. please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . september 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains weasel words vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information . such statements should be clarified or removed . september 2015 this article is about the greek manufacturer . for all other uses see namco disambiguation . namco namco logo type anonymi etaireia industry automotive founded 1972 founder gerasimos petros kostas victor kontogouris andreas elena danis nikos rudolf petros kontogouris headquarters thessaloniki greece products automobiles website namco namco national motor company of greece is a greek vehicle manufacturer . it was founded in 1972 by brothers petros tzannetos kontogouris and rodolfos kontogouris . contents 1 history 1.1 namco 1972 2 new era new beginning 3 models 3.1 company farco 3.2 company namco initial planned establishment 3.3 company namco proper operation 4 related entry 5 references 6 notes 7 external links history edit 1965 farmobil 700 the first efforts of the kontogouris brothers involved attempts to build a light truck called hellas in germany . in 1957 they acquired rights to a production technology of a multi purpose vehicle developed by swiss engineer dr. wilfried fahr . in 1961 kontogouris created their first company farco in thessaloniki greece to produce the vehicle called farmobil with bmw 700 flat 2 engine . ironically this smart vehicle was not certified for the greek market and all production was exported to several countries around the world . in 1963 the company was acquired by chrysler and renamed it chrysler hellas s.a. in 1967 production in greece was stopped by the american company and was transferred to other countries . meanwhile in 1961 ambitious plans were made by the kontogouris brothers for a new company to be called namco with a new factory in patras greece to produce under licence a german designed neckar three wheeler truck and other vehicles but were not materialized . namco 1972 edit namco would resurface in 1972 when a light passenger utility vehicle called the pony was introduced in the thessaloniki international trade fair after an agreement was signed with citro n. the car whose original design baby brousse was created by a team of french engineers in c te d ivoire on a 2cv platform had been adopted by citro n itself as part of basic world car project that eventually led to the citro n faf the pony and other similar cars preceded the faf and were not derived from it as is often erroneously reported . indeed cars on the same basis were produced around the world from vietnam to portugal but the pony became by far the most successful . citation needed in 1974 namco started business officially and production started in a new plant in thessaloniki . the pony also called pony citro n helped by a law giving tax breaks for light utility passenger vehicles became an instant success being the cheapest car in the market and at the same time an incredibly robust and practical automobile ; about half a dozen greek companies would follow namco s example with similar contraptions none of which though came close to pony s success . the car was greatly modernized including dyane 6 components and a large number of versions and facelifts followed keeping it up to standards . a production number of 30 000 pony s has often been cited but it most probably included similar vehicles produced in other countries ; a more accurate number of cars produced in greece should be close to 17 000 units . 1 following its success in the greek market the company made significant exports to many countries around the world a few were even exported to the u.s. undoubtedly helped by the citro n logo on the vehicle . namco pony citro n 1975 model one of the last versions 1982 model of the namco pony citro n and one of the few that were sold in the u.s. namco milicar 6x6 1978 namco pony super 4 door 1986 model in 1978 namco decided to move into other fields introducing a series of very advanced 4x4 and 6x6 3 to 6.5 tonne multi purpose trucks featuring a novel swiss designed patented axle suspension system . a complete lineup was made for many uses consisting of the agricar milicar pyrcar and multi trac vehicles . it is somewhat of a mystery why those advanced vehicles had limited success with only small numbers ordered by greek state authorities . similarly namco designed a number of military vehicles including the panther of which only 2 were produced as well as the tiger and aquilles armored vehicles and 4x4 s some of which did not even reach the stage of complete prototype . it has been argued that it was simply the wrong time since the greek state favored a state company elbo for its supplies in that period . the first generation pony pony citro n was produced until 1983 ; in the meanwhile the law concerning taxation of similar vehicles had been modified . plans to manufacture other cars under license were not realized and for a moment it seemed that namco would once more be out of business . but the company would bounce back introducing a completely new model the pony super introduced in 1985 . the second generation pony had no connection with citro n technology and was a much more modern car with ford engines coming in a number of versions 950 cc 45 hp 34 kw 1100 cc 55 hp 41 kw 1300 cc 69 hp 51 kw and 1600 cc 54 hp 40 kw diesel in two