Art purchased in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Likely created by: https://www.instagram.com/sandofsenech/
During a recent string of trips to Mauritania, I was taken aback by how prominent the 1980s-1990s Mercedes is in Mauritanian culture. It's everywhere you look. For all the stories you see of art-deco rides in Cuba, the scene here is strikingly similar, but exists more for environmental reasons than political.
Mass-produced cars from Europe were exported south in droves as their values plummeted at home but the demand for dependable cars in Africa remained. This, along with environmental regulation tightening, caused cars to migrate south from the port of Hamburg.
Mercedes trucks were imported all over developing Africa and the rest of the developing world from Mercedes factories in Iran. Some of their older European produced-cousins also made their way down for another lifetime or two of useful service.
Mercedes vans from the 1970s-on perform as work vehicles long past their prime. It's extremely common to see sketchy roadside mechanic work on these, since their use is purely functional and stretching their lifetimes is critical to maintaining incomes.
Vintage cars can be tow vehicles to other vintage cars. This Peugeot was being towed towards Nouakchott.
A Benz W124 can serve multiple lifetimes in West Africa, where all is dry and nothing rusts. When the car eventually dies and is beyond repair for a reasonable amount, the parts live on in other serviceable cars.
