Down The Memory Lane: Nyayo Pioneer Car.

Today, I go into the archives and I bring to you the memories of a Nyayo Era when Kenya's dream of a home made car was ripe. And hence came the Nyayo Pioneer Car.

In 1986 President Moi asked University of Nairobi students to manufacture a car, “however ugly or slow”. It promised to be a project that would showcase Kenya’s self-sufficiency and heavy industry potential.

The request was reminiscent of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler asking
Ferdinand Porsche in 1933 to make a car for the people – a move that
led to the creation of the Volkswagen Beetle. Strongmen clearly have a
thing for cars.

Moi’s project brought together engineers from Kenya Railways, Kenya
Polytechnic, the military and Nairobi University. Parts were produced in military bases or at the Kenya Railway central workshops. After four years of banging and clanging – and a quarter of a billion shillings of
public funds – the Nyayo Pioneer car was ready for public display. It even came in five different prototypes, including a five-door sedan, a sport coupe, a pickup and a rally version.

The car had a 1200cc engine and was to have a top speed of 120kph.
The cars were launched with much pomp and glamour at the Kasarani
Sports Complex. The President even took a short drive in one of the vehicles. The televised launch was a comedy of sorts, though, as only two of the five prototypes could actually move – and even then they couldn’t make it around the 400m track. The President had got his wish: the car was both ugly and slow.

The Nyayo Pioneer was an engineering disaster. The headlights,bumpers and boot did not come together neatly, and the car lacked the finesse you would expect from a consumer product. The components were made by hand in different factories. The car’s manufacture was done mainly at night as it was a state secret – and you got the feeling that a lot of the welding and panel beating was by hand in bad light. The car’s body was heavy and the engine simply could not cope with the burden.

Also, despite the goal of self-sufficiency, only 60 per cent of the car was built from locally-available material.

Not discouraged by what was clearly a massive failure, the government
decided to go ahead with the mass production of this largely stationary car. They formed the Nyayo Motor Corporation (NMC). The government did not have enough money to push the project all the way through. The total outlay for mass production required was Ksh7.8 billion. However, Lack of finances led the car project to be put on the blocks permanently.
The Nyayo Motor Corporation was dissolved and its assets taken over
by another company which bears its initials: the Numerical Machining
Complex.

Recently, NMC announced that it would set aside Ksh775 million to revive the Nyayo car project.Meaning Kenya may yet be reviving a dinosaur for our eco-friendly age and we could eventually see the Nyayo car breaking down on a highway near you.

Source: Kenya Yetu/

The Car you Drive and What it Says About You.

What does your car say about you?

A person’s choice of automobile speaks volumes about their personality. You are what you drive. The car you spin provides a sneak peek into your aspirations. It defines you perhaps even more than your hairstyle or wardrobe.
Here’s our tongue-in-cheek stab at stereotyping the owners of some of the vehicles seen on our roads.

Subaru Imprezza: The hallmark of youthful exuberance. Notorious for its
noise and speed, thus preferred by guys who believe that velocity
equals virility. Has “quickie” written all over it.

Toyota Vitz : It says you just got a job. Preferred by single women who
wear independence on their sleeves and take Oprah a little too literally.
Would not say red if they could say scarlet.

Probox : Says practical, average and enjoys being part of the crowd.
Considers fuel economy the car’s strongest point.

BMW : Says aspiring middle class card-holding member in need of
validation. The kind that races between traffic lights and complains
about the lack of autobahns in Kenya.

Toyota Hilux double cabin : Reads a man who dreams about an outdoor
life on a farm but couldn’t pitch a tent to save his life.

Range Rover : Battling midlife crisis and eager to prove that life really
does start at 40; maintaining image is key. It is a bitch to park but all
the stares compensate for the inconvenience.

Land Rover/ Land Cruiser:  Ragged older man; young at heart who chalks the discovery of some nondescript bar in the middle of nowhere, serving cold beer as a worthy bragging point.

Mercedes Benz: An unapologetic collector of status symbols. Likely to
make a fuss if the bar doesn’t stock his brand of single malt whisky.

Noah / Voxy:  Happily married, keeps an eight-to-five job and helps the
kids with their homework. Owes his/her success to divine
intervention.

The Rebirth

I am back! After a two years break, this is no longer the Online Auto Garage but something bigger, better and more educative. This is now Kenya's Auto NewsDesk. The One stop shop for Auto News, Car Reviews, Car sales, and of course a comprehensive vehicle repair guide all for you.

I will also be introducing 'Engineers' Perspective' a segment  dedicated to giving an engineering explanation to day to day happenings that often go unexplained.

Welcome Back!

