercedes models 50 years after the new generation series came out. Of the. Design metsi dispense trying to so im afraid to. Time no comment on. Yet starting a fork. Or fork. In the boxes. Would include. Be best mother. Design nama nazi dispensed around the stage. So perfect your. Father. In the Mercedes Museum theres an entire area dedicated to the stroke and its successors theyre called every day heroes the bread and butter cars that once guaranteed mercedes sales. Along with the mass produced cars there are a few very special models in the exhibition. Such as this italian stroke 8 model we purposed as a hearse for some passengers final journey. The successor model was known internally as the w 123. Were sadies produced 2700000. 00 units almost half of them were exported from germany to 173. 00 countries at 1st customers would have to wait up to 3 years for delivery it was replaced by the w 124 this portuguese diesel powered taxi has driven 1900000 kilometers not that you know it. The w 124 has long been a collectors favorite. In the southern german town of putting the w 124 club holds its final meet of the year in late summer a chance for members from the streetcar region to meet their colleagues from but there is a club has just under a 1000 members throughout germany and those who have just 1124 are in the minority. Of course there is always a bit of snobbery involved when it comes to driving cars from a time when emissions were hardly an issue. That. We have to cross a convertible it was a dance 6 cylinders 8 cylinders 4 cylinder diesel the whole range. I just enjoy driving and ive always loved cars. Even for me this is a wolf in sheeps clothing doesnt it alls and people wouldnt look twice if it said 200 diesel on the bag. But then you hit the gas pedal. Cars because they got smoked. In. Their car doesnt give much away never mind the bottle head or the missing name badge the bare numbers a 4. 2 leader v 8279 horsepower top speed 250 kilometers per hour. At 30 year old rocket. But the 124. 00 also has its weaknesses says a russian is an issue with our device anyone looking at these cars to avoid one with visible russia because it will be an endless money pit. Rust isnt an issue with these cars here nor is jealousy. Is your view sometimes suffered from your husbands haul be lived. Not as such hes always been a petrol head. But its also his job. I also like to drive fast or at least i used to there was hobbies than this is good for your mother harvey said this is. Because only 1124 years they sold one recently it basically packed it in on all fronts after half a 1000000 kilometers their phone was ringing off the hook. So they were all people from lebanon and jordan who take apart these cars and take them back home because importing complete vehicles into these countries is no longer possible. Complete foxworth avoiding to sell indonesia since these cars are still on the road theyre not they need the parts and here in germany there arent many left so when a car is sold for parts the man does he. Just. Is always on the lookout for spare parts larby was born in morocco and has been living in stuttgart for 40 years he drives a 986 w 124 wagon. You can still get new parts for my car and you can also get parts on e bay or from a scrap yard but cars not so well that you cant get spare parts anymore. As usual but he sometimes comes up with the goods as he said usually sells whole cars used models in the low cost segments that are easy to repair many of them end up here into roughly through other countries but exporting to large piece native morocco is becoming difficult. They must not be older than 5 years and this car is very old no chance of it entering morocco. Many countries have similar import restrictions environmental factors are increasingly important but used car dealers are resourceful. A trader might show up lets say from egypt 20 plus vehicles takes them apart puts them in a shipping container transport them to egypt then puts them together again and sells them as normal cars. So are they well then well yes yes. Thats one solution what is imported is not a whole used car but 2 halves considered spare parts larby is planning a trip to casablanca in his native morocco by car 3000 kilometers as the crow flies from start cart. One last check before the trip as the neighbors look on. Larvae as a trained car mechanic and worked for decades in a mercedes contract the ranch house where he knows the 124 inside out here just how old is it now i know my city one knows. About even so the cars flawless thats all you can come with me in morocco theres enough space thats going to be offered carlos as a bit too much of a surprise for paige her large bass neighbor. Looks like if your father so ill show you some pictures of morocco. Just to look at the whole car park is just w 123 taxis but there really sturdy those little boost. While this is cousin and thats casablanca downtown this is where you see only 123 is everywhere no matter where you look. The peer pressure and a lot of morocco just gets more beautiful every time i go there. Its my home after all feel i am on. Casablanca an industrial and commercial metropolis on the atlantic home to form 1000000 people and moroccos largest city. And its large base hometown. He grew up in the day absolute time neighborhood. He