Forgotten Greek cars
Domestic manufacturing attempts of the 1960s and 70s that did not survive.
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A classic car museum on three floors of a commercial building in central Athens, opened in 2011, displaying about a hundred and ten cars from a collection of more than three hundred. The collection covers over a century: from early twentieth-century machines to racing cars and prototypes, arranged thematically rather than chronologically — luxury cars, popular cars, sports cars, and rare models built in only a handful of examples. The Greek side is present too: attempts at domestic car manufacture in the 1960s and 1970s, an odd and forgotten chapter — Greece produced small vehicles under names such as Attica and Neorion, but the industry did not survive. The building itself is unusual: a multi-storey shopping centre, with the cars distributed along spiral ramps rather than in flat halls. It is central and easily reached by metro.
Domestic manufacturing attempts of the 1960s and 70s that did not survive.
The cars run along the building's ramps rather than flat halls.
Luxury, popular and sports rather than chronological order.
The Athens Heart building, Voulgari street
Partly. The display is designed for enthusiasts and its labelling is technical, but old cars are visually attractive in themselves and the Greek section is curious even to someone who knows nothing about engines. If you have teenagers or children who like cars it is an excellent choice. And if you are choosing a single museum in Athens, this is not it.
Between the 1960s and 1980s several Greek firms tried to produce domestic vehicles, the best known being Attica, Alta and Neorion. Most were small cars or three-wheeled light transport vehicles, cheap and simple and aimed at the home market. The industry did not survive European imports after Greece joined the European Community in 1981, and the factories closed one after another.
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