Biscúter

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Biscúter 100

Biscúter was a Spanish car brand. The mini cars were built between 1953 and 1960 in Sant Adrià de Besòs near Barcelona .

Motorization in Spain in the fifties

In contrast to the more industrialized countries of Europe such as England , France and Germany , in Spain in the 1950s the automobile was still a relatively rare phenomenon outside of the big cities.

A substantial part of Spanish industry has always been concentrated in Catalonia . The internationally renowned Hispano-Suiza vehicles were produced in Sant Andreu de Palomar before the plant was renamed Pegaso in 1945 and only produced trucks .

The lack of raw materials and the economic situation after the Second World War created an increased demand for small cars in many European countries. In Spain, however, the situation was more difficult. Together with Portugal , Spain was seen as a relic of fascism in Europe and was isolated from many countries in the West and the Eastern Bloc at the time and cut off from economic aid. As a war ally of the Axis Powers , Spain was excluded from the support provided by the Marshall Plan . The Francoist regime was therefore forced to develop its own technologies at a lower level with limited resources. A product of these economic constraints, the Biscúter was small, simple, and cheap, even compared to other mini cars.

Origin of the Biscúter

The French designer Gabriel Voisin had already designed a small two-seater in the 1920s, which was powered by two motors from the “Scooter” motor scooter . However, this “sulky” design did not go into production. After the war, Voisin took up the idea again and presented a model at the Gnôme et Rhône stand at the 1949 Paris Motor Show . He called it "biscooter" based on the two 60 cm³ scooter drive motors. Although 1500 orders were received for the experimental vehicle , Gnôme et Rhône withdrew the vehicle model. In the meantime the triumphant advance of the Citroën 2CV and the Renault 4CV had begun in France .

After the business separation from Gnôme et Rhône , Gabriel Voisin sold his rights to a group of Catalan industrialists. They were convinced that the “Biscooter” was the ideal vehicle to motorize Spain. In 1953, Auto Nacional SA was founded in Sant Adrià de Besòs for this purpose . In the same year the small car was presented at the trade fair in Barcelona under the Hispanic name "Biscúter" and with the new Hispano Villiers engine with a displacement of 197 cc. The following year production began under the official name of Biscúter Autonacional Voisin . The vehicle was soon nicknamed " Slipper " ("Zapatilla") because of its shape , and the expression "ugly as a biscúter" became a popular word.

Biscúter Comercial 200 C.

Characteristics of the biscúter

The Biscúter was originally a really reduced vehicle with no doors, windows and no reverse gear . The two-stroke engine developed 7 kW with one cylinder and 197 cm³ displacement  . The engine was started with a manual pull starter and the drive was only via the right front wheel. The only progressive feature was the completely of aluminum manufactured body . Sheet steel was later used.

The popular Biscúter 100 was a small two-seater with a fabric top. It was 2.56  m long and 1.14 m wide. As it weighed only 200  kg , it could be parked easily by lifting it up. The Biscúter only got a reverse gear in 1955. It reached a top speed of 75  km / h .

In the following ten years the biscúter was seen more and more often on Spanish streets. Little by little, doors and windows were added and various models were created, such as the four-seater Biscúter Comercial 200 C panel van with a wooden body or the last model presented in 1957, the Coupé 200 F with a plastic body.

End of the biscúter

In 1950 the Spanish government approved the Italian car manufacturer Fiat to open a branch in Spain called SEAT . At first, even the cheapest Italian replicas made there were still considered unaffordable luxury. With growing prosperity, however, the production figures slowly increased. With the market entry of the Seat 600 in 1957 and the Citroën 2CV box car in 1958, the demand for the Biscúter gradually collapsed. Sales and production ended in the early 1960s. Between 1953 and 1960 a total of around 12,000 biscuits were made. Almost all of the biscúter were eventually scrapped.

The biscúter today

Today there are an estimated 250 biscúter left. The vehicle is little known among collectors outside Spain, although it is also represented in some museums abroad.

literature

Web links

Commons : Biscúter  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "La Web de los Microcoches" (Spanish) and Basler Zeitung online from December 20, 2012.