While the planet has already entered the era of the electric car, it remains generally unknown that its roots lie in the Aegean Sea. A short peculiar episode of world industrial history: Syros for three years (1973–1976) produced first modern electric car. Today, half a century later, Municipality of Ermoupoli Syros celebrates this pioneering work by organizing an exhibition at the city’s Industrial Museum.

The pioneer of global innovation was Andriotis, a shipowner with a keen interest in mechanical engineering. Giannis Goulandris. Purchase in the late 60s Enfield Automobile Companya division of the British motorcycle manufacturer Enfield, entered the field decisively by winning a tender issued by the then state-owned British electricity company for the production of an urban electric vehicle.

His winning bid was based on an original Enfield 465 designed by an English engineer. John Samuel. The 66 that the company was to build were to be produced at its factory on the Isle of Wight in the English Channel. Finally, engineer Konstantinos Adraktas, president and technical director of the company, completely redesigned the original prototype, creating the Enfield E8000.

Ultimately, only ten Enfield 465s and two Enfield E8000s were built there. The workers’ strike led Goulandris to decide to move production to Ermoupoli, a place with industrial roots, where he already had a business presence, having bought the Neorio shipyards with his brothers in 1968. There, Enfield Neorion Co LTD was housed in the building of the former Velissaropoulos Textiles, and 112 cars were built by local craftsmen.

But they all had to travel to England to install and test their batteries, as it was forbidden in Greece. Other obstacles were added to this: bureaucracy, prohibitive tariffs and pressure on the shipowner from the oil companies. Production ended ingloriously in 1976. The Syrian electric car has never been sold or launched in Greece until last year.

Stubborn English mathematician, Will Sawyer, who has been permanently residing in Syros for several years, found an Enfield in England and bought it, brought it to the island, repaired and rented Greek numbers and has been driving it through the streets of Syros for a year now. His crimson Enfield E8000, one of only three currently in circulation around the world, is an eye-catcher. “Looking around on the Internet, I saw a few rusting, abandoned on the side of the road or in the garden. I was very sad what meant so much to Syros to have no value in England,” Mr Sawyer told us.

At the exhibition, we can see not only a series of information about the history of the “Syrian” electric car, but also watch a documentary about it. Michalis Stavropoulou “Between two islands”, which most clearly tells about the “birth and death” of the Greek electric car. But mostly we can admire one of the rare and hard-to-find Enfield E8000 up close, found by the director and secretary of the Syros Historic Automobile Association. Alexis Marantsidiswhile filming a documentary about the Isle of Wight.

On the border between a sci-fi movie vehicle and a child’s toy come to life, the brightly colored futuristic object seems to be in its natural place, inside Ermoupolis’ Industrial History Museum. Behind him on a large banner is an emotional photo: the first production car, surrounded by all the craftsmen who worked on it. As Will Sawyer remarked, “This car is valuable. It represents and symbolizes Syros, its history and its people.”