Autocars Company

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Sabra brand logo

The Autocars Company Limited was an Israeli automobile manufacturer founded in Haifa in 1957 . Passenger cars and delivery vans were produced under the brand name Sabra (Hebrew: צברה).

history

Sabra models Sport and Carmel 12 in the production halls of Autocars Company Limited in Haifa 1967

In the initial phase, the company worked closely with the English company Reliant , a pioneer in the manufacture of plastic car bodies. The vehicle parts were produced in England and delivered to Israel as a kit. Since 1960 a simple station wagon with a plastic body on a box frame has been produced, the 1-liter engine came from the Ford Anglia and the standard version made 39 SAE-PS . The construction allowed the production of several body variants.
Since the beginning of the 1960s, a license version of the two-seater open sports car Reliant Saber was also offered under the name "Sabra Sport". The 1.7-liter engine was taken over by the Ford Consul ; the original version made 61 SAE-PS, but versions with up to 91 PS were also available later.
In 1962 the offer was expanded. The two-seater Carmel sedan was also developed by Reliant. It too had a plastic body on a box frame, and a 1.2-liter engine from the Ford Anglia Super was installed. The station wagon was named "Sussita", which translates as "little horse". A year later, production of a four-seater GT coupé based on the Sabra Sport began. From 1965, the Carmel 12 was manufactured under license as Attica Carmel 12 by Bioplastic in Greece.

The Gilboa TR 12/50 and Sussita TR models had been available with a larger body than their predecessors since 1966. The engines now came from the Triumph Herald and initially made 51 DIN hp. The production of sports cars was given up in 1968.
In 1971 the cooperation with British Leyland was ended. Since then, a sedan that was available with two or four doors, a station wagon based on it and a delivery van have been on offer. The 1.3-liter engines came from Chrysler-Simca , engines from the Ford Escort were installed later .
In 1974 Autocars was taken over by Rome Carmel Industries, the cars were now sold under the Rome brand name. This company was bought in 1978 by Urdan Industries , which is now part of the Israeli Automotive Industries Limited .

Production never achieved larger numbers, and attempts made since the early 1960s to export the cars had little success. In 1970, 1,300 copies are said to have been produced, for 1979 there is talk of an output of 1,500 vehicles and around 500 employees. The brand finally disappeared from the market in the early 1980s. 1980 was the last full year of production, and the last vehicles were made in 1982 at the latest.

Models

Sabra Carmel
Sabra

Distribution markets

literature

  • Roger Gloor: Passenger cars of the 60s , Benedikt Taschen Verlag, Cologne 1994, p. 322f., ISBN 3-8228-8994-X

Sources and web links