04 May 1963, Kuwait City, Kuwait --- Kuwait: Oil Country. A sleek modern American car is serviced at an equally modern gas station in Kuwait City, where a gallon of gas costs about ten cents. The country's roads are being widened and extended to meet the rapidly increasing number of cars being imported. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

The State of Kuwait took precedence in many fields within the region including the introduction and usage of automobiles. Kuwait introduced cars over a century ago, when camels, horses and donkeys were still used as means for transportation. In this context, Bassem Abdulaziz Al-Loughani mentioned in his book ‘Cars in Kuwait’s history’ that first car appeared in Kuwait was in 1911 and Bahrain followed two years later when Sheikh Eisa Al-Khalifa brought one in 1913.

The first vehicle to enter in Najd region, modern Saudi Arabia, was a gift from the Ottoman Empire to the Amir of Ha’el Saud bin Abdulaziz Al-Rashid in 1915. Al-Loughani emphasized that first car used in Kuwait was a Belgium car from ‘Minerva’ exported by Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, but it did not last long because of breakdowns.

According to a study conducted by writer Yaqoub Al-Ibrahim, the Kuwaiti people called that particular car the ‘elephant’ because it was a giant vehicle. Second car entering Kuwait was also from Minerva, which Tradesman Jassem bin Mohammed Al-Ibrahim gave to the Amir of Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah, he added. The first to acquire private cars were Kuwaiti citizens Hamad Al-Khaled and Shamlan bin Saif, each acquiring a ‘Ford’, while Hilal Al-Mutairi acquired Hudson, and then Hamad Al-Sager and Mulla Saleh bought ‘Overland’. Sheikha Badriya Saud Al-Sabah was considered as the first Kuwaiti woman to drive a car after her study abroad concluded and she had been appointed a supervisor of the public health in 1947.

British-made ‘Humber’ cars were well-known in the fifties and sixties, Kuwait Oil Company workers used them to cross the desert in order to reach the oil wells. In the late 1920s, Ali Al-Kulaib Al-Khalid obtained the right to distribute cars under the agreement with ‘Chevrolet’, ‘Buick’ and ‘GMC’ agents in Iraq, and then in 1936 Hamed AlNaqeeb obtained the right to distribute Ford cars.

Al-Loughani mentioned that first traffic ticket was recorded was to Al-Sayed Eisa Yousef Abduljaleel in 22nd of September 1938 whereas the first death in Kuwait due to car accident was in 1937. He added that Mohammed Al-Sayed Omar, Eisa Saleh and Abdullah Al-Saif are the first Kuwaitis to have a driving license, whereas the youngest Kuwaiti to obtain driving license was Sulaiman Al-Othman at age 14.

 


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