In the heat of the 1930s Syrian Desert, the world’s largest bus blasts through the sand. The unique vehicles of the Nairn Transport Company once ruled the desert, forging a path where no vehicles had gone before. Founded by two Kiwis, by the 1930s Nairn Transport had developed some of the most advanced and luxurious overland transport found anywhere in the world. But how did it work? What happened to them and where, perhaps, are they now?
The Nairn Transport Company was a pioneering motor transport company that operated a trans-desert route from Beirut, Haifa and Damascus to Baghdad, and back again, from 1923. Their route became known as “The Nairn Way”. The firm continued, in various guises, until 1959.
The very long journeys made by the company required a variety of vehicles. The first used were Buick and Cadillac motor cars, and Buick in the United States issued an advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post in 1927 with the legend “Buick carries the Desert Mail”. Cadillacs proved very reliable, even in the extreme heat, due to their large radiators and excellent cooling systems.
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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. They were able to run comfortably at 70 mph, a great speed for a motor car in 1923. Cadillac advertising boasted “The Cadillac replaces the Camel”.
