When I saw this beautiful Ebro lorry yesterday in Manacor, I could not resist taking a photograph and researching a bit about it on the Internet.

There seems to be quite a number of Classic Lorry collectors out there, specializing in the loving restoration of old lorries, busses, coaches and trolleys. Good for them.

The following is mainly quoted from Wikipedia:

Ebro was a Spanish brand of light and medium lorries and buses, as well as agricultural tractors, based mainly in Barcelona, Madrid, and Ávila. The Ebro parent company, Motor Ibérica, was set up in 1954 to build British-designed Ford trucks under license, Ebro range being based on Ford’s Thames Trader. During the late 1960s and early 1970s the company took over four Spanish light vehicle makers: Fadisa, (Alfa Romeo vans), Aisa (Avia lorries), Siata (Seat car derived minivans), and Viasa (Jeep 4×4 and other utility vehicles), in addition to the Spanish branch of Perkins engines.

This resulted in a real frenzy of badge engineering, as one could see Avia-badged Jeeps, Ebro-badged Alfa-Romeos, and so on. Meanwhile, Ebro introduced tilt-cab Ford ‘D’-Series derived models for loads of between 1½ and 7 tons and gradually added new models until the range covered 2- and 3-axle rigids and articulated types from 3 to 27 tons capacity.

Ebro also entered the agricultural tractor market through a license agreement with Massey-Ferguson, which eventually led to the later becoming Motor Ibérica controlling shareholder.

In the 1980, Ebro launched the ‘E’-Series trucks range, comprising some six models from 3,500 to 11,200 kg gross, and the ‘P’-Series for gross weights of 13,000 to 27,000 kg.

In 1979 Nissan Motors (not Nissan Diesel, the truck arm) had taken a stake in Motor Ibérica, and took complete control in 1987. From then on the company was named Nissan Motor Ibérica. During a short period, Japanese Kubota tractors were assembled and marketed in Spain as Ebro-Kubota.

Following the Nissan takeover, a badge slide from Ebro to Nissan took place. This was not without surprising occurrences, such as Ebro-badged Nissan Patrols that were sold in some European countries.

Currently, Spanish Nissan trucks are produced in the Ávila plant.

The Ebro B-35 Diesel lorry (photo top) is owned by Vins Ripoll, a small wine maker from Inca. Their white wine is drinkable; I cannot really recommend their Tinto. The photo (bottom) was taken in Málaga, circa 1960.

The photo (top) was taken at the Fira de Setembre in Manacor. The market comes under a Mediaeval theme, but, again, I cannot recommend a visit there. The Fira will continue today and tomorrow, Monday, but I think you would be better off at the beach, weather permitting. Or else, you could go to Binissalem and watch the Concurs de Trepitjar Raïm (Grape Treading Competition), at 17h30. Regarding the weather, there is a Yellow Alert for today, with a forecast of heavy and torrential rain. The Gota Fría, perhaps?

The photo (top) was taken in Manacor, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 17th, 2011. The time was 18:37:50. The photo (bottom) was taken from the Internet, courtesy of historiadelautomovilenmalaga.blogspot.com.

Muchas gracias.