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Barreiros Diesel, S.A.
	Barreiros Diesel headquarters in Madrid
Company type	Private (1954–69)
Industry	Automotive industry
Founded	1954
Founder	Eduardo Barreiros
Defunct	1978; 46 years ago
Fate	Acquired by Chrysler in 1969
Successor	Chrysler España, S.A.
Products	Automobiles, trucks, buses, engines
Parent	Chrysler Europe

Barreiros was a Spanish manufacturer of engines, trucks, buses and automobiles. It was a Chrysler Europe subsidiary from 1969 to 1978.

History

The company was founded in 1954 as "Barreiros Diesel S.A." by Eduardo Barreiros and based in Madrid. Established initially as a producer of diesel engines, at Ourense the company then expanded to make commercial vehicles, reaching licensing agreements with French Berliet (truck cabs), British AEC (buses and coaches), German Hanomag (agricultural tractors), and Vidal & Sohn Tempo-Werke GmbH (light vans and trucks), all of them driven by Barreiros's own engines. Additionally a pay-in-kind contract with Polish Star was active in the late 1950s, by which engineless Star chassis-cab trucks were exported to Spain, while Barreiros engines were sent to Poland; the whole resulted in Barreiros-engined Star tractors being sold in China (and Polish trucks in Spain).

Later on Barreiros branched out into the production of passenger cars by means of cooperation (and capital links) with the Chrysler Corporation. An agreement was reached with Chrysler in 1963 to build the Dodge Dart, allowing the company to enter the car market. Sold as the Barreiros Dart, it had modified front styling, a four-speed gearbox, and all-around disc brakes. During that time, the Spanish automobile market was strongly protected, making entering it effectively only possible by domestic manufacturing. As the 1960s progressed, the range was extended with some smaller models from Chrysler's French subsidiary, Simca. The Barreiros-made Simca 1000 was launched in 1966, and later the Simca 1200 joined the range (in fact the French Simca 1100, but with a bigger standard engine for the Spanish market).

The Spanish Dodges

From 1965 to 1970, a Spanish version of the Dodge Dart based on the original from the United States was manufactured in the Barreiros Villaverde factory in Madrid, using the same 111-in (2,819 mm) wheelbase, but with different sheet metal; the Dodge 3700 (commonly known as the Dart) was produced from 1971 to 1978.^[1]^[2] A total of 17,589 units were manufactured of both models in Spain, they were produced as a knock-down kit imported from Argentina due to the protectionist Spanish regulations of those years.^[3]^[4]

The Dart and the 3700 were the largest national production cars available in Spain during all production years. It was an expensive luxury car with very low fuel economy by Spanish standards. The GL designation was a luxury model,^[5] while the GT was the sportier version.^[6]

All gasoline Dodges had the biggest engine ever mounted into a mass-production car in Spain, the 225 cu in (3.7 L) Chrysler Slant 6 engine. The "3700" number is a reference to the 3.7 litres of displacement. No other six-cylinder engine car has been produced in numbers as numerous in Spain. A diesel Dart (named "Barreiros Diesel") was also produced.^[7] These models were very basic and very slow, and used the round tail lights from the first-generation Simca 1000.^[8]

A station wagon version, as well as other variants (diplomatic motorcade cars, ambulances, hearses, etc.) were produced.^[9]

Production of the Spanish Dodge Dart/Dodge 3700 stopped in 1977. Peugeot bought the Villaverde factory, as Chrysler was divesting European operations in Spain, France, and the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}

Spanish Dodges were popular with members of the Franco government during the 1960s and 1970s. Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco was killed on 20 December 1973 while travelling in his Dodge 3700 GT.^[1]^[10] On 12 June 1975, Fernando Herrero Tejedor, a Minister Secretary General of the Movimiento Nacional and the politician mentoring Adolfo Suárez, died in a car accident while travelling in his official Dodge 3700 in the municipality of Adanero.^[11]^[12]

Barreiros Imperial limousines

After the last ten Ghia-built Crown Imperial limousines were completed for Chrysler, Ghia sold its tooling to Barreiros. Barreiros built ten limousines, much like those built by Ghia, and similar to the last ten built by Ghia, built as 1965 models with 1966 exterior styling.

