Low-cost automobiles became popular for the sole reason of their capacity to sell in large numbers, which most companies appreciate for a lot of reasons. However, when they were about to become massive, around the early 1980s, those makers suddenly had to deal with quite a paradox: they had to develop these cheap vehicles first, which would take a lot of money. In other words, in order to be cheap, they had to be expensive. Since this isn’t exactly a good situation in which to be, they started to think of all sorts of alternative ways to avoid it. Brainstorming is usually very interesting, but definitely not when one works having “low price” and “low production costs” as their only priorities and no restrictions about anything else. Sadly, that was pretty much what happened in many cases.
Some manufacturers did the right thing. They conceived entire lineups of popular models, whether from scratch or based on other projects, and used them seeking long-term profits. On the other end, others acquired the machinery of vehicles whose lifecycle was being ended in their original countries, in order to keep selling them cheaply with few changes. And there has been a variety of intermediate cases. Over all those years, people’s reception has favored the first of these alternatives, so this is what has been applied to most of the recent releases in this car category. However, there are several exceptions that insist to stay strong. In countries where people’s options are restricted, instead of having those better options to favor, they are indirectly forced to consume what the few existing companies offer.
Having all that information in mind, it becomes very easy to understand Iran Khodro’s work, although nothing makes it less surprising. This company produces vehicles from others under license, and sometimes creates regional versions of its own. Since Iran is closed to foreign manufacturers, the competition is scarce enough to let it keep working with projects such as Peugeot 405. Yes, the vehicle whose original lifecycle lasted from 1987 to 1995. Not only does it still sell the same sedan, now called Roa, it has created several variations of it – from the tweaked Pars to more complex reinventions such as Sarir and Soren. If you haven’t resisted to check those models’ pictures (which can be done by clicking on their names), you’ve already figured with which one is this article’s pickup related.
If it wasn’t a purely commercial vehicle, Arisun would certainly catch the eyes of Australian people. After all, it’s literally a Pars whose body was cut in half and replaced by a bed. Nevertheless, while the aforementioned customers can purchase their Utes, as they’re locally called, in several trim levels and even with V8 engines, Arisun sports black bumpers, plastic wheel covers, the absence of a bedliner… and doors not exactly aligned with the rest of the sheetmetal. At least there’s a clever solution for those who use natural gas: the cylinders are hidden in an exclusive compartment that lies underneath the bed, and therefore right behind the cabin. Not only are they safer in case of an accident, they also stop stealing cargo space. Speaking of the cabin, it’ll only come in regular version, at least according to what it’s officially known so far.
As far as the interior is concerned, Iran Khodro made its best to make you feel like you went back to the 2000s, rather than when 405 was first released. Steering wheel and instrument cluster look quite up-to-date, but the central console will make you miss those whose screen-to-buttons ratio is the inverse. On the other hand, this design also works as an anticipation of what you’re going to find at the equipment list: dual front airbags, central locking, climate control, audio system with MP3 reader and USB port, fire extinguisher, front disc brakes, hydraulic power steering, immobilizer, rear fog light, 15” steel wheels, and some items that are rather hard to believe an automaker still thinks worth mentioning on the model’s website: front head rests with adjustable height, and safety belts with the same feature and pretensioner.
After reading all that, if you somehow came to enjoy what became a retro article, you might even enjoy what appears when you open Arisun’s hood. The four-cylinder, 1.7-liter engine still features an OHV layout, and generates 86 hp of power and 14.3 kgfm of torque – if you switch from gasoline to natural gas, those figures drop to 78 hp and 13 kgfm. Combined to rear-wheel drive and a five-speed manual transmission, you can reach 100 km/h in 12.7 seconds, and spend a few more to reach a top speed of 160 km/h – 14 seconds and 145 km/h switching fuels. If you want more figures, the payload ranges from 750 kg to 830 kg, while the combined fuel consumption does it from 11.1 kpl with gasoline to what would be 0.32 kpl with gas. This vehicle is already on sale in Iran, and should reach Iran Khodro’s export markets soon.