"People’s curiosity and admiration was provoked these days by doctor Pierides’ nice car which was introduced in our city for the first time. Mr. Pierides, after picking up this car in Larnaca, he covered the distance between Larnaca and Limassol in 3 hours and half, without, of course, developing full speed on the wonderful machine purposely due to the unsuitability of the road and several dangerous areas, as in the steep descents."
This is how the arrival of the 1st car in Cyprus was announced in the press of that time. In the early 20th century in Cyprus any transportation by mechanical vehicles was a luxury, let alone the use of a private vehicle. In 1907 an eminent Limassolian introduced in Cyprus the 1st car.
It was a red 2-seater Peugeot. The 1st car owner in Cyprus was the doctor Ioannis Pierides from Limassol. Judging by the newspaper of the time, the new arrival was the subject of discussion for the local community, inevitably causing curiosity and admiration. "This car was used by his (Pierides) son, Paris, in the 'Mimosa' restaurant, at the seafront area, where I worked during the summers, when I was a student," recalls Andreas Demetriou, confirming that the car's image had impressed of the city's people.
Picking up the car in Larnaca, Dr. Pierides took 3.5 hours to get to Limassol. The report attributed the car’s low speed to the difficulties of the morphology of the road. Of course, other sources claim that the owner himself was an inexperienced driver, who learned how to drive through the manual that came with the vehicle. His example was followed then by other prominent citizens, such as Panos Lanitis, Michalis Colakides and Yiangos Rosides.
Note: The information come from a notable group of Limassolians who keep the Facebook page called "Limassol Memories". The press announcement was saved by Titos Kolotas.
* NOTE: The tributes of the Project "History of Limassol" present information that has emerged from historical research thus far. Any new data is embedded into the tributes, once it has been confirmed.