Chrysler subsidiary

In 1969, Chrysler Europe took complete control of the company.^[13]

In 1975, Barreiros became for the first time the sole source for a Chrysler Europe model when the production lines of the slow-selling Chrysler 180 series were moved to Madrid from Simca's factory in Poissy.^[13] Unlike in most other European countries, the Chrysler 180 became relatively popular in Spain. Barreiros also continued to assemble other Chrysler Europe models for the domestic market, including Simca 1307 (renamed Chrysler 150 in Spain to be more in line with the popular 180) and Simca Horizon.^{[citation needed]}

On the truck and bus side, a full range of light, medium and heavy models was offered, still marketed as Barreiros in Spain and as Dodge or Fargo elsewhere, but eventually the Dodge badge prevailed in all markets.^{[citation needed]}

In PSA and Renault hands

In 1978, Chrysler Europe was sold to PSA, which subsequently renamed all former Chrysler/Simca models Talbot (so, for example, the Chrysler 150 became Talbot 150). Barreiros continued to assemble Talbot car models launched under the PSA reign, such as Talbot Solara or Talbot Samba.^{[citation needed]}

The truck and bus division was sold to Renault, also called RVI, and for a short time, the former original Barreiros models, mostly of them trucks, were sold badged as Renaults / Spanish Renault. The Barreiros Diesel SA motorvehicle factory at Villaverde in Madrid is now owned by the huge "Renault Trucks (Espana) SA" company where modern Renault trucks and heavy vehicles are produced.^{[citation needed]}

Notoriety

Spanish Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, who served under Generalísimo Francisco Franco, was assassinated in 1973 while riding in an armoured Dodge 3700 GT by an 80 kg bomb planted by the Basque separatist group ETA. The car, whose armoured structure resisted the 80 kg dynamite bomb, was blown over the roof of a building, landing in the building's inner courtyard. Carrero Blanco and his driver died. The car is now on display at the Army Museum of Toledo.^[14]

Barreiros trucks

(1957–81)

Star 4x2
Puma 4x2
Condor 4x2
Halcon 4x2
Azor 4x2
Saeta 4x2
Super Saeta 4x2
Super Azor 4x2
TT90 Militar 4x4
Comando Militar 4x4
Gran Ruta 6x4
Víctor 6x4
Centauro 6x4
Panter Militar 6x6
Dumper 6x6
Montblanc 8x4

Simca cars

Simca 1000/900/1000 Rallye
Simca 1200 LS
Simca 1200 GL
Simca 1200 GL Special
Simca 1200 GLS (90 octanos)
Simca 1200 GL Special
Simca 1200 LX-TI
Simca 1200 Campero

Dodge cars

Dodge Dart (1965–70)
Dodge 3700 (1971–77)

Imperial cars

Imperial limousine (1966)

Barreiros tractors

(1961–80)

R335S
R350
R350S
R438
R438 Especial
R440
R500 Labramatic
R545
R545 I
R545 IA
4000
4000V
5000
5000 VL/VR
5500
7000
40/45
50/55
70/70
90/90 (prototype)

References

^ ^a ^b Dodge 3700 GT, Piel de toro.net Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish) – accessed 3 January 2012
^ Coches inolvidables: Dodge Dart y Dodge 3700 Archived 31 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish) – accessed 7 January 2012
^ "Piel De Toro". Piel De Toro. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "Grandes Dodge españoles". Grandesdodge.iespana.es. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "Dodge Dart GL". Foro.pieldetoro.net. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "Dodge Dart GT". Foro.pieldetoro.net. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "Diesel Dart". Foro.pieldetoro.net. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "Dart Diesel specifications". Grandesdodge.iespana.es. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "Spanish Dodge Darts". Foundationpc.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ "The Dodge Dart a bomb could not kill". Foundationpc.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ Abella, Carlos (2006). Adolfo Suárez: el hombre clave de la transición. Espasa. p. 48. ISBN 978-84-670-2027-4. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
^ YouTube extract from this miniseries where Spanish Dodge appear as official state car of the 1970s in Spain. (in Spanish) – accessed 3 January 2012
^ ^a ^b "Chrysler and Dodge of Spain; Barreiros Diesel". Allpar. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
^ "El Dodge de Carrero Blanco". pieldetoro.net. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2010.