Take a drive along any of the main highways out of Beirut and it quickly becomes apparent that the Lebanese love, and have always loved, the muscle, sleek lines, reliability and prestige of Mercedes and BMWs.Of course, along with that love affair is an fortunate dilemma, one that is perhaps emblematic of a wider social pathology: The Lebanese love their luxury brands but in many cases cannot afford them.What this means is, according to informal estimates (statistics are not available for used car sales), the 461 new Mercedes and 609 new BMWs sold in Lebanon last year were more than outpaced by the number of used models sold to consumers eager to invest in and show off their “new” Mercedes and BMW.The problem is that over the past four months alone, at least four people have died in accidents in which their luxury Mercedes rather unluxuriously split in half. While
