Breaking bread and smoking tires bond car guys in Iran!
Almost 30 cars turned up at recent Tehran Café Racers lunch which included an afternoon of tracking their cars at ‘Azadi Stadium Race Track. In keeping with the group’s eclectic array of vehicles, participation included everything from a VW Thing to a Maserati Khamsin and modified American muscle cars. One of the hottest: A ’71 Z/28 Camaro powered by a 500-plus-horsepower stroked 454 big-block!
After the smoke had cleared at the track, the Café Racers headed to the Gholhak Dare restaurant on top of the foothills of the Alborz mountains surrounding Tehran. They filled the restaurant’s parking lot making it look like a multi-national car show.
Tehran Café Racers organizer, Ramin Salehkhou participated in both his prized American muscle cars: A 500-horsepower Baldwin-Motion ‘74 Phase III 454 Camaro and a ’72 Mustang Mach 1 powered by a 351 Cleveland engine fitted with OE Ram Air, Comp Cams valvetrain, 750-cfm Holley double-pumper, MSD ignition, Offy 360 intake manifold and headers. The Mustang was a refugee from the Iraq-Iran war and prior to restoration had acquired some bullet holes!
Other Detroit iron included a ’73 Corvette, ’71 Dodge Charger, ’67 Mustang GT fastback, ’65 Mustang convertible and the 500-plus horsepower ’71 Z/28 Camaro. A championship racer and mechanic who holds two national titles in his 454-powered Chevy Monza, owns the Camaro. A vintage Buick Park Avenue sedan, powered by a 454 Chevy big-block, left its imprint on the track!
Ali Reza Behpour, and a photographer from The New York Times captured the day’s events on film.
More photos can be seen in the New York Times story appearing in the Sunday, November 14 edition, IN IRAN, HAILING DETROIT WITH VINTAGE V-8’s. Check it out at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/automobiles/collectibles/14IRAN.html?_r=1&hpw