and four door arrangements . it was essentially developed by namco since inthelco a german company also involved in its development was majority owned by namco at the time . an ambitious plan was made to export the car to the u.s. with a 1900 cc engine via inthelco as the desta at a rate of 20 000 per year . however the costs and prospects proved to be grossly miscalculated and the plan was abandoned . no matter how improved the new pony was it was still a far cry from the needs of the contemporary greek market made of progressively more affluent and demanding consumers . only a few hundred pony super s were built until 1992 . once more though the company created one more chance for rebirth as its founders were stubbornly attached to the car making business . so although they also diversified into imports and trade of vehicles keeping namco alive they transformed the company into a technology exporter offering design and construction of vehicle producing miniplants as an antidote they argued to the giant conglomerates created by globalism together with the pony and their 4x4 truck technology . in 1994 the first pony supers produced under license in bulgaria came out of the assembly plant in that country . namco is still alive today although a shadow of its former self . production of the pony super and the trucks never officially ended as the company maintains a factory able to resume production . actually a third generation pony in reality a pony super with minor improvements was introduced in 2003 but never produced . company focus nonetheless as was the case with many similar greek companies has decisively shifted towards trade and services . new era new beginning edit the company has announced plans to restart production in 2015 introducing a new generation pony . the new pony will be powered either by a pcm peugeot citroen moteurs or fiat 1360 cc engine while retains the lines of the old pony and because is a new era car the interior will feature a usb hub . according to the company a number of countries in asia africa and south america have expressed interest in license production of the new model . it will cost about 7.000 . models edit company farco edit farmobil advanced multi purpose vehicle designed by dr. w. fahr 1961 1967 . company namco initial planned establishment edit three wheeler truck neckar licence 1961 production planned to have started by mid 1960s but not materialized . company namco proper operation edit pony citro n light passenger utility automobile citro n licence 1974 1983 produced in a large number of variants and several facelifts and improvements . agricar agricultural 4x4 and 6x6 truck 1978 theoretically to date milicar military 4x4 and 6x6 truck based on the agricar 1978 theoretically to date pyrcar 4x4 fire fighting vehicle based on the agricar 1978 theoretically to date multi trac 4x4 multi purpose vehicle based on the agricar 1978 theoretically to date panther light military 4x4 vehicle introduced 1980 similar to the french lohr fardier but actually a different design only 2 were produced . tiger 4x4 armored wheeled military vehicle proposed 1982 designed but prototype not completed . aquilles armoured wheeled fighting vehicle based on the milicar proposed 1982 design not completed . 4x4 jeep type military vehicle proposed 1985 design not completed . licence built variant of daihatsu wildcat proposed 1985 not built . pony super series completely redesigned passenger utility automobile 1985 theoretically to date built in a large number of variants and models with different engines . related entry edit citro n faf references edit l.s. skartsis and g.a. avramidis made in greece typorama patras greece 2003 . l.s. skartsis greek vehicle & machine manufacturers 1800 to present a pictorial history marathon 2012 isbn 978 960 93 4452 4 ebook jane s military vehicles & logistics 1992 edition . notes edit production numbers from citroenet . citro n statistics . citroenet.org . retrieved 18 september 2014 . external links edit namco website site with automobile brochures including farmobil and pony models early 1960s report about export of greek farmobils to the u.s. v t e automotive industry in greece automotive industry economy of greece transport in greece companies current bioman diana elbo namco replicar hellas saracakis sfakianakis tangalakis temax tropical defunct agricola ak hellas alta atlas attica autodiana autokinitoviomihania ellados automeccanica balkania biamax biotechnia ellinikon trikyklon bouhagier patras c.ar dim dinap ebiam emporiki autokiniton hercules mava renault mebea mego motoemil motorcar neorion pan car pantelemidis petropoulos pitsos record ros sam scavas styl kar theologou tzen related topics athens international motor show retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title namco automobiles & oldid 739642625 categories truck manufacturersoff road vehiclesgreek brandsmotor vehicle manufacturers of greececar manufacturers of greeceautomobiles powered by boxer enginescompanies based in thessalonikihidden categories articles that may contain original research from september 2015all articles that may contain original researcharticles with weasel words from september 2015all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from september 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more 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