The Iraqi Taxi: The Untold Story of the 25,000 Special Ordered Chevy Malibus

Did you know back in the early 1980s Saddam Hussein's government ordered 25 thousand Chevy Malibu's? Well not only did that happened but he deal went terribly wrong. Half the cars made it over and the other half got trapped in Nova Scotia and never made it over. But this story is just getting started and Dave, who bought one of these, knows all about it. But Dave isn't going to let this thing sit in a garage and wipe it with a diaper, no. Dave believes in daily driving these vehicles and plans to drive to Pontiac Michigan for the Roadkill Garage meet. Will he make it out there with the Iraqi Taxi? You don't want to miss this wild episode! We unravel the incredibly strange story of the Iraqi taxi fleet made up of 25,000 exclusively custom-ordered Chevrolet Malibu cars imported all the way from Canada. Discover the surprising reasons why Iraqi entrepreneurs chose to import Chevy Malibus specifically from Canada, rather than opting for locally manufactured cars. Join us as we explore the unique modifications made to these vehicles to withstand the challenging Iraqi driving conditions, making them the ideal choice for taxi drivers in the region. From reinforced suspensions to custom-built features, witness the impressive adaptions that ensure these Chevy Malibus are up to the task. Did Canada hold their end of the bargain? Did Iraq cancel the order? Check out to see what ends up happening.

Chapters:

00:00 Episode Preview 1981 Chevy Malibu “Iraqi Taxi”
03:04 229 V6 110 HP 3 speed manual transimission
04:30 History of the Chevy Malibu “Iraqi Taxi”
07:00 Canada produced 25 000 special ordered Chevy malibu for Iraq
07:45 What made these cars unique
10:30 The hunt for car
10:45 The story behind the Iraq special order of the Chevy Malibu
19:30 Mechanical work
20:30 Roadkill night road trip
21:59 Test driving the 81 Chevy Malibu
31:07 1983 Datsun 280ZX

Master Episode 010
S01E10
Series: Between the Wheels
Episode: 1981 Chevy Malibu "Iraqi Taxi"
Year: 2022
Host: TrooperMax
Theme: Anthony Jarrett
Video Equipment Consultant: Mark Dalpe
Intro Graphics: Rahul Ralan

#SubdivisionAuto #btw #BetweenTheWheels #chevymalibu

[PhilipDykshoorn]

l recall as a youth in the summer of '82, roofing a business across a GM dealership in Oshawa, ON, the location of the builder of the '81 Iraqi Malibu. There was tonnes of those Malibu on the lot, and the lineup of the customers was like a grocery store. Customers all lined up, paid for the car and then drove it off the lot. l recall the owner/manager of the GM dealership coming into the business l was roofing at, and he was absolutely amazed that he almost sold the entire lot of Malibu cars (maybe 250 to 300 cars) all in two days. Those were the days (!)

[elbarbudomich.]

The Malibu was assembled here in Venezuela, I in fact had an 81 Mlibu, my first car by the way and in Venzuela it was a fantastic car, amny still have them as a regular daily use car with no issues. It has a 231 V6, 3 speed automatic, with AC, AM/FM radio cassette and just like the iraqi, the rear windows didn´t roll down. In fact the Malibu was the best GM Venezuelan product made since 1946, when we began assembly here and it has been one of the most stolen car as far as the 2000´s.

[saadmarwan]

I'm a 19 years old teen from Iraq and who still drive this car my family had it since 1989 and it is still running, but the version I have came with automatic gear.

[walterlingard]

Worked in a Chev dealer in 81 in the west end of Toronto. We sold a few of these and serviced them as well. In Aug 79, I bought a used 4 door Nova with 40k on it for 5grand, so 6500 was such a good deal for for one of these. We all wanted one but there weren't many available.

[alreynolds]

I remember back in the day my grandmother had a Malibu of this time era...She loved it....

