Wifredo Ricart

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wifredo Pelayo Ricart Medina , also Wilfredo Ricart or in Catalan Vilfred Ricart , (born May 15, 1897 in Barcelona ; † August 19, 1974 ibid.) Was a Spanish automobile and aircraft engineer.

His contributions in the design and development of aircraft engines, automobiles and trucks were of extraordinary importance beyond Spain. His work for the Pegaso Z-102/103 , for Alfa Romeo and ENASA should be highlighted .

Live and act

Wifredo Pelayo Francesc de Borja Ricart i Medina was the son of Josep Ricart Giralt, head of the Naval School, and completed his engineering degree at the age of less than 21.

Automobile manufacturer

After a short stint at Vallet y Fiol , he bought the company together with Francisco Pérez de Olaguer in 1920 after the owner's death and founded Ricart y Pérez. In addition to engines, this company also produced vehicles from 1922 onwards. a. a racing car with a 1.5 liter engine with double overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder.

After his business partner withdrew, Ricart founded SA Motores y Automóviles Ricart in 1926 . At the Salon de Paris in 1927 he presented a six-cylinder car with 1.5 l displacement and a luxury body, for which he received a Mention d'Honneur. Together with Felipe Batlló i Godó , he founded Ricart-España in 1928 . An automobile with six cylinders and a displacement of 2.4 liters was presented under this name. In the Great Depression , this company, which the Autódromo de Sitges-Terramar had acquired, had to be closed again.

From 1929 Ricart worked as an independent designer and consultant. He dealt in particular with diesel engines.

In August 1930, he earned his pilot's license (in an interview in 1972 he said that the aircraft technology was his true passion) and won in 1932 in adverse weather conditions, the "Vuelta Aerea à la Provincia de Barcelona" with his own modified Gipsy Moth - biplane .

Alfa Romeo

Shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War , Ricart joined Alfa Romeo in Milan as an engineer . There he worked on special projects. In 1938 he became head of the development department at Alfa Romeo. In this role he designed various racing and road vehicles, including the Tipo 162 with a 3-liter displacement and the Tipo 316 with a V-16 engine .

In 1939 he developed the Alfa Romeo Tipo 512 , a racing car with a 1.5-liter rear engine and 338 hp, which, however, was never used in racing.

At Alfa Romeo, Ricart also worked with Enzo Ferrari . The conflict between these two men is believed to be the reason for Ferrari's departure from Alfa Romeo.

Ricart began working on the Gazzella model in 1943. This 6C 2000 had an elegant pontoon body with retractable headlights, independent wheel suspension, light alloy six-cylinder with double overhead camshafts and a transaxle gearbox with semi-automatic operation. After the war, however, Alfa Romeo no longer had the means to carry out this project.

Ricart also designed aircraft engines for Alfa Romeo, including a radial engine with 28 cylinders, 50 l displacement and 2300 hp in 1942, although nothing is known about its practical use.

Pegaso and ENASA

Pegaso Z-102 Saoutchik Coupe
Pegaso II truck from 1951

In the spring of 1945 Ricart returned briefly to Spain. He then wanted to travel to the USA because Studebaker had made him an offer . Juan Antonio Suanzes Fernández, head of the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI) founded in 1941, was able to convince him to support the reconstruction of the Spanish automotive industry and to co-found the Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Automoción (CETA) in January 1946 .

The center was based in Madrid, where two dozen engineers from the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo initially worked - recruited by Ricart.

In October 1946, ENASA ( Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones SA ) was founded. Starting in October 1946, she designed and built the Pegaso trucks, which were initially based on Hispano-Suiza models. The ENASA plant in Barajas was built next to the former Hispano-Suiza plant in Barcelona.

In 1951 the Pegaso Z-102 was presented, with which Spain wanted to prove its economic efficiency. In retrospect, however, Ricart stated that these models were primarily used to train his technicians.

Ricart worked at CETA until 1958.

further activities

  • Ricart also took an active part in automobile races himself, for example in 1924 with a Bugatti .
  • In 1948 Ricart co-founded FISITA ( Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Ingénieurs des Techniques de l'Automobile ), of which he was chairman from 1957 to 1959. He also founded the STA association, with which Spain is represented in FISITA.
  • He was the designer of the Rex moped, which was manufactured in Barcelona from 1953 to 1959.
  • In 1959 he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of SA Lockheed de Paris . Under his leadership, a new, fully automated plant was built near Beauvais . In 1961 Lockheed, Bendix, and Ducellier merge to form the DBA.
  • Ricart was a board member and co-founder of SEAT . Some sources cite its connections to Italy as the reason that SEAT initially manufactured FIAT models under license.
  • During the Spanish Civil War in 1937 he transferred, among other things, the three-engine Savoia SM-79 from Italy to Spain and is said to have been under the command of Alfredo Kindelán for a time, without interrupting his work for Alfa Romeo during this time.

Ricart spent his twilight years in Switzerland and Barcelona.

In the novel The Fall of Madrid by Rafael Chirbes , whose story takes place in 1975 shortly before Franco's death, the protagonist is an entrepreneur and bears the name of José Ricart .

Web links

Commons : Wifredo Ricart  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Notation based on Enciclopèdia Catalana: Pegaso
  2. ↑ autopasion18.com: Ricart
  3. ^ "Wifredo Ricart, nuevo piloto aviador", in La Vanguardia Española , August 15, 1930 , sn
  4. ↑ Who dances with Franco ( Memento from September 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ El Motor de Aviación de la A a la Z, Ricardo Miguel Vidal, Pàg 2239 i apèndix 4 pàg 100, l'Aeroteca, Barcelona 2008-9 ISBN 978-84-612-7903-6 or Alfa Romeo Austria: Wilfredo Ricart  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.alfaromeo.at  
  6. ↑ La Vanguardia Española , October 5, 1951 , p. 9 and also Olga Spiegel, “El CCCB recupera los Pegaso deportivos de los 50, rara vanguardia del franquismo”, in: La Vanguardia Española , March 18, 2001 , p. 59 .
  7. ↑ See on this "Las aportaciones de España a la industria de la automoción", in: La Vanguardia Española , May 21, 1968 , p. 47, and Entrevista a Wifredo Ricart (1972)
  8. ↑ La Vanguardia Española , December 28, 1924 , p. 12.
  9. ↑ Past FISITA Presidents ( Memento from January 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Ricart, Wifredo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ricart Medina, Wilfredo Pelayo; Ricart Medina, Vilfred Pelayo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish engineer
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH 19th August 1974
Place of death Barcelona