About Paykan
The Paykan (Persian: پيکان) was an automobile produced by the Iranian company Iran Khodro Industrial Group. The car was very popular in Iran from the late 1960s to the late 1990s.
The Paykan design was based on the 1967 Hillman Hunter, which was originally designed and manufactured by the British Rootes Group.
The design was introduced to Iran by Mahmoud Khayami, co-founder and, by then, owner of the Iran Khodro (then called "Iran National") company and factory, who accurately predicted that Iran was in need of a simple "no-frills" automobile within the price range of ordinary people.
In 1967, Rootes began exporting Hunters to Iran Khodro in "complete knock down" (CKD) kit form, for assembly in Iran. By the mid 1970s, full scale manufacture of the car, less the engine had started in Iran.
In 1978, Peugeot took over the Rootes company after it collapsed under the ownership of Chrysler Europe; a year later Peugeot ended Hunter production. Thereafter, the Paykan's engine production tooling was moved to Iran and was in full-scale manufacture under Peugeot license until 2005.
