AutoCult Ramses Gamila (1961) (Egypt)

About the Original:

As NSU got their chance in Egypt

In 1956 the newly elected President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, got encouraged to authorize the own production of automobiles in the land of the Nile.

Raymond Flowers, the son of Edmund Flowers; owner of the trading company ‘Cairo Motor Company’ which provided the Egyptian car market with US-American and British cars since 1908; was already settled to fulfill this plan. Together with the British company ‘Frisky’ Raymond planned to import the cars in “knocked down” (KD) form and to assemble them later on in Egypt. The development of the small car took place in England and the body design was made by the design office Vignale, particularly by Giovanni Michelotti. All contract parties were quick to agree. The only thing which was missing was the export license of the British authorities. But they interposed their veto with a strict “no”. No one had expected this decision. To continue their project of an Egyptian car the responsible persons searched now for a supplier outside the British empire, which was able to get them quickly off the hook. Luckily the Swabian company NSU stepped in and shipped their chassis of the Type “Prinz” to Egypt. After arriving they were fitted with edged, two-door car body out of steel sheet, likewise designed by Giovanni Michelotti of Vignale. For the assembly of the small car a plant was specially built close to Gizeh in 1958. Official manufacturer of the car was the ‘Egyptian Automotive Company.

Referring to the great Pharaohs the new car got the name ‘Ramses’. For the type designation they went for the name ‘Gamila’. With its light weight and powered by a 22hp-strong rear engine of NSU the car accelerated to a top speed of 116 km/h.