cars

This is the first car ever made and registered in Pakistan. It was designed and built by Hamid Omar in 1967.
The chassis was built from angle iron left over from transmission tower construction.
Metal body was all hand built.
It had a 200cc rope start pump engine.
The cruising speed was 40 mph.
Lambrettra scooter tyres.
Was in regular daily use for over 10 years.
Was registered with great difficulty in Lahore in 1968. There is a story behind this, told by Hamid Omar:
When I went to get this car registered, they wanted the Bill of Lading, the import documentations like the B/L (bill of lading), country, manufacturer. Since the car was made here, none of these papers were there, and they said that it is no car can be registered without these documents. There was no precedent - so at that time after lots of trips to various govt. offices, Lahore’s DIG Traffic finally agreed to inspect the car. He took a test drive around the block, and then gave the order to have it registered.
I used the car for two years in Lahore and then three years in Karachi. Then Ahmad Omar used it for 3 years, then Taimur Mumtaz used it for a further two years.
Sabiha Omar:
We would go to movie theatres in this car. This car was very popular, especially amongst the youngsters. It was also ‘illegal’ to built cars back then in Pakistan. Thus the difficulty in registration.
Hamid Omar:
In IBA, four of us would pile into this car to drive from the hostel to the camp. In those days, IBA used to be outside Karachi, so four us would pile into the car and drive to the city.
Originally the car had a soft top, but then for the rest of its life the top was never used. Only two people could sit inside with the top on, so without the top, an additional two would be sitting on the rear ‘dikki’.
A closeup of the side of the car as the paint job is being completed.
Details of the engine, transmission, and the rear suspension of the car.
At the workshop of the mechanic in Lahore where the final engine tuning and other other mechanical work was being done.
Posted in Misc, January 29, 2005, by Khalid Omar
Articles: Previously "Day Trips from Karachi" Next "Hot under the Bonnet"
Your Comments (47)
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umar farooq on March 16, 2005 2:40 PM
Do you still have this car? You guys need a real appreciation.
Best wishes.
Umar
KO on March 16, 2005 2:55 PM
This car is still there, though in pieces. A rebuild has been long planned.
raulz on March 24, 2005 1:05 PM
gr8 history
Khizar on April 3, 2005 7:45 PM
HiNice there is this car parked at your home or in the factory because I want to have a look at it
KO on April 3, 2005 11:04 PM
The car is currently in pieces. It has be be put together first.
rizwan on April 25, 2005 5:52 PM
why did not the goverment hire these ppl to build cars. if the gov wud have helped at that time we cud have also have our own BMW’s or MERC type cars in pakistan by this time …….
Rizwan kazmi on April 26, 2005 5:45 AM
U guys are really talented and deserve a lot of appreciation but unfortunately, I havnt seen any one of you in news of that time. No body high lighted how gr8 work u did even in those days. I wonder why Pakistan govt doesnt have any poilicy to appreciate and benifit the people like you. Aap sab designers ko mayra salam hai.
Rizwan kazmiDenmark
Malik Asif Joyia on April 28, 2005 3:36 PM
AOA. I am proud of you like people of pakistan, who like to make their own world with their efforts… Best of Luck.ASIF
kashif on May 8, 2005 12:39 AM
salaam 2 u all.my salute goes to all of u ,who built this great car.i kinda like the car and i even suprised that it was built in late 60’s.this is a perfect example of a free mind. you guys r great pakistani.it shows the world what we can do on our own.great job!
Haris on June 2, 2005 11:39 PM
spectacular work dudes.i would really want to see you guys go further. do not loose heart as you people were not appreciated.I assure you that if you guys give another try you will not be unnoticed this time as we have free media.Please tell me that are you guys engineers………
Faris Durrani on June 6, 2005 12:29 AM
When I saw this picture I remembered another one that my father had from his college days. Turns out it was the same car and that he knew Mr Hamid Omer. The picture that i have has a group of my fathers friend in the same car. Been a fan for a long time. Great work!!
Shoaib on June 6, 2005 11:12 AM
Gr8… it makes me feel so proud.. if you people still own it please do let me know i would really like to see it :).
Hassaan on June 12, 2005 11:42 PM
I really appreciate u ….really a gr8 history …..i solute u …bye
Agha Abbas on June 14, 2005 2:31 AM
ASA,Absolutely amazed! I am a TV director currently producing a program on automobiles. I’m sure here’s a story worth sharing, I hope you wont have any reservations in this regard. Please let me know when and where we can meet. Keep the good work going. All the best.Abbas Karachi
Atif Sheikh on June 15, 2005 11:54 PM
AoA!Well, it certianly is a tremendous thing to have a look at this picture “The first ever car made in pakistan”.. However, having said that I do have some thoughts! We have been extremely unfortunate that we could not enjoy stable political conditions, but people like Mr Hamid Omar should have taken steps at that time to explore this industry. I mean, if you do something good and yet no one sees it, then whats the use of doing something like this.. Please dont get this wrong, I have alot of respect for people like you but please bear in mind that until you do not bring home industries (self contained projects) in the mainstream, I am afraid we cannot do much but just to commend such projects and thats about it!
