Santana engine

Santana Motor SA was an off-road vehicle manufacturer in Linares , Jaén province in Spain .

Santana logo on an 88 ″

Suzuki SJ 413 front

history

Founded in 1955 under the name Metalúrgica de Santa Ana for the construction of agricultural machinery, the factory became a licensed manufacturer of the second Land Rover series in 1956 . The Santana was a license build of the Land Rover , which was largely manufactured without the supply of parts from the main plant. Santana produced various models and was extremely popular among farmers and ranchers outside of Spain.

There were hardly any competitors on the domestic market at the time, as Santana was the only off-road vehicle manufacturer in Spain . Competitors for the passenger car sector were all licensees or joint ventures of foreign companies. a. from Renault (in Spain FASA ), Citroën , Fiat (in Spain Seat ). The reason for this was that during the Franco era, high tariffs and import quotas made it almost impossible to import new foreign vehicles and the Spanish market for independently developed product lines would have been very small.

In 1958, parallel to the model change at Land Rover, the first Series II models rolled out of the factory in Linares : 88 ″ and 109 ″ hardtops with 2-liter gasoline and diesel engines. Export began in 1962. The focus was on North African and Latin American countries. The introduction of the 2.25 liter diesel engine was the last direct transfer of development from England to Spain . This became visible in 1968/69: The 88 ″ Lightweight and 109 ″ One-ton came onto the market at the same time as the British models - but the differences were visible: the Land Rover 1300 was a Forward Control with different body parts.

In 1972, due to changes in legislation, the headlights moved to the outside in the front fenders. In 1976 the 3.5 liter 6 cylinder engine was presented. The petrol engine was first used in the only civil version of the 101 ″ Forward Control. The following year the standard models with gasoline and diesel versions followed, the performance data for the mid-1970s were impressive: 104 hp / 245 Nm for the gasoline engine and 95 hp / 211 Nm for the diesel. In addition, there was an innovation that was only introduced at Land Rover years later: the radiator grille moved forward because of the 6-cylinder engines and the one-piece windshield was introduced.

In 1981 the Santana 2000 was presented as a massively redesigned 101 ″ Forward Control, which had a payload of 2 tons. In 1982 the “Cazorla” followed - optically almost a Defender , with a 6-cylinder engine, overdrive transmission, power steering and three windshield wipers on the enlarged one-piece windshield. By eliminating the ventilation flaps under the windscreen, the dashboard could be completely redesigned.

In 1983 the collaboration with Land Rover was ended and major changes were made to the existing models with the 2500 series. With the “Super T”, among other things, the first turbo-charged variant of the 2.25-liter diesel engine, with an output of 75 hp and a torque of 180 Nm, was introduced - three years before the British turbo-diesel. The change to the much softer, more appealing parabolic springs laid the basis for a contemporary further development of the robust leaf spring chassis.

In 1986 the production of the Suzuki models Jimny and Samurai began , as other manufacturers of off-road vehicles also positioned themselves in Spain. The elimination or lowering of the Spanish import duties also made this easier for Mitsubishi and Toyota . In 1991, Suzuki joined Santana as majority shareholder, and the company has been called Santana Motors since then . Production of the Santana 2500 ended in 1994 .

In 1995 the majority of the shares went back to Spain. The regional government of Andalusia enabled the company to exist beyond the "extended workbench". In 1998 the board gave the “green light” for a successor to the Santana 2500 . This was preceded by repeated inquiries from the military and major customers asking for the production of the 2500 to continue. The requirements were to develop an economical multi-purpose vehicle that was based on the tried and tested components of the past, but was adapted to current customer requirements.

In 1999, the concept of the PS-10 with a 2,800 cm³ engine from Iveco and significant changes to the mechanics and body was presented. In 2002, production of the PS-10 began. A pick-up version with a long wheelbase has also been available since October 2004. At the end of 2008, production of the Iveco Massif off-roader based on the Santana PS-10 with the 176 PS diesel engine from the Iveco Daily began .

End of Santana

With the end of the cooperation with Suzuki and the new cooperation with Iveco, the license production and marketing of Suzuki vehicles was also ended. As a consequence of the termination of the business relationship between Suzuki and Santana, Suzuki stated that the license production was not Suzuki, but Santana, for which Suzuki does not offer any support. This decision turns out to be particularly serious for the owners of vehicles that were exclusively manufactured by Santana, as it does not guarantee the supply of spare parts. The convertible versions of the Suzuki Jimny are particularly affected by this. This is particularly annoying, as the Jimnys manufactured by Santana suffer from greatly fluctuating processing quality and severe corrosion. The vehicles manufactured by Santana have a chassis number that begins with "VSE ...".

In addition, Suzuki kept the distribution network. For Santana, this meant that the vehicles produced could no longer be sold as before. Since the sales of the Iveco Massif did not meet expectations, Iveco ended the cooperation in 2010.

In 2011 the owner of the company, the government of Andalusia, decided to end Santana Motors, ended the company's activities and closed the automobile plant.

Former product range

Santana Anibal / Santana PS-10

Santana PS10 front view

Santana PS10 rear view

From 2002 Santana produced the Santana Anibal , also known as the Santana PS-10 in other markets . This model was a further development of the Santana 2500 and was also ordered in large numbers by the Spanish Army . In 2008 production was discontinued in favor of the Iveco Massif, which in turn represents a visual and technical revision of the Anibal.

The Anibal / PS-10 Euro II is powered by a diesel engine with turbo intercooler from Iveco ( 8140.43P ) with mechanical injection, 2,800 cm³ on 4 cylinders, 78 KW / 106 PS at 3,600 / min, 180 Nm at 1,800 / min.

The Anibal / PS-10 Euro III / Militar is also of a diesel engine with a turbo intercooler Iveco ( 8140.43P ) having a common-rail injection proper, 2800 cc 4 cylinder, 92 kW / 125 hp at 3300 / min, 275 Nm at 1,800 rpm driven

Santana 300/350

Santana 350 front view

Santana 350 rear view

The 300 is a 2-door four-seater, the 350 is a 4-door with 5 seats. Both are license productions based on the Suzuki Vitara .

The Santana 300/350 is powered by a common rail diesel engine of the type DW10TD with 1.997 cm³ (4 cylinders). The output is 64 kW at 4000 min ⁻¹ , 160 Nm at 1700 min ⁻¹

As equipment variants there are Lujo and Superlujo . These have the following characteristics:

Lujo : halogen headlights , power steering , electric windows, air conditioning , driver and front passenger airbags, stone protection for headlights, rear and all-wheel drive, vinyl- covered doors, aluminum rims (available at Lujo for a surcharge).

In addition to the above-mentioned equipment extras, Superlujo has electronic air conditioning controls in series, molded doors covered with vinyl fabric, flared fenders and sills in body color, leather-covered steering wheel and aluminum rims.

Santana manufactured the Massif for Iveco until 2010, but it was only sold through the Iveco dealer network.

Web links

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

Official website that opens several documents related to the liquidation (PDF)
More stories about the Santana plant (Spanish)