Automeccanica was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

automobile producing company. Founded in 1979, it was one of the companies that produced the "passenger-utility" type of vehicle popular in Greece at the time for tax categorization reasons. Its creators were former executives of ''

Autokinitoviomihania Ellados Autokinitoviomihania Ellados (Greek Car Industry) was founded in Athens in 1975 by a group of Greek businessmen, including the owners of the company importing Fiat in Greece. History The new company made a rather ambitious appearance in the Gre ...

'' (meaning 'Greek Car Industry') a company founded in 1975 to also produce vehicles of this type – it assembled

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Fissore Fissore is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: People * Matías Fissore (born 1990), Argentine footballer *Riccardo Fissore (born 1980), Italian footballer Companies *Carrozzeria Fissore Carrozzeria Fissore was an Italian coach ...

models based on

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

products, as well as other

models and variants. Automeccanica followed a different path, building the ''Zebra'' model, a passenger-utility car based on the ''

Daihatsu Charade The Daihatsu Charade is a supermini car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Daihatsu from 1977 to 2000. It is considered by Daihatsu as a "large compact" or "supermini" car, to differentiate it from the smaller ''kei car'' compacts in its line- ...

'', as well as assembling the ''Charade'' itself. In 1985, when the law favoring the ''Zebra''-type vehicles changed, Automeccanica stopped its production (after about 2,000 units had been built) and started licence production of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Lada Niva The Lada Niva Legend, formerly called the Lada Niva, VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131, and Lada 4×4 (russian: link=no, ВАЗ-2121, ВАЗ-2131, Лада Нива), is a series of four-wheel drive, small (hatchback), and compact (wagon and pickup) off-road c ...

model, while it developed its own cabrio-version of the car. In 1988 it acquired its former "father" company, ''Autokinitoviomihania Ellados'' and the latter's factory in

Thiva Thebes (; ell, Θήβα, ''Thíva'' ; grc, Θῆβαι, ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. Archaeolo ...

. Automeccanica went out of the car-construction business in 1995.

References

* L.S. Skartsis, "Encyclopedia of Greek vehicles and aircraft", Achaikes Ekdoseis/Typorama, Patras, Greece (1995) * K. Bitsikokos, "Affordable cars made in Greece", ''Auto Bild (Hellas)'', issue 22, Feb 29, 2008 * "35 Years 4 Trohoi" (collectible edition of the ''4 Trohoi'' auto magazine), Technical Press, Athens (2004)

External links

Site with car brochures, including early model Automeccanica Daihatsu Zebra
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Greece 1995 disestablishments in Greece {{Greece-company-stub