Portugal had more car brands than you think

Although people don’t know many of them – or at all – Portugal once had 11 car brands.

Peugeot, Renault and Mercedes-Benz were the three best-selling cars last year in Portugal. Expanding the list further, we find names like Dacia, BMW, Toyota, Citroën and Volkswagen. What do all these manufacturers have in common? None of them are Portuguese.

Although there are currently no Portuguese car brands, there used to be – and probably more than you might think. Unfortunately, the truth is that most people will not even know that there were local producers.

Website Vehicle ledger he drew a list of 11 Portuguese car brands. The first Portuguese car appeared in the 1930s and the last car “died” in 2006.

Alba

O Alba was a Portuguese car from the 1950s. The first one was designed by António Augusto Martins Pereira, grandson of businessman Augusto Martins Pereira. The cars were manufactured at Fábricas Metalúrgicas Alba, in Albergaria-a-Velha, in the district of Aveiro.

It is estimated that only three units of the Italian-style car were built. The four-cylinder engine had a 1,500 cm³ of capacity and 90 hp of power. With a four-speed gearbox, it reached a maximum speed of 200 km / h.

DM

A DM, short for Dionísio Mateu, the name of its creator, it was introduced in 1951. The car had a 1,100 cm engine.³ with four cylinders that made it produce 65 hp, reaching a maximum speed of 170 km / h.

Mateu was Catalan, but when he created DM, he had already lived in Porto for about 30 years.

Edfor

O Edfor It was developed in 1937 by Eduardo Ferreirinha. The car had a Ford V8 engine, with a length of 3,620 cm³90 horses and a maximum speed of 160 km / h.

Filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, who was a racing driver at the time, also helped to promote Edfor by making a short film about one of his most coveted cars, the Grand Sport.

Felcom

It was also Eduardo Ferreirinha who created the first Portuguese competition car, the Felcom.

It was a combination of Ford A, Turcat-Méry and Miller. The car was built between 1933 and 1935.

AGB IPA

It was introduced to the public in 1958 AGB IPA it had only five copies. It had a 300cc British Anzani twin cylinder engine³ two-stroke, and about 15 hp.

“A small, accessible and economical car, which can provide a small potential market, a fast and safe means of transport” was the concept that the entrepreneur António Gonçalves Baptista used to create the car.

Marley

O Marley it was written by Mário Moreira Leite, who used the Opel Olympia Caravan as a base. 1,588 cm engine³ it had 48 hp and a four-speed gearbox, which allowed it to reach a maximum speed of 160 km / h.

Mário Moreira Leite was a mechanic and was inspired by a completely damaged Opel that arrived in his garage. It was in his spare time that he dedicated himself to the creation of Marlei, in 1952.

MG Canelas

O MG Canelas it had a 1,500 cm engine³ and four speeds, which made it spin at a maximum speed of 195 km / h.

It was designed and built by aeronautical engineer José Jorge Canelas, from MG Midget TC, and physically built by António Andrade. It went down in motorsport history as one of the few competitive cars made in Portugal.

OLD

Made in 1954, the OLD it had an Italian four-cylinder engine, with 80 hp, 1,493 cm³ and a four-speed gearbox.

For Oliveira de Águeda, the car became a national reference for cars dedicated exclusively to competition.

In the hands of Joaquim Correia de Oliveira, the driver and mechanic of the car, and Ângelo Costa, responsible for preparing the engine, this car won the attention of those who watched the national speed championship among the epics from 1954 to 1956.

PORTARO

A PORTARO was a brand of all-terrain vehicles manufactured in Portugal between 1975 and 1995. It was based on an earlier model version of the ARO 240 4X4, an old Romanian jeep manufactured at the SEMAL company’s facilities in Setúbal.

The PORTARO brand was the result of an industrial partnership between the Romanian State, which owned the ARO brand, and the Portuguese Government.

In 1990, after selling almost 7,000 cars in Portugal, the company went bankrupt and closed its doors.

still

O still The 550 was a small car designed and manufactured serially in Portugal, produced between 1978 and 1985. It had a high national popularity, but a relative success in sales, not producing more than 300 units.

With four speeds, the Sado had a two-cylinder engine with 547 cm3, producing only 28 hp. The maximum speed was 110 km / h.

UMM

Metal-Mechanical Union (UNM) is a Portuguese metallurgical and automotive company. It was founded in 1977, with the purpose of supplying and manufacturing 4×4 vehicles for agriculture, industry and services.

The company was very successful, and was able to launch an original range of all-terrain vehicles in various versions in Portugal and 45 countries. Between 1979 and 1989, 12,166 jeeps were sold, of which 7,778 were for the national market. In 2006, the company withdrew from the market.