Pick-me-up.

The whole of North Africa, is kept moving by Peugeot 404 pick up trucks. Grey in Libya, Biege in Tunisia. All of these must be at least 35 years old, but show no sign of giving up just yet. I have long been impressed with their sheer stamina in the face of eastern competition (slowly making an advance now). There are not hundreds, but thousands, probably tens of thousands, of these battered Peugeots to be seen daily carrying everything from workers, building materials, crops and livestock. The drivers of modern cars call them ‘scorpions’, as you never quite know when one will jump out and sting you. Whilst I was having a puncture fixed by a group of excited Nigerians one pulled up. I exchanged greetings with the driver and his two companions and gestured that I admired his truck and would like to sit in it. He offered me the drivers seat. Pulling the door open it fell off. Fantastic! A full half turn of the steering wheel before any movement of wheels and two good pumps of the brake pedal prior to any pressure. The steering wheel - from a BMW, was welded on. There were no dials at all and the wiring was a mass of twisted wires hanging below the dashboard. I watched in awe as he twisted two together for ignition, then flashed another pair for the starter. They have evolved into motorised wheelbarrows and with pattern parts now being made in North Africa will probably be lumbering around for many years to come.