Nairn Transport Company
The company was formed by Norman Nairn (1894–1968) and his brother Gerald (1897–1980) of Blenheim, New Zealand who had served under Allenby in the British Army in the Middle East during World War I.
In 1905, their doctor father had been one of the first in New Zealand to own a motor car, a Reo, and the brothers had a successful motorcycle dealership there prior to World War I.
[2] After the war, the brothers first traded in ex-army vehicles, then established a motor dealership in 1919 but it was not very successful and they decided to operate a taxi service between Beirut and Haifa with the cars they couldn't sell.
Plans for a rail link to the Mediterranean coast had faltered and the air route to Cairo was infrequent and expensive.
[1] One was local sheik and gold smuggler Mohammad Ibn Bassam who had made trial runs of different routes using his own cars.
The brothers signed a five-year contract with the Iraqi government to transport mail from Baghdad to Damascus and Haifa, and back again.
[1] With the help of the Nasser trading family,[3] the Nairn Transport Company was established and the first official trip made on 18 October 1923.
[2] The Nairn's purchased seven type 63 Cadillacs, finding these cars the most reliable, rugged and well equipped for the arduous desert treks.
The Nairn Cadillacs could travel at up to 112 kmh (70 mph) over flat, sun-baked, ground for around two-thirds of the route as the desert was a mud and gravel one rather than sand.
On one occasion Gerald Nairn journeyed from Rutbah to an Iran Petroleum Company post more quickly than an Imperial Airways aircraft that left at the same time.
The original Bedouin guides were dropped in favour of extra drivers and the cars changed from daytime travel to driving in the cooler temperatures at night.
The cars soon outran the camels and after the raiders' ammunition ran out they surrendered their knives to the Nairn men expecting their throats to be cut.
British cars, even the desert-proven Rolls-Royce, tended to be built for comfort over smooth European roads rather than endurance and lacked the power, high ride and cooling necessary for the long desert runs.
[3] Cadillacs proved very reliable, even in the extreme heat, due to their large radiators and excellent cooling systems.
Gerald Nairn said "The Cadillac's ability to take punishment was just amazing" and by the time the firm dispensed with them they had done 200,000 miles each, at least 150-160,000 of which had been on the Damascus to Baghdad run.
In 1959, the firm was liquidated after border disputes, competition from air transport and political problems made the service unviable.
