The first automobiles were taken to Latvia around 1896. According to the records, one of the first ones was the French Panhard Levasor.

       After World War I, Latvia was destroyed. There were only 6 usable automobiles for civil needs and less than 100 for the Latvian Army.

       Starting from 1924, the number of automobiles considerably increased. They were mainly imported from the USA and Western Europe. In 1930, there were 3,970 registered automobiles, and already 6,850 in 1939 (including 3,500 cars).

 

       In the 1920’s, the most popular were open automobiles because they were cheaper, but already in the beginning of the 1930’s, the closed models were dominating. The profit-searching dealers were ready to offer automobiles of any producer and model, but it was unfavourable for the national economy because it made costs of repairs very high. In 1935, Riga, there were around 1,520 cars made by 90 different companies, 56 of them were represented just by 1-5 cars.

       By the end of the 1930’s, the most popular were the American Chevrolet (168 registered in Riga, 1935), Ford (164), Buick (114). Fiat (104) and Renault (69) were the most popular among European automobiles, both of them offering a wide range of models: simple and cheap, exclusive and expensive. The interesting fact is that the first presidents of Latvia used Fiat in the 1920’s.

       At the time prices of automobiles were high – an average 4,000 – 9,000 Lats, but the most exclusive models, e.g. Fiat 519 at the dealer “M. Zitmans” in 1925 cost even 28,000 Ls.