comes to visit once a year sometimes he comes alone sometimes with his wife and 2 sons marvie retired a few weeks ago in the future he plans to come to morocco not just for a few days but for a few months each year for. Local blokes you dont want to rocco is still my home but my roots are here but germany is my 2nd home to where i earn my living. So both morocco and germany have become my home and i cannot live without either of them. One critic. Will choice this. Thats why every year he drives from one country to the other and back again with his mercedes which looks perfectly at home in morocco whereas in germany it almost seems like a relic from times past. Cd spins cold seizure even for students who are going to. Be because im about to discuss a swipe and the feeling is that i hold that. Her is a how to feel no use to feed early profits and if you. Want to know if you need some meat and it was only permissible. Make goods from the 1st. Move you both heard in the movie just. One. We feel good movies of the 2 of my hand. Back in casablanca the w 124 like the one larby drives is considered almost a new car here not least due to the price. The cityscape is dominated by the preceeding 123. Its nickname in morocco is the white shark. Theyre mostly used as common taxi which are generally booked for longer trips. They work according to the principle of shared taxi. Driver starts when the car is full. Most call a taxi are mercedes 240 diesels yes you did i thought this was. Modern competitors are catching up vans made by rhinos low priced romanian brands dacha are picking up the pace here. But the passengers swear by mercedes and the mercedes taxi driver some wait here for customers in moroccan style relaxing with a glass of coffee. That. Was often met him a is 59 years old and has been a taxi driver for almost half his life he drives daily from casablanca to el gato his native village about an hour away he travels 4 to 500 kilometers every day is taxi seats up to 6 passengers 4 in the back 2 in the front. Of a locksmith also drives a diesel the fuel is cheaper than gasoline or moroccos and ahmeds white shark uses around 8 leaders per 100 kilometers thats hardly any worse than a new car. As it. Was to do what do i looked at some new colors but i didnt like them. Compared to mercedes or liability is downright ridiculous. In the mercedes you can drive even 2 or 3000 kilometers without worrying about whether youll break down in the desert or somewhere. Youll always get where youre going. All the poor soul. Hard to believe if you take a closer look at other myths car it is after all. 36 years old. And it does not know how many kilometers its clicked the a dawn letter is broken but not. Really that would. Like. To see him on the lookout for spare parts. A replacement spent on matter perhaps larby off the books can help his parts warehouse has nearly everything especially for the 240 diesel the most common model here but every year it gets harder to find used parts 10 years from now larby says there wont be any more. If he can still get a lot of parts from europe from cars that have been in accidents or were scrapped every 3 to 4 months he receives a delivery by ship the last one came a month ago and has almost been completely sold on. Unfortunately this white mudguard which could use comes from the wrong car the successor model. And then theres a problem with ahmeds 123 its leaking water but its not a cracked hose its something much worse the thermostat housing is corroded the surface all eaten away whats needed is a new part but that cost several 100. 00 drams or he can try the garage across the street. What follows is an introduction to moroccan improvise ation involving advanced aluminum welding the welding wire comes from an old alternator housing and its all done freehand. After a few minutes the corroded hose connectors are welded. They grind off the excess material. Theory. Now they only need to put together a seal and the thermostat housing can be reinstalled. The entire repair takes half an hour and cost around 6. 00 euros. Thats mercedes is good to go. And morocco a lot of people live with old mercedes and make a living off them but if the us already have their way that wont be the case for much longer by in other countries iraq is fighting air pollution the state pays taxi drivers half of the Purchase Price if they buy a new car even so most cannot afford to replace their vehicles and cannot get a bank loan for us meant a new car is out of the question. Ill be the last one to get rid of. The truth no way am i treating it. Thats because the car provides his income and his familys akhmed can afford an apartment in one of the better neighborhoods of casablanca he lives here with his wife and daughter and his mother in law and her nephew. His son lives in new york where he too works as a taxi driver but its not easy pays the quibble into 2 months earnings just for the job training for his daughter arshad she wants to become a Flight Attendant a job where you have to know people are met says nothing happens in morocco without the right connections. So you go to be a sheriff life is expensive and difficult for taxi drivers. Nothing is provided for you here health care or unemployment pensions. These are all things that we have to cover ourselves. Going to