Pictures of the Day: 600 Grosser Benz shipped to Germany

Si wangepatia M.M @introvert hii kazi
The late president Jomo Kenyatta’s 600 grosser benz has been shipped to Germany for restoration.
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Wueeh.
When this beauty is done, it’s sentimental value will be worth more than the SGR.
If I had the means I’d do that too.
Swali tu ni why they let it rot that far.

I believe it usual negligence of gava properties.
so many cars worth millions lying aroung car parks

The one stuck in mud is a different one

Which one is a Pullman?

Juzi we tried rescuing an Allion from the mud in similar fashion.
By the time we were done it had changed shape. Very flimsy body panels.
:D:D

Gari zingine ni born tao .i once borrowed a friend toyota wish nifike mushatha ile gari ni stupid kubeba mzigo kwa boot haiwes panda mlima na hakujanyesha inainuka mbele so tyres are just air spinning .I had to look for locals wakalie bonnet ndio mguu zikanyange chini.

How did they allow this vehicle to run into such a state of disrepair???

Where was it?

I have driven 1970s vehicles, i have driven 1980s vehicles, and I have driven modern vehicles including the allion being discussed here in mud. The moderns one dont suffer failure in mud easily and have more power. Most old vehicles are easily broken by mud. You will suffer an overheated or damaged engine often, overheated and damaged ignition coil, a damaged or wet distributor, over-flooded carburetor due to flooring the accelerator, snapped shafts or worn shaft, damaged steering relay or steering mechanism out of order, burnt clutch, sliping clutch that neither disengages nor locks. newer engines give more power and are more reliable in mud, the power steering makes things easy in mud. I have seen a drivers hand broken by a landrover series 109 steering. Steering inakuendesha si wewe unaiendesha. Efficiency ata usiseme. A carburetor vehicle can burn your pockets dry in mud. the only advantage is that old cast iron block engines are easily repaired and remachined.
When it comes to the body, modern cars may have thinner panels to save weight but a stronger structure design. like if you hit a 1980s door from the side with a modern car it will just carve in while for the modern car you might just need to wipe the foreign paint off. old cars with premium aluminuim body are easier to straighten and dont tear on bending and therefore seem durable. Old cars have metallic bumpers bolted to chassis and you can push on them forever and wont damage them. modern cars have plastic bumpers easily damaged in pushing and pulling.
When I dealt with old generation cars only i thought new ones are weaker, delicate and unreliable based on the fact that they are automatic, have power steering and have plastic bumpers. Ilikuwa tu ignorance na being a sticker to old stuff. Wangapi hapa wamenunua meno ya gearbox automatic? They hardly fail unless they have known issues like volkswagen

Go to any government car yard and you will see vehicles with grass growing on the seats, reason? There was no money to buy a new battery

Yes, any other government vehicle but not a presidential limousine.

Even Presidential vehicles will rot if new ones are bought, the old ones go to transport Ministry for boarding and eventual auction. This process can take decades.

Where I am there was this newish but abandoned double cabin GK D-Max. I thought it had suffered a catastrophic engine failure. Ilikuwa chini ya miti with dry leaves and dust all over. Then one day one of the drivers came with a new Exide battery, opened bonnet, connected it and cranked it up. Ilichapa ‘one kick’ as Njoro wa Grogan would say. Only then did I learn the reason why it had been abandoned: it simply needed its battery replaced. Yaani gari mpya ililala pale almost 5yrs kwa sababu ya battery tu, sth that costs 7k (N-70). Meantime, our agricultural extension officers have no vehicles with which to visit and assist our farmers!

Often by design. The most recent amendments to the Public Procurement & Asset Disposal Act have done away with the Board of Survey, replacing it with a Committee in an attempt to hasten the process and improve efficiency. What I find funny, however, is that the Minister is yet to formulate new Regulations so we have a situation where a new Act is being used alongside old (outdated?) regulations.

Often, senior office holders are so out of touch they hardly know what happens to their older vehicles once replaced by newer ones.

The government will buy many vehicles but provide very little for operation and maintenance. That is the reason you will see new vehicles abandoned because they is no money for service.

That board of survey is a big joke. The members usually set a reserve price for whatever is to be disposed through auction and then use proxies to buy the items

Never seen the need for proxies hata. There used to be a provision for employees of that dep’t to be given priority in disposal of excess/ unserviceable stores. Not sure if it’s still there though.

They will steal government property. Some of those cars will be auctioned new