Petropoulos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petropoulos (the full name of the company is Petros Petropoulos A.E.B.E.) is one of the 'historic' Greek engine and vehicle manufacturers. It was founded in Thessaloniki in 1922 (its origins being even older, from a workshop involved in metal processing and church bell manufacture, the bell being the company logo to this date) but in 1948 moved its headquarters to Athens. Before WWII it engaged in sales of commercial vehicles as well as rebuilding of engines and truck assembly. More specifically it assembled automobiles from Willys-Overland and trucks from Diamond T and International trucks. After WWII it assembled U.S. Jeeps and truck types, and in 1956 it introduced 'its own' farm tractor family (Petropoulos models Π-35 and Π-55, built for years) which were actually based on U.S. International Harvester designs. Other fields included engines (it became one of the leading Greek Diesel engine manufacturers, at some point the second largest after Malkotsis), generators, forklift trucks (the well-known Dynalift family of Diesel- and Electric-powered models) and 4x4 trucks - all of own design and development. Its 'smart' 4x4 Unitrak/Polytrak/Militrak family was introduced in 1976 and found many uses around the country including the Greek military (Militrak, in limited numbers). Truck production ceased in 1984, while the company successfully diversified into other areas including imports and services. An effort was made in 1994 to resume truck production, based on a Swiss (Bucher) design as Militrak II Duro, however the proposed vehicle was not adopted by the Greek army.
[edit] References
L.S. Skartsis and G.A. Avramidis, 'Made in Greece', Typorama, Patras, Greece (2003).
