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When the Spanish Civil war finished, the country was destroyed
both economically and morally. The motor industry was in ruins, and the only
way to obtain a car was by having contacts with the franquist Government, which
adjudged the cars entering the country. A Citröen “dos cavalls”
cost about 63 000 pesetas (the medium wage for 6 years).
Since the society had to face this problem and the developing necessity of having
new means of transport, the so-called microcars arose. They are cars with a
considerable precarious technique, which usually have a motor more typical from
motorbikes rather than cars. Microcars are usually handmade due to the lack
of means.
Most of microcars’ brands were originated in Catalonia
and Valencia, where the most thriving
trading areas were concentrated, in spite of some exceptions like the Iso
Isetta which was made in Madrid and the Goggomobil
which was mad in the Basque Country. The
best known of all microcars was, with no doubt, the popular Biscuter,
12000 units were made. Other brands with a considerable production apart from
the PTV were: David,
Clúa and Delfin.
There also existed other microcars which were scarcely produced such as Simó,
Dunjó,
Mymsa,
Maquitrans,
Salomó,
MT , Aleu
or Kapi
The Tachó’s brothers (Antoni & Guillem) owned a garage where they repaired cars and motorbikes by the end of the 40s in Manresa (Catalonia). They were also specialized in improving car engines. Due to the scarcity of spare parts, they decided to produce their own brand carburettors (Tachó), and they installed them in the cars that they repaired.
In their free time, Tachó‘s brothers created
their first car. It was called ballena (whale) due to the likeliness with the
mammal. The first version had three wheels, and then a specialist called Panosa
created a new body with four wheels and more stylised lines. The motor was a
648 cc with 18 horses of potency, and the weight was 660 kilos. With 3, 90 meters
long and 2, 20 meters wide, two persons could easily fit inside the car. In
August the 7th of 1950 the car got the approval of the ministry of industry,
and it was registered with the plate number: B-80.347.
A friend of the two brothers collaborated with the next project; he is called
Josep Vila, and he would be one of the future AUSA founders. They took part
in some local races with their car.
Some time after they thought about creating a new car with lower characteristics
and a lower cost, with an eye to a possible higher production. They simplified
to the minimum their prototype, and they created a car with a 247 cc and 3 h.
motor. The simplicity also concerned the size of the car, so it became smaller.
Its new appearance also gave it a particular name; they called it “coca”,
which is a typical Catalan cake.
In November of 1953 it was approved by the ministry and registered with the
green plate number (to test it): B-172. A great number of tests were done to
create a better car which could be sold to the public.
In this moment it appeared the third piece of the future project: Maurici Perramón.
He was a business manager, and a habitual customer of Tacho’s garage.
The new member suggested creating an enterprise; he said that he would give
the locals to produce and the money. Therefore, Maurici Perramón became
the manager, Josep Vila was in charge of supplies and personnel, and Tachó’s
brothers were the technicians.
On 1956 they created AUSA
(Automóviles Utilitarios s.a.). The “coca” was the base of
their first car: PTV 250 (PTV are the first letters of their names). Guillem
Tachó and his wife went to Madrid to get the approval from the Ministry
to produce it. The journey became an extraordinary test for them and the car
because of the weather conditions (-10 º C). Finally they got the approval
from the engineers, although they faced some problems.
The start of the production created a revolution in Manresa, a great number
of companies supplied the products to produce it, and AUSA also produced the
units required to create the cars.
An advertisment of the PTV
The car was produced during 5 years and about 1.250 units
were produced of the 125 model. It was distributed all over Spain, and also
some units were exported to Portugal and the United States. Its price was approximately
between 45.000 and 55.000 pts. (270 – 330 euros). The car became quite
popular, and some people took part in car races with one. Some postcards arrived
to the AUSA factory from people travelling in all Europe with AUSA’s cars,
and they said that the car worked wonderfully.
The Development Plans of the franquist government appeared
together with the car, which has been considered one of the principal causes
of the disappearance of the microcars in Spain: the Seat
600.
The characteristics of this new car could not be compared with the ones of the
microcars, and it counted on both the financial support of the government and
a mass production.
Some new models were not launched to the market, such as the new PTV 400 that
was only produced as a prototype. There was also a van version of the PTV 250
from which only about 30 units were produced.
In 1961 the microcar’s production finally ended. However, this did not
mean the end of AUSA, since they started producing a little appliance with three
wheels and a box for industrial use. Nowadays they are leaders in the production
of this famous appliance called Dumper.
Guillem Tachó with one of the firsts Dumpers produced
We could say that AUSA is the most antique car brand in Spain, and the unique microcar producer that could survive the “micro killer” Seat 600.
