Neorion
Encyclopedia
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
heavy industries, located in Ermoupolis, on the Greek island of Syros
Syros
Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...
. Today, it is one of the few remaining major industrial corporations in that picturesque and nostalgic island town that used to be the industrial and commercial heart of Greece, before being eclipsed by Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
in the late 19th century.
Early activities
Neorion roots go back to a traditional shipyard on that island, known for the construction of ships and boats for use during the Greek revolution of the 1820s, as well as design and building of various types of ships for the new Greek kingdom in the decades that followed. The company that survives to date was officially founded in 1861 to technically support the "Greek Steamship lines Company", initially employing, in addition to Greek technical staff, several mechanics from W. Europe. In the 1860s, in addition to ship building it already produced steam engines, boilers, pumps, heavy cannons, as well as its first steamship. A heavy steam engine of its own design and construction received attention when exhibited in an International Exhibition in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1878, while since 1892 the company produced all-metal steamships. In 1898 the name "Neorion" (an Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
word indicating a port facility for ship repair and construction) was adopted. Already during the second half of the 19th century it was one of the most important Greek heavy industries, at times second only to the famous Basileiades
Basileiades
Basileiades is one of the most historic Greek machine building companies and the largest in its field in the country during the second half of the 19th century...
machine works in Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
. Other products of Neorion included a variety of machinery (some of it exported), engine parts and other specialized metal constructions for the Greek industry.
In the following decades, Neorion faced many challenges that at times threatened its very existence, but managed to survive, remaining one of the most important Greek shipyards.
Automobile production
In 1972, under the ownership of the Greek millionaire Giannis Goulandris it incorporated Enfield AutomotiveEnfield Automotive
Enfield Automotive was an electric car manufacturer founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Under the ownership of Greek millionaire Giannis Goulandris, production was moved to the Greek isle of Syros during the oil crisis of 1973.-Enfield 465:...
, originally a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
company, owned by Mr. Goulandris, involved in the design and construction of electric cars. This led to the creation of a new company which undertook vehicle production, "Enfield-Neorion E.P.E.", headquartered in Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, and production of the cars (which had been designed in the UK by British and Greek engineers) was transferred to Syros
Syros
Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...
. A young Greek designer, Georgios Michael
Georgios Michael
Georgios Michael is a Greek industrial designer.He studied architecture in Thessaloniki and made his first steps in industrial design in Italy, working for Sergio Coggiola and Carrozzeria Ghia...
(later credited with the design of several Greek vehicles) was employed with the new company. A jeep-type version of the vehicle, the E 8000 Bicini (with that spelling) was also introduced in 1973 designed by Mr. Michael, but none of the vehicles produced (a total of a little more than 100 were built, including a few Bicini's and a version of the latter for use in mining facilities) could be sold in Greece due to bureaucratic hurdles created by Greek tax services, connected with their electric power; the entire quantity was thus exported, mostly to the UK.
In 1974, a "pure" Neorion development was undertaken, to materialize a vision of G. Goulandris himself, of a luxury limousine with strong 4x4 character. A team of Greek engineers including Georgios Michael worked in Syros
Syros
Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...
for 8 months, leading to the creation of the Chicago
Neorion Chicago
The Neorion Chicago, a 1974 product of the Greek Neorion group of companies, was a car supposed to combine uncompromising luxury, retro-looks and a powerful 4x4, cross-country character...
, introduced in 1974. The construction included a robust chassis built by the shipyard and an aluminum body on a steel frame, that incorporated particular reinforcements for passenger protection. Power came from an AMC
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
/Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
(Wagoneer) V8 engine. The car, nonetheless, was rather controversial: it was a huge limousine with retro-styling, featuring hard-core 4x4 characteristics and was put down even by its own designer. Indeed, Georgios Michael would later describe it as "mountain dinosaur". Today, in view of the 4x4 passenger cars that have appeared ever since, as well as the breed of luxury SUV’s, the car does not look terribly strange anymore; one could actually say that it was ahead of its time (being the second luxury SUV in the world after the Range Rover
Range Rover
The Range Rover is a large luxury four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle produced by British car maker Land Rover. The model, launched in 1970, is now in its third generation...
). A production line had been started with four vehicles at various stages of construction, when a change of Greek law condemned the market prospects of the car. Two were completed and sold before the venture was terminated in 1976. One still survives to date, exhibited in the Thessaloniki Technological Museum.
Neorion today
Neorion shipyards itself continued its course. In 1997, it acquired another big shipyard, Elefsis ShipyardsElefsis Shipyards
Elefsis Shipyards is a Greek shipbuilding company, also involved in other industrial constructions. Originally founded in 1962, it has constructed many types of ships, including the largest bulk carriers built in Greece as well as military ships...
, while it diversified into new fields (like the construction of luxury mega-yachts, and even subcontracting work for aerospace companies) and is fully active today in the form of the powerful Neorion Group of Companies, having entered a new era in its long history.