Considered the road with the highest altitude in all of Europe, the A-395 is a point of reference for automotive development. Not in vain, in it it is most common to come across all kinds of camouflaged vehicles. Pre-series units from Mercedes, SEAT, Volkswagen or Jaguar. It's more, even various Bugatti have been signed under development in the area. And it is that, in addition to climbing to 3.000 meters in height, this route is located in privileged territory in order to push any engine against its limits. After all, in just about two hours you can go from sea level to areas with almost 3.000 meters.
A very wide gradient where the highways alternate with tortuous curves as well as with sections dominated by traffic jams and slow traffic. Likewise, the different altitudes make up a quite visible thermal contrast. What if, from 2.000 meters the progressive lack of oxygen is not only noticed by any athlete, but also the best atmospheric engine. This being the case, reviewing photographs alluding to motor racing in Spain, it is not uncommon to come across from time to time some taken in the upper area of the current A-395.
A road that, even remaining closed shortly after passing the Sierra Nevada ski resort, decades ago was open up to Pico Veleta itself, 3.396 meters high. Undoubtedly, an exceptional place to test the qualities of any engine. Especially if, of course, you do not have a turbocharger or a displacement compressor. Mechanisms created to enrich combustion with more oxygen and which, in the mid-sixties, were not particularly used in the automotive field.
In this way, when a Simca 1000, a Dodge Dart and a Super Azor managed to exceed 3.000 meters in height in the Sierra Nevada, that generated a stamp to remember. Especially in the case of the truck. Not only the first to do it, but also to do it still carrying a ballast of 10.000 kilos. In addition, that spoke about the efficient qualities of the Barreiros range in 1965. So wide that, as we can see, it ranged from industrial vehicles to popular cars, including a saloon that, in Spain at the time, was quite exclusive.
In fact, during that year both the Simca 1000 and the Dart were for the first time in the Barreiros range. The first with an engine of 994 cubic centimeters and 52CV while the second mounted a six-cylinder with almost 150CV. Undoubtedly something very noteworthy for that national market. Even above the 115CV delivered by the Barreiros Super Azor. Of course, capable of delivering them at only 2.200 revolutions per minute since, in a truck, what is really important is torque over pure horsepower.
Be that as it may, the important thing here is to see how Barreiros advertised its range in 1965. Alluding to the mechanical capacity of its vehicles to take them up such a road. Indeed, watched by the action of the Traffic Civil Guard and their ROA-BMW R27. Recently released for these promotional photographs since, not surprisingly, they began to be produced in Madrid at the end of 1964. In other words, in just a few shots, the archive of the Barreiros Foundation He has given us a stupendous picture of the Spanish fleet in the mid-sixties. A time in which, oddly enough, you could still drive above 3.000 meters in the heart of Andalusia.
Photographs: Barreiros Foundation