Topic: Solved - NEH 2875: Isetta Velam at the Kafris Kaiser Frazer Israel factory 1957

[Carnut]

What's this, based on what and made where - for 1 point?:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS OBTAINED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD!

[hermanoto]

Trojan200, based on the Heinkel. Built in GB

[Carnut]

Trojan200, based on the Heinkel. Built in GB

Not one of those.

[Carnut]

Experts?

[Hiawatha]

Velam Isetta Sport, factory one-off?

[Carnut]

Velam Isetta Sport, factory one-off?

Correct name so I'll lock it for you for 24 hours to find the rest of the answers (it's not a factory one-off).

[Hiawatha]

Kafris, Kaiser Frazer Israel, 1957?

[Carnut]

That's it, yes.  I don't know how many they made; not very many I think.

QUOTE
The words were grand, the car less so. On September 1957 the Kaiser-Frazer Israel (Kafris) management presented the Israeli Commerce and Industry Minister, Pinhas Sapir, with plan “X1″ for the production of a small vehicle. The impression this plan must have had was great: the Kafris’ people forecast a near-complete own production of a “Popular Car” within ten months, at a scale of no less than 5,000 units annually. Exports were supposed to form over half of the output, where the export revenues should cover the import costs involved, to actually create a foreign exchange surplus. For the cash-striven Israeli economy, this probably sounded like an act of god. These plans, however, all quickly evaporated into thin air. Yet the Haifa plant had to review them several times, with necessary adjustments made, during the coming four years.
UNQUOTE

[Wendax]

There surely were plans for an Israeli production. But are you sure this one was built in Israel? It carries a Paris licence plate. It looks like a Velam-built factory one-off to me

[Hiawatha]

I tend to agree with Wendax. The car in the picture was probably made in France and maybe shipped to Israel for evaluation.

[Carnut]

Yes, I believe you're right.  When I posted the puzzle I only had the front view, which was described as a Velam at the Israeli factory, so I assumed it had been made there.  When the puzzle was solved I searched for more pictures and found not only the first picture but also the rear view showing the Paris registration, and it turns out that the car is pictured at the Kafris Israel plant in 1957; production did not start there until 1958, after the entire contents of the French plant had been moved there at the end of 1957/early 1958.  It must therefore have been made in France, which perhaps now seems obvious from its Paris registration. 

I believe about 5000 cars were made in Israel, nowhere near the projected volume and the whole project was deemed a failure.

[Wendax]

Besides the Velam and the Willys-Overland range, Kaiser-Illin also assembled the Renault Dauphine and the Hino Contessa. I remember seeing the later ones in Israel some 30 years ago, a car totally unknown on German streets.