The elusive name of the Israeli automotive industry is always Sussita. But most of the approximately 200,000 cars assembled in the country during the days when three car factories operated here, by Efraim Ilin in Nesher, Autocars by Yitzhak Shuvinski in Tirat HaCarmel, and Nazareth Illit Industries, between 1951-1981, were actually a collection of foreign models.
Starting with Kaiser-Frazer, Henry J., and Manhattan, Studebaker Lark and Champ, Renault R8 and Dolphin, Minx and Briska, Ford Escort, and of course the American Jeep for generations, including the local final editions, the last of which was produced until January 2017.
But there were also a few disappointments for more interesting models, and perhaps the most prominent is that of the assembly of B.M.W. models in Israel. The German manufacturer had a saga with both Ilin and Shuvinski, who produced piles of documents, but only four cars were assembled in the country in 1963.
Researcher of the history of the Israeli automotive industry, Yohai Shnaer, tells the story on his recommended website, israelmotorindustry.org.
The first round was with Ilin, who in 1957 offered the government to build a production line for VELAM in Shderot, a French version of the Italian Isetta. Isetta was one of the prominent "bubble cars" of the 1950s, cheap and tiny cars based on motorcycle engines. It was produced under license by many factories, with the most famous version being the one by BMW.
The government requested the establishment of employment centers in the south, and Ilin proposed opening a factory in Shderot to produce a 4-seater version for VELAM. However, the idea did not materialize, and in 1961 Ilin returned to the country with a proposal to assemble in Israel the BMW 700, the small family car then produced by the Germans, with a 700 cc motorcycle engine, 2 cylinders, and 4 seats.
The BMW of those years was not the luxury car manufacturer it is today, but rather fought for its existence and the 700 was the car that saved it financially. Manufacturing assembly kits for assembly in distant factories was a common practice in the automotive industry at the time, as shown by Israeli car factories, which were potential legitimate partners for the manufacturer from Munich.
However, in the centralized Israeli economy of those years, controlled by the government, Ilin needed approval from the inter-ministerial committee, which included members of the Finance, Transportation, and Trade and Industry ministries, to assemble a new model that would receive the tax benefits that sustained the local industry. Perhaps it was too early to assemble a German car in young Israel, maybe it was the committee's preference for collaborations with British manufacturers, or maybe it was the usual difficulties that Mapai ministers imposed on Ilin, who was politically close to the Irgun and the right-wing – either way, the approval was not granted.
This did not prevent Ilin from signing with BMW on an agreement to assemble 840 cars a year at his plant, but the initiative died in 1962. Four models of the 700 series that were sent to his factory to train the workers were assembled and sold.
A year later, Yitzhak Shuvinski appeared with his own request to receive approval to assemble the 700 in the country. The matter evolved, and by 1965, negotiations were already taking place for the supply of engines and gearboxes from BMW, which would be installed in a fiberglass body like the other models of the factory. Were we on the verge of transitioning from a Citroen-BMW to a Ford engine?
BMW, which had just completed the production of the 700 series at that time, was even willing to sell to the Israeli company the exclusive manufacturing rights of the model, with access to export markets.
However, by the end of the year, the British Leyland acquired a share of Autocars, began supplying them with engines and gearboxes, and assembly kits of the Triumph 1,300 cm³. This deal also fell through.
Since then, the closest thing to an Israeli BMW is the safety systems of Mobileye and the laser radar of Innoviz, Israeli companies that are currently installed in German cars.