Do you know him? Sabra Carmel
01/03/2023
Apart from branches of US manufacturers such as Kaiser and Studebaker, Autocars Co. Ltd. founded in Haifa in 1957 was Israel's first car manufacturer. In cooperation with Reliant, small station wagons and platform trucks powered by the Ford Anglia engine were produced there from 1960.
In October 1962, the brand with the cactus logo then presented its first passenger car: the Sabra Carmel, whose name is not derived from the mount or the sugar product, but from the mountain range in northern Israel. Accordingly, the press photos were also taken there.
The Carmel was also developed in close cooperation with the English tricycle manufacturer, which is why the first car from Israel looked like a Reliant Regal 3/25 with an additional front wheel. Under the GRP body, the Carmel also had a little more to offer than its British brother.
Instead of the half-liter engine with 24 bhp (Reliant was a little optimistic with the name), the Sabra Carmel was powered by the 1.2-liter Kent engine from the Ford Anglia Super, which produced almost twice as much at 4800 rpm: 45 bhp. This should have made a top speed of around 130 km/h possible. In other words, a speedy sweeper.
