Post Franco car/truck park
Javier, maybe you can enlighten us on what happened after the death of General Franco in 1975 as it relates to the vehicle park in Spain.
The reason I ask the question is that due to employment with AB Volvo from 1967-1979, I had the opportunity to travel to Spain rather extensively, especially in 1974-1975 when I was based in Sweden and doing a lot of truck spare parts business there.
I was absolutely fascinated by the vehicles on the road at that time, it was like going back into the past in some sort of time machine. Vehicles from the 40's and 50's were predominant of course, but vehicles from the 20's and 30's were to be found on every road and every city in abundance. After that tour, I was sent to Peru for two years and saw a similar situation although most vehicles by far were from the 40's and 50's, some from the 30's and none I saw from the 20's.
After I left Volvo, I joined Saab/Scania and I was not able to visit your country again until the mid 1980's, a gap of some 10 years.
I had promised my American travelling companions a trip down memory lane and they as well as I were looking forward to the same. Much to my surprise, virtually all of those cars and trucks were no longer to be seen anywhere. All modern small cars and trucks, virtually all of them European as opposed to the predominantly American composition of the vehicle park in the 1970's. And.... those cars and trucks were not even to be found in the scrap yards we visited, they completely disappeared.
Perhaps you can enlighten us on what happened and I am sure David would like to know as well.
My only thought is that Spain turned it's back on the past and decided to become "Europeanized/Modernized" as fast as ever possible. I am aware that Spain was rather politically isolated during the Franco regime and assume that was one of many reasons why time more or less stood still for rather a long time.
Sort of like Cuba today, I guess, as I know their vehicle park more or less stalled out in 1959 except for some Russian imports.
Would like to get your input on this.
Bill
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