Naberezhnye Chelny is a city with an ancient and rich history. The first written records of it date back to 1172, and already in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it turned into a major Bulgarian city and the centre of Yarsk region (the “Coastal side”) of the Bulgarian kingdom.

At the beginning of the 20th century Berezhnye Chelny present a large and rich trading settlement. By that time Berezhnye Chelny had the largest pier on the Kama River. At the same time the bread trade reached its peak, the settlement has been famous for this kind of trade since ancient times. The symbol of the city became the largest river elevator in Russia with a capacity of 2 million poods (36 million kilograms) of bread.

During the Civil War (1918-1920) fierce battles between the Red and White armies were held here. Such famous commanders as V.I. Chapaev and M.N. Tukhachevsky took part in the battles here during the period of military operations. Naberezhnye Chelny has the Kama Automobile Plant built in 1969-1970 which was famous all over Russia.

During the same years the construction of a new city began on the place of the settlement. Serial production of cars was already established by 1976. A rally team “KAMAZ-master” was organized at the automobile plant, its participants won the “Dakar” rally (previously titled “Paris-Dakar” rally) 8 times.