Kings and Cars Part 5 - Mozaffar ad-Din the Shah of Persia

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For this episode in the series 'Kings and Cars', an exception is made, as the car fanatic of today is not a King, but a Shah. Mozaffar ad-Din was the fifth Shah (or Qajar King) of Persia from 1896 until his death in 1907. During three travels to Europe, his visits to car manufacturers made him buy several automobiles. He certainly had a preference for French cars.

In 1901 he bought a Gardner-Serpollet in Paris and he gave Léon Serpollet the Order of the Lion and the Sun for his services.

In 1905 he travelled with a Panhard-Levassor through the Persian Empire. But the Shah had with him a team of 5000 people: ministers, soldiers and servants. They transported the tents, rugs and all supplies. They mainly travelled with camels and donkeys, so the convoy also comprised a whole lot of people to care for these beasts. Food and water for people and animals had to be carried, because most of the travelling went through the desert. The Shah travelled on the Panhard-Levassor, but it only used first gear as the complete convoy followed him by foot or animal.

The Shah's interesting in novelty did not end with the automobile, he also introduced the 'cinematographe' into his country. During his first European visit in 1900, cinema was demonstrated at the Exposition in Paris and the Shah instructed Akkas Bashi to buy the necessary equipment to film and project. The story goes that the first footage taken was at the Flower Show in Gent, Belgium.

Today, Iran is the heart of old Persia and there is an automobile museum in Teheran, but unfortunately, none of the Shah's cars seems to have survived.

Words by Nick Jonckheere.

Next week, the last part of 'Kings and Cars'.

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