Motoemil was a Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 truck manufacturer based in Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

 (now producing trailers under the name Emilios Trailers). It was named after Emilios Antoniades who started his business, together with his brother Konstantinos, by constructing crude-made trucks assembled from motorcycle and automobile parts. By the early 1960s, like other similar Greek manufacturers (see also Styl Kar

Styl Kar

STYL KAR was named after its founder, the very talented engineer Stylianos Karakatsanis. Its entire history is representative of a large number of Greek companies who were engaged in the construction of simple utility vehicles.- Evolution of the Greek three-wheel truck :The first transformations...

), they were already developing and building complete "automobile" three-wheeler trucks. Motoemil was one of the first of its kind in Northern Greece and soon became the largest in that region, its products sold throughout the country. The first models used 1200cc Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 air-cooled engines. A completely redesigned, more modern-looking model was introduced in 1970, using a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 engine.

Motoemil was one of the few Greek producers that survived the end of the "three-wheeler era" in that country, as it had developed a completely new breed of heavier, four-wheel trucks in the mid-1970s. The Autofarma model was an all-terrain 4x4 truck with 2 tonne payload and a Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 Diesel engine, perfectly placed in the "farm truck" category according to Greek law. In that respect, it was similar to other Greek vehicles (all locally developed), like the Agricola

Agricola (vehicles)

Agricola was a Greek maker of 4x4 multi-purpose trucks and other farm machinery based in Thessaloniki. The Agricola 25 GT 4x4 truck was a fairly advanced design introduced in 1975, with enhanced all-terrain capabilities, a metal cab and Mercedes-Benz 180D Diesel engine. It was a typical Greek...

, the AutoDiana

AutoDiana

AutoDiana was a Greek truck manufacturer based in Thessaloniki, in operation between 1975 and 1984. Its main product was the 'Unicar' model , a rather heavy-looking 4x4 multi-purpose truck. This robust vehicle had a payload of 1500 kg and used Mercedes-Benz Diesel engine and Dodge axles...

 Unicar, the Balkania

Balkania

Balkania can refer to:*Balkania , a trade name of a Greek industrial and trading company based in Athens.*Balkania , a proposed new state in the Balkans....

 Autotractor, the EBIAM

EBIAM

EBIAM was a Greek company based in Thessaloniki that, among others, produced 4x4 trucks...

, the Petropoulos

Petropoulos

Petropoulos is today a major importer and distributor of vehicles and heavy machinery, having been, at the same time, one of the "historic" Greek engine and vehicle manufacturers....

Polytrak and others. However, the Autofarma was produced in numbers exceeding those of all others combined, sold through a network of dealers throughout the country. It was simultaneously a very rugged, reliable all-terrain vehicle requiring minimal maintenance costs (suited for the extremely harsh treatment farm vehicles were exposed to), with a significant payload, a relatively comfortable cabin and a reasonably smooth road behavior for longer drives. A minor facelift was done on the model in 1979, but by the mid-1980s this category of vehicles was not competitive anymore due to changes in Greek Law combined with more "sophisticated" demands of Greek customers, met by competitively priced imported types. This was a change the Northern Greek company was not able to cope with, ceasing all truck production in 1985. For one more time, though, it was able to adjust to market opportunities, switching to development and production of light (mostly for boat transport) and heavier trailers. The company name was subsequently changed to Emilios Trailers under which it successfully operates to date.