Summer Holiday Weekend Edition – Greek Island Trucks

I recently spent a week on the Dodecanese island of Rhodes, Greece. Despite the Finnish summer’s ability to really shine and cuddle with ample warmth, the decision to pack our bags and take a cheap flight to the island nestled close to the Turkish coast was easily made.

This Summer Holiday Weekend Edition, on my part, shows you what I saw; handily, you’ll miss the endless shots of delicious Greek food and drink from my week-long trip, and even cats and dogs will not feature heavily – it’ll be shots of the cars, vans and trucks I saw on my trip.

The first post lets you see some pickup trucks, in their weathered and sun-baked glory.

The first one to be featured is the first one I saw, at a supermarket parking lot: a mid-to-late 1960s Mazda B1500 truck. The paint on it was like a pair of denim work overalls, and I really like seeing the old Mazda logo.

I have no problem believing it’s still in regular service. The patina was just perfect.

Another Mazda pickup truck, seen in the town of Afantou. This is related to the Familias.

Close to it, I also spotted this Indian-made TATA truck, featuring lots of Mercedes-like design features. That’s down to a technology-sharing deal way back when, a thing proclaimed also by the Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star sticker in the windshield.

This Isuzu truck took shelter under a tree in Gennadi, where we stayed. The town is in the southern part of the island; while Rhodes makes a living out of tourism, the southern half of the island is a lot less crowded and thus a lot nicer to spend time.

Different bed, same basic truck.

This Hilux wasn’t the most beaten one I saw, but one I could photograph.

The honours go to this one – while I saw a Hilux that didn’t have a non-crumpled body panel on it, someone still drove it. This one has been long dead, and it mostly serves as a platform for whatever that is perched on the bed.

To get the complete aural experience, you need to imagine the constant chittering of crickets and the washing of waves. Probably not hard to conjure, but that soundscape is totally missing here up north. In comparison, Finland is totally silent even in summertime – just the odd bird makes itself known.

I’ll need identification on this one, photographed on the outskirts of Apollakia. If anything, it’s a rare sighting by now.

Small Piaggio trucks, in turn, were absolutely commonplace. On the narrow alleys and streets of Lindos, nothing wider would fit. And everything narrower than this would be a motorcycle or a scooter.

Refreshments? Those are offered from this green Mercedes canteen truck at Prasonisi beach, at the southernmost point of the island.

This post is finished with this brick red Fiat Fiorino pickup, seen in the mountain town of Monolithos. Judging by the bushes, the little Fiat had been there for a little while now.

[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]