Regards
Tajemel Toheed on June 23, 2005 7:44 PM
It was a gr8 effort. But unfortunately ur efforts were not taken seriuos by the govt. of pakistan. Otherwise we bacame now the 16th country of the world. where as in ur case may be we were in 10’s. My solute to all of you.byeToheed
Sardar Nabeel Wali on August 29, 2005 12:05 AM
I think this was a red coloured car always piled up with people especialy students of Aitchison College. Am I right?
Cher on September 16, 2005 1:14 PM
Well, That was great to have built a car in a country like pakistan especially with left over metal. I think Pakistanis should treat this kind of people as natinal heros. BUT, I think it is quite the oppsite, People usualy lable these Inventors unislamic. I mean look at pakistanis, they are left behind by Indians and even Sri Lankans. A country where majority of the people put religion before the country, how can that country be self relient. To be very Frank, all of your scientist in the past centuries, Avisena, Ibn-e Khaldoon, Ibn- Rashad, to name a very few, were all muslims by name. they never practiced religion in there whole lives instead they spent their lives researching and teaching mankind to improve human life. and of course, Philosphers like, Dr Iqbal, Umer Khayyam, Bullah shah, Al- mansoor (who”supposedly” claimed to be God). were acually the real peole who dared to search for knoledge but were declared to be non muslims and Al-mansoor was even killed and mutilated on the orders of the state and thrown out on the street. If it wasn’t for President Musharaf, pakistan would have been turned into a Jungle full of 150 million animals. Be thankfull to your President who is acually trying his best to improve human life in Pakistan just like your Prophet did 1500 years ago. Learn to appreciate good people like the ones who built this Car and leave religion for spare time. God is for people not the other way around. religion is to make human life better but it seems the Opposite in Pakistan. Good on you Thinking people, who built the car just keep on trying.
Vijay on October 13, 2005 9:42 AM
thatz a really nice piece of history…. :-)
Sony on October 15, 2005 1:14 PM
Man! How can such gr8 news remain unearthed for so long! Omars plz restore the car. This is national heritage. Kudos!
umar farooq on October 15, 2005 4:07 PM
Just want to add that from 1967 to 2005, 38 years, guys now we need just to design our own Pakistani car brand. We can get things at the best rates from around the world from all sorts of vendor industries as is done by all the car manufacturers. The car manufacturers are basically designing, assembling, marketing and developing the network of after sales service. All this requires enormous resources and highly efficient corporate approach to survive in ruthlessly competitive environment. Money can buy us expertise from around the world. We can select the basic popular sizes of the vehicles, which are economically viable to sell. If the local car assemblers have to be given unnecessary protection then it should not be to the foreign brands that have been fleecing money but to the totally indigenous local car manufacturers.
Farrukh Shahzad on October 16, 2005 1:06 AM
My Words are too limited to praise these guys!!
We have destroyed our country by not taking our young ones seriosly…
May Allah Give us the help and power to face the world and do the better for our own Country…Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan
zak on October 27, 2005 4:02 AM
i like it
Anis.Khan on November 15, 2005 8:22 PM
I am seriously impressed by this historic car! If you think about it, Pakistan built a lightweight, small displacement sports roadster IN THE 1960’s… This is something companies like LOTUS and MG are doing with success only in the past 20 years… The early British models of the 60’s era were certainly not known for their reliability, so on that basis, it truly is amazing that it was used as a daily driver for TEN years! It must have had quite responsive handling thanks to it’s small size and engine weight… Amazing… Pakistan’s very own Lotus of the 1960’s!A truly wonderful example of Pakistani ingenuity and creativity… Restoration is a must! This is an inspiration for today’s young!
Harpreet Shergill on December 15, 2005 5:06 PM
It is indeed a great job done in that era. I would appreciate the effort especially the body design and the way the Engine is wedded to the British motorcycle type gear box. The packing is quite wonderful. The body proportions sounds great. All I expect on the wrong side would be a tricky gear shifting ( If kept ) and vibrations emitted by the pumpset engine. Western countries do buck up their lads to come up with such improvisations but here in this sub-continent things are different. However, in India the scene is quite better with many people coming up with such improvisations and many times these come closer to be called an innovation. Now, such people even have formed groups to combine their resources and come up with final results comparable to that of western world. Some of these even saw actual production and succuss. RTV being produced by Hindustan Motors is one such example.
singh on January 4, 2006 10:48 PM
wow, now a days that car would be junk, but when you guys made it, it probably was like looking at a ferreri.
Hamid Omar on January 5, 2006 3:22 AM
In those times, as long as you had a car/transport/beautiful machine!!!!/whatever!!! but for that time it was really something!
The car is in pieces now, as it is in the initial stages of being restored by AO & KO. The color is going to Ferrari red, as it used to be when originally made.
