Namco Motors

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Citroën Pony , developed and produced by Namco
Citroën pony
Namco Milicar

Namco or Namco Motors is a Greek company from Thessaloniki in the automotive sector that manufactured vehicles from the 1950s. The best-known product was the Citroën Pony .

history

In 1957, Petros Kontogouris obtained the license to produce a vehicle developed by Wilfried Fahr in Switzerland . In 1961, the FARCO company was founded to produce the Farmobil . The company was bought by Chrysler in 1963 and renamed Chrysler Hellas , in 1967 production ceased. Kontogouris was already negotiating the license production of an NSU Fiat , but decided to develop the Pony in cooperation with Citroën . In 1972 the Citroën Pony was presented, which became a great success. The car was exported to many countries including Germany and the USA. In 1983 production was stopped. A total of 17,000 copies were made.

Namco then tried to get orders for the production of military vehicles, such as the heavy Namco Milicar 6x6 , and built corresponding prototypes, but could not convince in this area. The order went to the ELBO company , which at that time manufactured the Steyr 680M as Steyr Hellas . Only the lighter Namco Panther 4x4 was ordered, which did not lead to permanent capacity utilization.

In 1985 the Namco Pony Super followed with a Ford engine . Several hundred copies of this model were made up to 1994. The model was also made in Bulgaria by Namco-Bulgaria .

Namco did not officially stop manufacturing vehicles in 1994, but has not manufactured any vehicles since then, apart from prototypes. In 2011 a Pony Super was presented, this time with a Peugeot engine .

The company continues to exist as an importer of trucks.

literature

  • Labros S. Skartsis: Greek vehicle & machine manufacturers. 1800 tons present. A pictorial history. Marathon 2012, ISBN 978-960-93-4452-4 (online) . (English)

Web links

Commons : Namco  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Skartsis: Greek vehicle and machine manufacturers. 1800 tons present. A pictorial history.