Theologou

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Theologou light car (ca.1919)

Nikos Theologou (left) with workers of his factory in an "advertising" photograph (1920s)

Theologou (full name appearing on vehicle badges was "N. Theologou") was one of the first vehicle manufacturers in Greece. It was created by Nikos Theologou, a Greek mechanic who had previously lived and worked in the US, and founded this company after he returned to Athens, Greece. Between 1918 and 1920 he designed and constructed a light passenger car (chassis and body) with a Pierce 750 cc motorcycle engine; only one was built. His company, nonetheless, produced a variety of bus and truck bodies, mostly on Ford chassis in the 1920s. By the mid-1920s it was facing strong competition by larger companies like Tournikiotis and Athena in Athens, Bouhagier in Patras and others, which also produced vehicles (mainly buses and trucks) on imported chassis, and was soon eclipsed by them.

[edit] References

L.S. Skartsis and G.A. Avramidis, "Made in Greece", Typorama, Patras, Greece (2003) (special mention is made in this book to the Nikos Stratoyiannakis archive)
"O Ellinas Ford legotan Theologou (Greece's [Henry] Ford was called Theologou)", article in Epsilon magazine (Eleutherotypia newspaper), February 1994
K. Bitsikokos, "Affordable cars made in Greece", Auto Bild (Hellas), issue 22, Feb 29, 2008