live that. Morocco is a country in transition agriculture phosphate mining and tourism are the pillars of the economy as is illegal hasheesh farming. Morocco is a monarchy the king is as popular as he is powerful he holds sway over the economy. Even so unemployment is high one quarter of the population cannot read or write. Security and stability take precedence over freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate. Achmet could have been a Government Employee for life as a police man but after 2 years he decided it was not his true calling. I saw too much inequality but no democracy too many things i didnt like. To force thats why i turned to the profession but its fascinated me since i was a boy driving a taxi. Simple as that. Doing his dream job for 25 years now always in the same car just this simple for me this old mercedes is my faithful companion the one who is if i really admire you i would like to stay with her till the end of it theres a. Good to be a mosque one of the iconic landmarks of morocco. The red city morale. Close pearl of the south more than a 1000 years old and one of the 4 royal cities mark ash. The city is surrounded by a wall 19 kilometers long it once offered protection against bandits who threaten to take merchants goods for their lives it was a perilous time which explains the name of the city. The other day its made up of 2 arabic words more kush you go fast what if the area around america was very dangerous and the caravans had a pastorate quickly you go to the old city ramparts and the towers provided security for the caravans not one of the couple as did the ins catering to caravans not because they all had big gates and more cush go fast but to the name for america shoes and that is what i couldnt stop. Hakim lexy are knows the city like the back of his hand not least the souk the bazaar and mara cash with its 10000 traders hakim is a choice to guide he speaks english german and french the 2nd official language of morocco the biggest contingent of tourists here come from france followed by spain and germany practically everything on offer here is aimed at visitors from abroad but hawking says 99 percent of the products in the souk are produced in morocco and many right here in the bazaar. The traditional handicrafts instead of cheap copies from abroad this benefits local producers and ensures traditional techniques of work. And shame on all the lost. Hockey in the tourist guide is 45 years old that happens to have a doctorate in science he studied indecl dorf but instead of researching he shows tourists his city. Business and a bus youre on thats what its always been a passion of mine for me i like to show my country to people because i have seen that many people from europe like germany do not have the right image of our of out the rich taking their due but when the sun. Thats why he also offers tours of parts of the old town where tourists rarely venture the mark of the moroccans just around the corner from the shiny facades of the modern tower blocks. Hakims main message is that morocco is a liberal country including in religious matters he calls it islam lite. Fundamentalist islam he says is not very popular here. All this bakery does is take the customers mix the day with them selves the baker just pushes it into the oven. Mara cash is hot even in october temperatures reach 35 degrees celsius so almost no one has their own oven. But prosperous tourists sometimes encounter the poverty here. A friend of hakeem new haleigh sells paper tissues she is 14 years old although school is compulsory in morocco she has never attended because she has to help support her family. Her dream job. The dr. Mara cash a city of contrasts in manifold ways. This result under this stuff is whats special about this city is that the modern and the ancient lived side by side of the what it is that you can see traditional life and modern life together theyre living through them and you might find a really old door from the 14th or 15th century and next to it is an i phone 7 or 8 i phone as youve been or the i phone. Its a similar scenario with taxis new alongside the old. One horsepower versus 150. 00 you also have mercedes models of all ages alongside their modern rivals. And as everywhere rule number one is 1st come 1st served usually. Just give us that idea there are always disputes here but after that everythings fine again because people intervene and they help the others to reconcile the next day is a new page. In mara cash taxes have to wait outside the old town due to the narrow streets and alleyways and the citys most famous square jamma elf not a unesco World Heritage site is in any case off limits. Its where youll find the jugglers snake charmers musicians artists fortune tellers the sellers of miracle cures and street traders. One meaning of. Assembly of the dead as it was once the venue of executions. In april 20th 11 the square saw a new tragic loss of life. And a terrorist attack killed 17 people. Today the tourists are back enjoying the squares flare especially after sundown. At 5 oclock in the morning mohammad wipes the last grains of dust from his 124 the most common taxi model in mark ash. He then sets off south for seti fatma in the atlas mountains. I. Pods diesel powered car has more than a 1000000 kilometers on