TEHRAN, May 15: The very last Paykan rolled off the production line in Iran on Sunday, with officials bidding good riddance to a British design that has emerged as curse of the Islamic republic’s car industry and environment. In a ceremony attended by some 200 officials and staff at the Iran Khodro auto plant west of Tehran, Paykan number 2,295,095 was driven away to grace the factory museum — marking the end of an era and a turning point for the Middle East’s largest carmaker.

The country has been eager to rid itself of the Paykan, a descendent of Britain’s long-gone Hillman Hunter, given that it drinks the same amount of petrol as a 12-cylinder Lamborghini supercar.—AFP