Manual vs Auto

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Kenyan automotive market looking up

East Africa`s automotive industry
now gets busier

East Africa's automotive industry is
getting busier as new vehicle brands
enter the regional market in
anticipation for the economic boom
resulting from economic integration.
Data by consulting company
Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)
indicates that the automotive
industry in Kenya and by extension
the East Africa has for long been
dominated by Toyota (East Africa) ,
Cooper Motors Corporation (CMC),
General Motors (GM), Simba Colt and
DT Dobie.
But other vehicle brands are digging
in, either establishing assembly
plants here or expanding their sales
network across the economic
community whose market is set to
expand with the independence of
South Sudan, East Africa
Community's planned sixth member.
For example, South Korean auto
maker Hyundai Motors on
Wednesday announced an
investment in East Africa of up to 22
million U.S. dollars in the next
three years through its subsidiary
Hyundai E.A. Holdings Ltd (HEA) to
support Hyundai auto sales in the
regions and make it easier to access
genuine Hyundai spare parts in the
region.
“Hyundai has been absent from East
African roads for over a decade. But
we consider the region as a
significant market and will be
making strategic investments to
make Hyundai cars the leading
models in the region,” said Sam Lee,
its regional Marketing Director.
The company opened its show room
in Nairobi in January. Last week, the
company partnered with a Kenyan
leasing company known as Vehicle
and Equipment Leasing Limited
(Vaell) as part of its strategy to
increase sales in East Africa.
“Our study of emerging trends in the
East Africa auto market found that
leasing is the fastest growing new
industry. As an aggressive new-car
seller, we see it as an enabler and
are happy to announce partnership
with local leasing company,” said
Lee.
China's vehicle manufacturer Foton
Motor has also set eyes on the East
Africa market and is now building an
assembly plant in Nairobi that will
supply at least 10,000 units to the
region, company officials said.
The new plant, which will give the
company competitiveness because it
means it will avoid paying 25 per
cent duty if it imported fully built
units, will assemble prime movers,
light commercial trucks, tippers,
buses, and pick-ups.
The company is currently in the
process of recruiting dealers across
the East Africa. Availability of spare
parts could be major win for the
company because consumer trends
here indicate that buyers go for
vehicles that they know they can buy
spare parts at the nearest town.
Earlier, India's Tata Motors said it
will establish a USD 12.8 million bus
assembly plant in the coastal city of
Mombasa to serve the East Africa
market.
The company had said it planned to
assemble up to 60 buses a month
although it was not clear if the
assembly has started operations.
Just like Foton, the intention is to
avoid the 25 per cent duty for the
buses to be competitively priced.
Toyota is also another global
automaker that announced last year
it plans to establish an assembly
plant in Kenya to serve the East
Africa market.
Martin Owour of the Advisory Center
for Trade and Investment Policy said
the race to set up assembly plants
in the country will result in lower
priced vehicles because of
competition and avoidind the 25 per
cent duty.
Price is a major issue in automotive
industry in East Africa and is blamed
for the consumer preference to
second hand vehicles that command
70 per cent of the automotive market
share in East Africa according to
various studies.  ”The new
assemblers are looking to use Kenya
as the launching pad for entry into
the regional common market.
The fragmented economies of the
five East African countries had
discouraged the auto dealers from
setting up assembly plants, but the
common market has made it
possible for the dealers to capture a
region of more than 130 million
residents,” said Owour in an industry
analysis report.
Kenya currently has three motor
assemblers, Kenya Vehicle
Manufacturer, the Association of
Vehicle Assemblers Limited of
Mombasa and General Motors East
Africa.
The new assemblies will complement
efforts by the East African
Community (EAC) to encourage
setting up of automotive assembly
plants.
EAC industrialization strategy for
2010-2030 has identified Numerical
Machining Complex (NMC), Kenya's
state-owned company that once
manufactured two prototype vehicles
known as Nyayo Pioneer, as a
possible automotive assembly hub.
The company currently manufactures
some vehicle spare parts.

shared from www.expogr.com

what colour is your car?

study finds most people with blue cars drive like pyshos

People in red cars are always
the ones saddled with the
reputation of being angry,
speed limit-flouting daredevils
with no regard for their fellow
man. But a new study says you
really have to watch out for
blue cars.
Canada's Globe and Mail reports
on a new study of British
drivers conducted by conducted
for VoucherCodesPro, a
discount coupon website, which
revealed that "drivers in blue
cars were most prone to
aggressive driving and bouts of
road rage."
Maybe that explains all those
speeding tickets I got when I
had a blue WRX. I always
figured it was just the power.
The study says the second-most
aggressive drivers owned black
cars, followed by silver, then
green, and red way down the
list.
What kinds of cars do these
aggressive drivers own? I don't
think this should come as a
surprise to us: according to The
Daily Mail, the study says BMW
owners are the most road rage-
y people out there. Other
aggressive driving brands
include Land Rover, Audi,
Subaru and Vauxhall.

shared from jalopnik.com