Iran Khodro Roa

The Peykan's body with a modern front end and, on most cars, the same pushrod OHV engine the Peykan itself used — which is the single most useful fact about it, because a Roa is mechanically a 1960s Rootes design wearing 2000s panels. Rootes and Peugeot material for that engine describes the hardware; nothing filed under the Roa's own name does.

It is a pushrod engine in a car sold into the 2010s. There is no camshaft in the head, valve clearances are set mechanically, and the service intervals belong to an older era. On the carburetted and early-injection cars there is very little for a scan tool to read, so diagnosis is compression, ignition timing and fuel delivery rather than data — establishing which system is fitted is the first step, not an afterthought.

Given the age and the mileage of the surviving fleet, corroded earths and a worn distributor account for a large share of running complaints, and a bi-fuel conversion — very common in its home market — adds a gas side whose faults present exactly like petrol-side ones.