Bullnose Mercedes Trucks in Qatar

The Bullnose Mercedes

There's not a lot to do in Qatar. Sure, there are shopping malls and luxury hotels, but if you are allergic to both, you have to find your enjoyment where you can. Today, I like bullnose Mercedes trucks. Tomorrow, perhaps, crab sexing by the sea. It's all about short-term enthusiasm.

Bullnose Mercedes trucks are great. Lumbering and growling their way through the narrow streets, churning out deep ruts and potholes wherever they go, they're as much part of the Doha scene as the fleet of clapped-out American school buses that provide workers' transport. You've got to love them.

Booming Construction in Doha

Doha, Qatar, is currently 'enjoying' the biggest city reconstruction project since Napoleon's Paris. Huge areas of the city are being swept away. Every day, old (and some not-so-old) buildings are reduced to rubble. Conservation, refurbishment and renovation are foreign concepts here. If something is in the wrong place, it's history. The desert winds whip great clouds of concrete dust and debris across the clearances. National, Musheireb, Bin Mahmoud, going, going, gone. From dawn prayers till sundown, and in places all through the night, the city echoes the din of pile drivers and bulldozers. Mountains of rubble are created and transported to landfill sites. And the workhorses entrusted with this heavy haulage are a fleet of battered old bullnose Mercedes Benz trucks.

The Mercedes-Benz "Kurzhauber"

The truck's real name is the Mercedes-Benz "Kurzhauber," which means "short bonnet". Manufacture ceased in 1995 after 35 glorious years. In Qatar, we always call them by their English nickname, the Bullnose Mercedes. I think they like it better!

From what I gather, most of Qatar's truck fleet is 25 to 30 years old. I'd guess there must be a few hundred of them in Doha alone, with many more servicing the outlying sites and plants. What I like about the Mercedes Bullnose are its huge road wheels and the way the cab is set oddly high above them, giving it a rearing stallion look. You can always tell if the driver is from India or Pakistan because they like to personalize their cabs with pieces of fabric, tassels, and chains.

A full load on one of these chaps must be about fifteen cubic meters. Crushed concrete has to weigh around two tons per cubic meter. So, a fully (over)laden truck could exceed thirty tons. With only ten wheels to spread the load, it's no wonder our roads are suffering. But that's good, too, if it slows down the boy racers in their Land Cruisers.

I'd hate to give the impression that Qatar haulage is stuck in the past. There are plenty of newer trucks, too, such as the Mercedes Actros (Atrocity?). The Actros is more powerful and more comfortable for the driver, of course, but there's nothing to like about it. A truck (as I've just convinced myself!) should look like a truck. It should look powerful. It should be noisy, smelly, rattly. It should shake the ground and carve up the roads. It should make pictures and mirrors fall off the walls in its wake. Most of all, it should be bull-nosed with a big, ugly vertical exhaust*.

*Correction: It is actually a big ugly vertical air intake, not an exhaust. But hey, where's the romance in that?!

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Postscript, 2021

I wrote this article in 2011, and the photos all date between 2009 and 2013. I left Doha in 2018, and by that date, nearly all of the Bullnose Mercs had been cleared from the city. A few were hanging on, mainly around the industrial area, but the Mercedes Actros and Nissan trucks had more or less taken over. Pity!

One of my photos, the one captioned "Don't talk to me - I'm working", is featured on the cover of a novel, "An Afghan Affair", by Alexander Travell. It's a good read.

© 2011 Dave McClure

Comments

HAMADA HASSAN SHARIF ABDULLAH on December 24, 2019:

Hello dear

Just want ask about the truck Mercedes actors old

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on October 28, 2014:

Anthony - I don't know, but I believe there is still a factory in Saudi that produces new ones.

Anthony chisanga on October 27, 2014:

I would like to buy bullnose mercedes.how do I get one

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on August 18, 2013:

The commonest truck in Qatar is the Mercedes Actros but there are still a lot of the old bullnose Mercedes left. Next to Mercedes would be Nissan, I think.

Zain on August 18, 2013:

Hi

I would like to know which truck is more in Qatar?

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on November 27, 2012:

Hi, thanks for getting back to me. I've looked it up on Amazon and as you say, the picture is a composite, but still recognisable to bull-nose Merc fans! Good luck with the book - I hope it sells well :)

alex Travell on November 27, 2012:

Hi, got the book published, but don't know how to post the cover to you. Let me know.

You can look it up on line as an alternative, it's called "An Afghan Affair" and features the bull nose superimposed with a girl's face. Not quite what I had in mind but it works.

Thanks for letting me use the picture.

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on July 01, 2012:

I've added one more from last night, at the end of the hub. Not very different from the others though. Just slightly higher resolution.

