May
04
Filed Under (Random Photo of the Week) by Rob on 04-05-2011

A Renault 12 taxi in Sikasso

If you’re my age (or slightly younger) you may well remember travelling in a Renault 12 back in the 70s or early 80s; one of the only cars which look almost the same going backwards as forwards! I love ’em! Those funny little plastic levers to open the doors, and the interior was something else (see a great picture of the dash here). Here’s what mine looked like:

Many of these Renault Douze, it would seem, have found their way to southern Mali, and if you go to Sikasso, you’ll notice that around 70% of all its taxis are this make and model; bizarre and fascinating at the same time!

Folk who’ve been here long enough will tell you that these used to be in Bamako and then found their way ‘down country’ as more and more Mercedes 190s came in to replace them as the most common taxi make in the capital (more about those another time).

Interestingly, Romania continued making a car almost identical to the Douze until about a decade ago, called the Dacia 1320. There you go!



Comments:
1 Comment posted on "Random Photo of the Week no.18"
Paul Morriss on May 6th, 2011 at 4:07 pm #

We used to have one of those when I was a kid. I learnt to drive on it. It handled like a boat, but without the fun element.