javier romagosa
Last night aired on First of Spanish Television a report dedicated to the old Spanish vehicles. Although we gave you very short notice, we told you that you could probably see it in the next few days through the website of this communication medium. And so it has been, offering even the possibility of doing it from The Escudería. Good for TVE, we also believe that, as far as the old vehicle is concerned, it is magnificently informed. Next, we reproduce the news released about the report, so that you know what topics are covered in it:
JUANTXO VIDAL - 6/5/2013 - FROM RTVE.COM
The automobile was, above others, the great means of transport of the XNUMXth century. Provided individual mobility, independence. It began as a luxury item, available only to the economic elites, but over the years it spread to the most popular layers.
In Spain, the development of the automotive industry is marked by mythical names: Hispano-Suiza, Pegaso, Seat, Barreiros ... Many of the models of these brands are now part of collections, public or private, which make up an automobile heritage as important as it is unknown. .
In addition, a not inconsiderable economic activity is generated around collector cars: it is estimated that the classic car market moves 16.000 million euros each year in the EU.
Rolling with History
Four names. There are more, but we are left with only four essential references for the history of the automotive industry in Spain. They are brands, cars, stuck to their time, with history reflected in their rear-view mirrors.
HISPANIC-SWITZERLAND
In the early years of motor racing, when motor vehicles still crossed paths with animal traction vehicles, a Spanish brand, founded in 1904, achieved the highest international prestige: Hispano-Suiza. The Hispanos were the cars of aristocrats and magnates, in a time when the car was in itself a luxury item, only within the reach of privileged pockets. Hispano-Suiza was the great brand of the first third of the last century, until the Spanish Civil War and World War II led the company to an unsustainable financial situation. A Hispano-Suiza, manufactured in 1910, was the first car to be declared, in 1990, an Asset of Cultural Interest in Spain. It is, therefore, the heritage of the Spanish; not exportable. It is exhibited in the Museum of Hª de la Automoción in Salamanca.
PEGASO
The Franco administration promoted the creation of a public automotive company, ENASA, to manufacture heavy vehicles, the Pegaso trucks. To give prestige to the brand, Pegaso designed and manufactured a luxury sports car, the Z-50, in the 102s. Only 86 units were made in 6 years of production. In September 1953 it got the mark that accredited it as the fastest touring vehicle in the world.
SEAT 600
For many it was the "car of the century" in Spain. The great icon of developmentalism, his arrival meant the motorization of the country, the extension of the automobile among the popular layers. It had antecedents - the Renault 4-4, the Biscuter ... - but none of them achieved its success; to get a 600 there was a waiting list of 2 years. It began to be manufactured in 57; the latest model hit the streets on August 2, 73. 800.000 units were sold.
BARREIROS - DODGE DART
Eduardo Barreiros was an entrepreneurial genius. It started in a small family workshop in Orense, transforming gasoline engines into diesel. He settled in Madrid, and in just three decades he built a company that employed 25.000 people. He first designed and manufactured an engine, the Barreiros-Diesel, and later the trucks with which he conquered the market. He teamed up with Chryler to launch the Dodge Dart, the only luxury passenger car then manufactured in Spain. It also managed to carve a niche in the utility segment with the Simca 1.000. But the lack of support from the administration of the time and the arrival of new brands ended his project. Chrysler took over the entire company.
Cars and Power
In the Historical Room of the Royal Guard, in El Pardo (Madrid) there is a collection of jewels from the Spanish automobile heritage; They are the "cars of power", vehicles that are used or have been used in official acts, on great occasions. Cars linked to numerous moments in the history of the last decades in Spain.
Visitors, since it is an exhibition open to the public, can see, among others, the all-terrain Mercedes G-4 with 6 wheels, Hitler's birthday gift to Franco in 1940, the Buick of 49 that Franco adapted for his hunting trips, or the 3 Rolls-Royce Phanton IV that he ordered in 1948, some cars, reserved for Heads of State and royalty, of which only 18 units were manufactured. Several of these cars are still used in certain acts.
Collecting and restoration
The Spanish automobile heritage - very little known - is fundamentally based on the passion for classic cars of a good number of collectors who treasure, in many cases, pieces of undoubted value, either because of their history, or because of their scarcity or uniqueness. One of those enthusiasts is Demetrio Gómez Planché, who began collecting cars to distract from the stress caused by his profession as a technical engineer. He also promoted the creation of one of the few museums dedicated to the automobile in Spain, the Salamanca Automobile Museum, launched in 2.002 with the participation of the City Council. In the Museum you can see 71 cars from the Gómez Planche collection.
Another passionate about the classics is Enrique Gómez Erustes. Since the 70s he has dedicated himself to collecting motorcycles and cars, a hobby - according to him "a poison" - that has dragged on since his childhood. It has 15 motorcycles and 8 cars. His favorite is a 1940 BMW that belonged to a senior Gestapo post assigned to the Nazi German embassy in Madrid.
Collectors tend to group themselves in associations that organize different activities with classics as the center, mainly rallies and vintage car rallies. The popular Seat 600, the icon of Spanish developmentalism of the 60s, is perhaps the model with the largest number of motorist associations, the dean being the Club de Amigos del 600 de Leganés. Its president, Jesús González Malvar, has 5 models, one of them, which he shows with special pride, was from the first series assembled in the free zone of Barcelona in 1957. He keeps it with all its original parts, it even has tires with those that left the factory.
Directly linked to the collection of classics, and therefore to the preservation of automobile heritage, is restoration. In the restorer's workshops an attempt is made to recover, aesthetically and mechanically, the splendor of the early days of the vehicle. Always with one premise: keep as many original parts as possible. The main obstacle is always the procurement of spare parts. In many cases, especially with older vehicles, restoration requires a parallel task of investigation, search for documents, or similar models, which facilitate the realization of irrecoverable or missing parts. A task in which passionate motor racing professionals are applied, such as Manuel Barragán, for whom, literally, "repairing a classic motor is not work, it is fun." Or like the Pueche. Father and sons have spent decades dedicating themselves to the restoration and sale of collector vehicles. Hundreds of cars have passed through its workshops and today are part of outstanding collections.
The classics in data
A car is considered classic when it exceeds 25 years from its manufacture. There are no precise data on the number of classic cars that are in driving conditions in Spain, but on how many of them carry the so-called "historical registration": there are 21.300 vehicles, of which 15.000 are passenger cars. This type of registration carries certain advantages in the ITV revision cycles, or in insurance rates and traffic taxes. According to a study carried out by the International Federation of Antique Vehicles, in Europe there are an estimated 1 million classic cars. 5% drive less than 70 kilometers a year and about 1.500% have a value of less than 80 euros. The sector generates an economic activity that annually moves 15.000 million euros and employs 16.000 people.
