The Morattab Industrial Manufacturing Company was founded in Tehran in 1957 as an Iranian agent and distributor of commercial vehicles, before branching out into the manufacture of Land Rovers under licence from Rover in 1962. During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Morattab was nationalised without compensation to its founders and rightful owners, with the Company continuing to produce Land Rover Series models uninterrupted, but out of licence as the Rover/Leyland contract was not updated or renewed. Today, the vehicle maker continues as the now partly privatised Morattab Khodro, with Iran being the last location globally to continue production of a model loosely derived from Rover’s original Land Rover, albeit in quite a modified form. Morattab’s current (and unsanctioned) Santana-based Series IV models now feature parabolic leaf springs, a one-piece windscreen and fully fitted and trimmed interiors, with the model powered by a locally built 1.8-litre four-cylinder Nissan-derived petrol engine, in place of the 2.2-litre four-cylinder and 3.3-litre six-cylinder engines fitted to the last of the Santana Series IV 4x4s.