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on June 30, 2012:

There is no country here, only desert, very flat, grey and dusty. Anyway, I'll maybe have a go after work today (Sunday's a working day here). It will get me out of the house.

Alex Travell on June 30, 2012:

Hi Paraglider,

Only if you're out and about, a better quality shot like the 'don't talk to me I'm working' one.

A bull nose on a typical middle eastern street, or in country. Please don't go to special effort as the image will be in sepia.

It would be a pleasure to send you a scan of the cover when it's done. The story is at the publishers now so shouldn't be long before it's on the shelves. Suspect it's not your sort of thing though.

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on June 27, 2012:

Hi Alex - you are welcome to use any of them. I'd be interested to see a scan of the book cover when it's done. But these are just mobile phone pics. If you want a decent quality shot from a real camera I can easily take some this weekend. Let me know?

Alex Travell on June 27, 2012:

Hi Paraglider, love your photos of the old bull noses. Can i use one of the pics as a book-cover? I would really like one of a bull nose in terrain, but I guess there's not too much of that in Doha. The 'don't talk to me I'm working' will do just fine if I can photoshop it a little.

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on May 20, 2012:

Amisa - I've no idea, but if you're in Qatar why not walk by where they park (the road that runs from Sofitel to Muntazah) and talk to some of the drivers.

amisa on May 19, 2012:

How do i get an old bullnose in Qatar to buy? i need an urgent reply. Thanks.

amisa4amisa@yahoo.com

+2348060750534

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 30, 2011:

Welcome, Micky - They do carve up the tarmac though! But it's not a cycling country (far too hot and too many crazy drivers in Land Cruisers) so it doesn't matter!

Micky Dee on March 30, 2011:

I hit all your buttons brother man. How refreshing from the pits from whence I've come. Happy trails son!

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 17, 2011:

Hi Sally - yes, that one's my favourite too. I think the two extra merc badges are not real, but are probably 'borrowed' from an imaginative counterfeiter. No problem with that ;)

Sherri from Southeastern Pennsylvania on March 17, 2011:

Love the one with the frills and the three Mercedes emblems and its juxtaposition of the feminine pink and the manly stack. This was a fun Hub. Thanks for sharing your corner of the world.

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 16, 2011:

Hi Eiddwen - I'm not really a truck enthusiast, but there aren't too many things to get excited about in Doha! Thanks for the read :)

Eiddwen from Wales on March 16, 2011:

Hi Paraglider,

Myself and my partner follow as many truck shows as we can around the country . Dai my partner used to drive trucks for a living and my interest began six years ago when I met him and has flourished ever since.

Thanks for sharing this one and take care

Eiddwen.

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 15, 2011:

I prefer my shops to have a front door onto a real pavement! Thanks for the visit :)

prettydarkhorse from US on March 15, 2011:

Oh no, I like shopping malls, but it is good to have a glimpse of those autos. Maita

lightning john from Florida on March 15, 2011:

Thank you Paraglider. have a great day!

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 15, 2011:

LJ - I've sent you an email. (No problem with guitars - I have two with me here in Doha)

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 15, 2011:

Hi Tony - in Dubai, they restrict the hours that the heavy vehicles can be on the roads, but in Qatar it just seems to be a free for all, fresh and foul water tankers, concrete mixers, huge concrete pumps, flatbeds with shipping containers, car transporters. All burning diesel at one riyall a litre (cheaper than water). No wonder the place smells bad!

lightning john from Florida on March 14, 2011:

Yes I would consider employment there, just as long as I can have my acoustic six string with me after work. I have experience mechanical and structural print reading . In The Royal The Making of a custom bath, you can see my bath that I designed and built myself. Thanks very much.Lj

Tony McGregor from South Africa on March 14, 2011:

Great and funny hub, Dave! As I worked years ago for Leyland Truck and Bus I too have a certain nostalgic fondness for the old diesel behemoths! Of course Merc was our competition back then but I remember these trucks very well. Had a few in our trade-in yard.

Thanks for the great read.

Love and peace

Tony

Dave McClure (author) from Worcestershire, UK on March 14, 2011:

Hi LJ - There's so much construction happening now in Qatar and planned for the next ten years that it would be seriously worth your while considering the place. Let me know if you'd like a contact in construction here, OK?

lightning john from Florida on March 14, 2011:

Yes Paraglider, Now that is a truck. My father owned an old 67 International that we hauled our heavy equipment around with. We had a D-8 Cat a D-7Cat and an AlisChalmers inloader. The exhaust stacks went way up on both sides all chromed. Had a great sound.

I'm glad there is construction somewhere in the world, because in Forida things are not being built, except for the occasional hospital clinic here and there.

I've applied for construction work overseas but the headhunters are asking 600 700 just to apply, and I'm not ready to get skinned just yet. Thanks Lj