Susita On Top of Hippos National Park

Text and Photos by Lydia Aisenberg

If you visited Israel in the 1960s you might have spotted, and even travelled in, an ungainly, boxlike and somewhat fragile-looking vehicle known as the Susita, which was developed and manufactured in Israel. Sus is the Hebrew word for horse, and one of the few Hebrew words that can be read correctly either left to right, or right to left.

As this writer recalls, having hitched a ride or two with one of those ungainly carriages way back then, a horse would probably have been a lot faster and would have kicked up a lot less dust than their motorized namesake did on the bumpy, dusty and liberally potholed roads of the State of Israel in the sixties, especially on those roads that were far from the more developed center of the country.

So one can imagine my absolute surprise, gob-smacking amazement to be truthful, when after huffing and puffing up a very steep incline (whilst battling a ferocious side wind I might add), to reach the summit of the fascinating Hellenistic period site of the same name, Susita, at the Hippos National Park on the slopes of the Golan Heights – I was greeted by the sight of a red and white iconic 4-wheeled Susita car – in pristine condition and sporting the distinctive yellow Israeli vintage car collectors' plates.

Gleaming, almost winking in the midday sun, a sign propped up in the window explained that the iconic vehicle was on loan to the Hippos National Park – from one horse to the other, one might say – for a limited period. It was a sort of playful gimmick, but well appreciated by those who had made the climb up to one of the most fascinating sites in the country, with views along and over a section of the former Syrian Golan Heights, and across Lake Tiberias to the town of Tiberias and far beyond into the Lower Galilee.

Just moments before coming across the veteran 1960s fiberglass shelled horse on wheels, and while still half-way up the narrow path leading onwards and upwards, ascenders pass alongside an impressive sculpture perched on a hilly outcrop that can be seen from miles around.

The work of art, truly realistic in appearance from a distance, is a massive cut-out, a silhouette actually, depicting a rearing horse, sculptured from black metal and fully stretched upon its hind legs, forelegs stretching towards – on that particular day anyway – a deep blue sky. Out of sight until reaching the top of the path – lo and behold – sitting among the black basalt rocks so common all over the Golan Heights, was the iconic 1960s 4-wheeled Susita … the car with not too much horse power under its bonnet.

Even more amazing was the fact that the previous day a fascinating documentary, entitled Desert Tested and directed by Avi Weissblei, had been screened on Israeli television. The documentary focuses on the short-lived existence of the Israeli-designed and manufactured vehicle, the film having been described by a well-known Israeli entertainment critic as sharing "a complex tale of chutzpah, vision, ambition, Zionist pride and corruption!"

That sounds just about right, if looking for a short description of the birth, development and relatively quick demise and total disappearance from Israeli roads of the Susita, the car dubbed by some transport aficionados as "the little car that couldn't!"

It is a rare sight indeed to find a renovated Susita in present times, the small number still around proudly restored by dedicated collectors and possibly rolled out for an Israeli vintage car show – the latter almost as rare as the Susita itself. A prototype of the Susita that had been shipped in its early days of development to a trade show in New York arrived in pieces, having fallen apart en route to America, at the time causing great embarrassment to its developers in Israel.

The pagan city of Hippos (horse in Greek) was the only ancient Greek city in the southern Golan. It is perched across a number of very large hills, somewhat wide but roundish in shape – from a distance looking like a saddle – along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, overlooking the kibbutz and fishing village of Ein Gev, founded in 1937.

The city of Hippos has been under excavation for many years. Magnificent remains have been discovered with further and ongoing excavations constantly unearthing more wondrous discoveries of the past. In present times, visitors are agog at the massive pillars, adorned by beautiful sculptures, and many other remains of a Hellenistic city, parallel to the Hasmonean period. These include the main square of the Roman city and its huge water cistern, remains of a magnificent basilica, a small roofed theater and so much more – including of course, the infamous Israeli-manufactured but long defunct Israeli chariot of the same name, the Susita.