Old Sweet Seventies…and Eighties

It was the year 1980.

The United States’ Dollar exchanged for 55 kobo officially and 90 kobo at the parallel market. Petrol was 15.3 kobo per litre. Life was simpler and choices were easier.

If you wanted to buy a car, you chose either a Volkswagen Beetle, a Peugeot 504 or a Mercedes Benz W123 series. Yes, there were some other options, thank you. But like a bride, a decision to pick a car in Nigeria was more than just dumping cash at the nearest car dealership. It was influenced by your colleagues, friends, enemies, lover or lovers, club members and neighbours.

These cars were not just automobiles. They were lifestyle statements.

Each drive around the serene streets of Ikoyi, the weekend trip to the Bar Beach or the village, the occasional date at Federal Palace hotel or the drive to watch a film at the Pen Cinema, Agege was a mobile video of the driver’s Resumé, played continuously whilst the Vespa rider or Newspaper vendor scuttles away.

Despite the Volkswagen Beetle being the cheapest of the trio, not everyone could just walk into any showroom and pick one. You had to have at least N1,000 to get even a fairly used copy. A brand new Beetle was more than twice that amount.

It had many names depending on your location and style; Beetle, Bintus, Ijapa, Mbe, Kunkuru.

 

The air-cooled engine sat in the rear, powering the rear skinny wheels through the busy roads of a bustling Nigeria, the dual exhausts whistling to the afro beats from the tiny 4 pistons.

 

Though French by Origin, the Peugeot 504 was fully meshed into the Nigerian culture. Everyone desired to own a variant. Either as a sedan, Station wagon or Pick up. The cabriolet versions were too scarce and thankfully, there was no Internet to confound our old school thoughts. After all, television was still mainly black and white.

N6,000 gets you a brand new 504 sedan from dealers all across the country.

Air conditioning was an option. An option that looked like an afterthought as the vents and control were slapped underneath the dash.

The Peugeot 504 gave more options over the Beetle. It had 4 doors, it had a more practical rear cargo space, the owner could actually sit in the 'owner's corner' and not be at the mercy of the front passenger...or driver.

The 504 also came in many variants; the standard saloon, the station wagon and the pick-up. What else could you ask for?

On the top of the food chain sat the creme de la creme of cars in Nigeria.

The undisputed leader of the trio was the Mercedes Benz W123 series. It was sleek and elegant. A vehicle beyond its time. Every single piece of bolt, glass, weld and metal was made to outlive even earth.

The Mercedes Benz W123 AKA 'Regular Benz' came with Power Steering and Independent Suspension. Many engine variants from the basic 200 to the powerful 280-Diesel or Petrol.

The Mercedes Benz was superior in every angle. Handling, Braking, Cornering, Comfort, Safety....Everything.

The People who could afford to buy a Benz Regular mostly kept it for special functions. It became the Rolls Royce of Lagos and the surrounding cities. Its fame spread across all towns with roads. Once you could afford one, it became a sacrilege if your town head does not make you a chief before the next new yam festival.

These were the good old days.

The days when we assembled most of our cars in Nigeria. The days of original spare parts and brand new engine replacements.

Fast-forward to the current period and these classic vehicles have slowly retired. one after the other, they have been converted to beasts of burden and starved of adequate maintenance.

Over the past two decades, each day has witnessed the death of scores of these vehicles as they are gradually being replaced by 'new' used cars from USA and Europe.

What keeps boggling my mind is how we intend to tell the stories of the first assembled Volkswagen and Peugeot in Nigeria to the coming generations of auto lovers. How do we intend to describe how the rich lived and cruised on the tarred streets of Ikoyi and Asaba?

Our job is to try and preserve these historical cars as much as we can. They are currently cheap. We could buy them and keep them for posterity.

The irony with their acquisitions is that you can always sell them at the same price you bought them or even more.

Lets keep them alive

 

Denn