Asad on January 19, 2006 9:20 PM
Great
Desiree on January 21, 2006 3:11 AM
Like you guys really need another car. It’s very impressive that you own the first car ever built in Pakistan but you don’t even have room to park the cars you own that do run. And where do you expect to put the huge Ford truck you’re re-building? You should donate the car to a museum. Oh, that’s right-you don’t have any in Karachi.
Khurram on April 11, 2006 2:33 AM
haha thats how we used to treat our heros….NO NAME NO APPRECIATION nothing…………
Umar Farooq on April 11, 2006 12:53 PM
Great job. Is car still intact? There is a need for a “Car Museum” in our country through public-private partnership. It would be great if a car like this along with numerous other vintage cars with history are placed in such type of a museum in Pakistan. So folks we need to have a “Car Museum” in Pakistan.
Thanks and bye.
Umar Farooq
Josh on June 8, 2006 9:08 AM
so is this the first car ever built, or just the first car ever built in Pakistan/
Ehsan Khan on June 14, 2006 1:11 PM
were any of the components manufactured in pakistan? a great effort nonetheless.
matt on June 27, 2006 12:39 PM
i think that it was very good have u still got it?
asad malik on June 27, 2006 1:41 PM
its a very good feeling to know that the car was built in 1967.but a bit sad that we dont have many pakistani built and design cars.inshaallah we will have more in near future.i like the vintage cars.there are many vintage cars in australia.but i cant explain the feeling to know that the vintage and clasic cars some of the people have in karachi are in that good condition and they have restored them.
Zia on June 27, 2006 7:38 PM
Great man. Mashallah
muazzam malik on July 12, 2006 2:46 PM
I am impressed, its a gr8 job done by a Pakistani but it was un noticed by the high ups, i am sure if govt would have patronized you at that time we have our own PMW (Pakistam Motor Works)
babur on August 4, 2006 6:20 PM
Very impressive, now we are waiting for a modern local built car as good as any other foreign car. i am sure we will do it very soon.babur
Sameer on August 7, 2006 3:14 PM
Astonishing work…
certainly magnificent.
I would like to request for some information regarding registering a car with the same problem.
What is the legal procedure for registering a prototype suc as this.
Specially with an engine out of a superbike.
similar to a gocart in design but with good ground clearance and serious power.
a sports car precisely.
Amir Chishti on September 13, 2006 12:42 AM
Hi,First of all it was quite shocking that Pakistan Made its first car in 1967, which I really dont know becasue I was not aware of that and even we have not got any Information about this but I would like also to impart a bit information as one another car ( Pickup was 100 %) was made in Pakistan by the name of Proficent and might be some of you people have seen that pickup still on the road.
but the point is this that we or our Government is Stupid because some rulers want Pakistan as a slave of USA and I think right now we are and thats the maing reason we were,are or might be in future as well will not be able to Market our Products.
So sad of that and MAY MY ALLAH Keep us in HIS Peace. AMEEN
Sunil on September 29, 2006 5:43 PM
Hmm, interesting. Nice work, and it definitely needs some appreciation. But the story of the car made me shockingly realize that you guys are still in the stone ages. Recently I heard another news that Pakistan is rolling out their first production car. I saw some pictures from the production line. Can’t help commenting that those kind of production lines existed in the 1950s elsewhere in the world. :)Greetings from India!
Mubashir Farooq on January 25, 2007 7:39 PM
welldone! i appreciate ur talent n efforts, the best Pakistani car of not only 60’s but also of today! atleast better than todays REVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
umar farooq on January 26, 2007 5:05 PM
It is really pleasing to see the very historic and nostalgic pics of the “Car in the Making”. Well Done.
Umar
Kashif Tahir on February 6, 2007 1:00 AM
Man! where have you folks been hiding? Its a great discovery. I ashmed that that such wonderful talent was lost to bureaucracy.
And please do inform when the car is restored. Anything I can help with, I’ll be more than happy to forward a helping hand.
Regards,
Kashif Tahir.
hamza on April 5, 2007 8:39 PM
this is simply a great work. i would give my saalaam to all the ppl who made this car. u guys can even open a new car comp and sell cars at a low rate to poor pakistanis and help everyone have a car. Grt job!!!!!!!!!!
priscilla kilgore on April 15, 2007 12:31 AM
This is a really cute car.As you can tell from my email addressI drive a 1969 Pontiac Lemans. I have always loved cars. The red car was a stroke of guiness. How cool!
Asad Ali on April 21, 2007 12:06 PM
im really impressed by the fact that there are many people around us who intend to do something different. We are the poeple who love their heritage and should have such vehices (environment friendly ofcourse) with a history on the roads. I live in malir cantt and know a guy who has just fiished his work of developing a volks wagon that looks just as authentic as it was in 1966 in the showroom. This guy did all the paint, denting, engine and what not by his own hands. Earlier he got an appreciation letter from Ford motors’ president after he sent them a sketch of a new model he proposed them to build.`