KUWAIT, Sept 29 (KUNA) -- Kuwait was one of the first countries in the Arabian Gulf that acquired motor vehicles and the event was witnessed nearly 100 years ago.
According to various ancestors' narrations, the year 1912 witnessed arrival of the first car, a means that in later years proved to be indispensable for the natives.
The Researcher at the Kuwaiti Popular Heritage, Bassim Al-Loughani, author of "Kuwait's History of the Car" told KUNA that there is more than one narration shedding light on the import of the first cars and vehicles into the country.
Al-Loughani said era of the late Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, specifically the year 1912, witnessed the introduction of a car which was owned by Sheikh Qasim Mohammad Ibrahim. The car was called (Manawora) and was brought in as a gift to Sheikh Mubarak. However, there were no paved roads to drive it easily in the country.
Abdullah Khalid Al-Hatem mentioned in his book (from here began Kuwait) that the first car known to Kuwait was the Belgium-made Manawora, which was built between 1899 and 1935 in Antwerp, and was acquired by European kings at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly the monarchs of Belgium, Sweden and Norway.
The car that was brought to Kuwait in 1912 was a four-cylinder model, with a 16-horse power, capacity (2.243) liters and equipped with electrical lamps.
The first driver in Kuwait was an Indian citizen who was employed to drive the vehicle. But, the Kuwaiti national, Ali Hussein Abu Khanfar, was appointed to accompany him and learn driving, thus he became the first citizen to drive a car in the country. (end) mf.mb KUNA 292255 Sep 10NNNN