Journey Iran – Prague

From Tehran to Prague in an MB on its own wheels. (father on the left in front of the car)

My father spent most of his life traveling and working around the world as a builder of diesel power plants. Argentina and Iran were significant countries for him and our family, where we spent years together. My father often worked for the Czechoslovak-Iranian company IRANO-ŠKODA (established in Iran in 1935!), including long-term assignments in 1957 and 1968-70 (during which I, as a child, spent an inspiring 2 years in Tehran).

In 1969, my father Václav Vaněček (on the left by the car) undertook one of his many journeys around the world. This time from Iran to Czechoslovakia, but not logically by air, but rather in a company Škoda 1000 MB on its own wheels.

The reason was the requirement to physically relocate or return this car to Czechoslovakia. This MB had been brought to Iran previously as a sample with the aim of presenting it and attempting to introduce it to the local market. However, after some time it became clear that the MB was considerably outdated, nowhere near matching even the locally manufactured modern Paykan car, and was simply unsellable. Since this single unit obviously had no service support, spare parts, etc., and moreover there was the problem that it was registered in my father's name, it was decided that it would return home. Accompanying my father as a second driver was a company colleague and friend, Mr. Zdeněk Kudrna (on the right in front of the car).

The route was: Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia.

It must be said that the car conquered the long and difficult journey through heat, mountains, and dust relatively without problems. My father only remembers a broken fan belt (see photo, where he may still be holding some hose in his hand – possibly related to an overheated engine...). What's comical is that in most photos the hood is raised with the driver's head bent over it, so apparently some tinkering was going on in the back from time to time...

The journey started from the headquarters of IRANO-ŠKODA (see large photo = Transakta affiliate). The local company called Irano-Škoda has been operating in Iran since 1935, engaged in direct trade and also representing the interests of several other Czech companies. It also deals with brokering sales, primarily of machinery, equipment, and spare parts. The company no longer exists in its original form; its owner and sponsor Transakta a.s. sold the company to Iranian shareholders in 2008. The new owner operates in the automotive industry and related fields, but what will happen next is not exactly known.

My father worked there long-term, so we spent beautiful years there as a family in 1957-9 and again in 1968-71 (this time including me). In Iran, I experienced three inspiring and interesting years of life in this different world. Here, as a child, I primarily experienced the fantastic way of community life of about twenty Czechoslovak families in one modern building with a shared swimming pool, garden, courtyard, and social spaces, where we children and parents celebrated various anniversaries together, St. Nicholas Day, New Year's Eve, etc., and also watched TV together (e.g., the Americans landing on the moon). Everyone living there were uncles and aunts! Amazing! We also went on trips together. I miss this way of life very much; I have never experienced anything similar in the Czech Republic since...

It should be added that this was a time of very tolerant Iranian society, relatively economically developed, of course with very pronounced differences in living standards. Nevertheless, for example, a number of goods manufactured there were still unknown in the socialist camp. The diversity of this country also consisted in the possibility of going to the mountains at any time to ski on long slopes with lifts, or spending a weekend on the hot beach of the Caspian Sea, or just feeling the stopping of time and the infinity of space in the deserts... even with stray dogs that we always lovingly fed along the way.... Simply the power of life outside Europe.

Václav Vaněček jr.