[Thunderrolls]

I love the last rwd Malibu and Elcamino.

[pijiudu]

I would love to have one of these Iraqi Taxis! In the 1990's I owned a 1980 Chevrolet El Camino with the same powertrain - a 3.8 litre V-6 with a three-speed manual on the floor. For those of you that my be unfamiliar with the El Camino, it was similar to a 2-door 1980 Malibu but with a pickup truck bed on the back. In my opinion, it was the best small truck ever built, with a full frame, nice ride, and a decent sized bed. I wish I still had it. The performance would have been similar the Iraqi Taxi, and I had absolutely no trouble shifting it, or any other problems with the truck.

[howardkeil]

Cool didn't know about these. 229 v6 was based off the SBC v8 with 2 less cylinders and much smaller bore. Like a 4.3 262. 229 was common then and replaced the straight 6 250. Used in rear wheel drives only. Probably shorter motor fit in these smaller engine bays. Saginaw transmissions are all great transmissions. All these GM G body cars were made by the millions back then with every GM division and all the GM downsized engines 307 301 etc etc and 200 and 350 trans back then . I loved them as 40 years ago worked at a large used auto parts dismantler and without torches or destruction using air tools and a houist could remove the front end body work (front end assy), pull the engine and trans in 30 minutes in a shop, I pulled soooo many. Only cut was radiator hoses, trans lines and PS lines.

[wyman]

I believe it. One time I was driving around Payson, Arizona and I saw an '81 parked at an auto parts store. Right after that, I saw a '79 drive by me in the opposite direction.

[misters]

Having passed out from heat exhaustion in the back seat of a G-Body wagon, those stupid little windows were ALL that opened so they could sell A/C which a good portion of Malibus DID have... The one I was in had the 231 Buick V6 (I believe that was a California/Emissions spec thing, as it was a rust free car in Minnesota) The car had A/C but wasn't functioning properly, or at all!

[daiichidoku]

i think they started with police package malibus (i drove one as a taxi 1987) substituting the driveline for the iraqi spec

[s.garabet]

The Iraqi model was such a frankenstein, but that didn't stop some people from modding it even more. I remember a neighbor using Toyota Crown power window parts, and even managed to install the AC from the 1982 Crown. My dad had a blue one, which remains the only manual transmission car I've ever driven.
EDIT: I can confirm the 2nd story;'s details to an extent. Saddam gave them to lower ranking officers during the war, but not necessarily the families AFAIK. The higher ranking ones typically got Toyota Crowns. He handed out a lot of the 82 models.

[ramcharger]

Allegorythm gold ✨️ love learning obscure details and such 😂great video ❤

[taur]

ALL 4 door A/G bodies '78-87 did NOT have rear windows that rolled down and had opening rear vents(some power).The 229 Chevy V-6 was NOT a old design at the time.

[wackowacko]

The reason that the shift pattern on your car is incorrect is because someone installed the shift levers and/or rods incorrectly. Usually when the pattern is upside down, it is because the shift levers on the transmission have been flipped up or down depending on the original configuration. If the shift pattern is flipped side to side, it is because the shift rods are going to the wrong shift levers.

[hideralmosawi]

Still until now seeing it on the roads in my country the iraq

[kevinbarrett]

I sold these in 85 at Golden Mile Motors in Scarborough. We called them Iraqibues, I remember them as bare bones with heavy duty AC and that wacky 3 speed manual, tough sell !

[duanesgarage]

I owned one years ago, great car. I own an 79 Malibu 2dr now.🇨🇦

[wyman]

I used to have an '81 Malibu sedan myself in the early '90s. I had the 229 V6 and automatic on the column. I wish I still had it.

[olikat]

Reminds me of the beige, '76 Valiant I have. Not a slant 6, a V8 with HD cooling, handling package, sure-grip axle, and a passenger door rear view mirror. No cloth interior, AM radio, no AC, 2-speed wipers and nothing much else