Portaro

History

The Portaro was a cross-country 4X4 vehicle manufactured from imported parts in Portugal starting in 1975 by the entrepreneur and industrialist man Hipólito Pires with help from business partner José Megre. The Portaro was a modern version derived from the original ARO 240 4WD Series a from the 1970s.

The PORTARO 4X4 first appeared in 1975 and came in two main versions: The PORTARO Jipe 4X4, an offroad utility jeep, and later in 1977 the PORTARO Campina 4X4 a pick up truck version.

In the early 1980s three modified PORTARO models even won the Paris-Dakar Offroad Pharaoh Rallye driven by French and Portuguese teams, all with Volvo petrol engines, plus two Diesel units: A Campina 320 and a Campina Super 350 for the behind-the-scenes crew. The standard output PORTARO model production was an estimated average of 2000 units made a year.

Beginning and Development

PORTARO started in the 1970s when Hipólito Pires with José Megre got together as industrial partners, and was developed under the name "Projecto Portaro" that received large Portuguese State funds to help this new joint-venture automobile project. Once the cashflow was granted and delivered so did the PORTARO plan. It started and a few prototypes were made soon in early 1975.

The PORTARO vehicles were all built in a motorvehicle assembly plant that was owned by a company called Sociedade Electro-Mecanica de Automoveis Limitada or SEMAL for short, which was based at Parede, near Oeiras.

There was also a large SEMAL stockparts warehouse at Terrugem near Sintra where GV-SEMAL stocked large amounts of original ARO parts for them to use as resource. Another small assembly shop owned by SEMAL was open at Trajouce, where the larger TAGUS utility offroad model range was going to be assembled and built.

Meanwhile, Pires organized an agreement with Daihatsu Motor Co of Japan so that the Japanese would supply them with original Daihatsu running gear for the first generation of PORTARO vehicles and for a SEMAL new model called the GV TAGUS 4X4 Diesel.

Even before PORTARO production started, Pires and Megre signed a contract with the Romanian Government and with the ARO car company. The Romanian firm agreed to supply all the necessary parts, while GV (Garagem Vitoria) a Portuguese vehicle export firm, would supervise the arrival in Lisbon for model production at the SEMAL factory.

Meanwhile, in 1982, GV (who owned the PORTARO trademarque and its assets) firm bought the Parede SEMAL factory and this whole operation, was soon renamed under GV-SEMAL becoming a very successful manufacturer of every PORTARO model, which allowed Portaro to expand their model line-up.

After reaching excellent vehicle sales, the recently renamed company GV-SEMAL was able to reorganize and updated all its PORTARO 4X4 models for 1985. 17 different PORTARO 4X4 models were available at the time. Before this took place, GV-SEMAL went to Switzerland for the 1978 Geneva International Motor Show with the brand new PORTARO 240 4X4 jeep, which was a hardtop model with Daihatsu 2500 TurboDiesel engine, and a second unit was a soft-top canvas-roofed model PORTARO 4X4 with Volvo 2200 petrol engine fitted.

This was the first time that a Portuguese automobile manufacturer had its own display-showstand internationally, plus it was the first ever Portuguese car brand or marque to be present at the Geneva Motor Show, and was also the very first Portuguese car with TD engine.

By the early 1980s PORTARO vehicles were also exported to the UK already with factory-fitted RHD as well as being exported to other European countries often under the name PORTARO Pampas', and HISPARO 244D and HISPARO 242D in Spain. Once in Spain the large ENASA firm handled their distribution and sales of these new vehicles, all of them were assembled under the HISPARO brandname.

In the 1980s GV-SEMAL production was extended to several more other models all available with 4X4. The firm soon redeveloped and re-engineered all its PORTARO range and with that this it announced the arrival of the new Portaro CELTA models and the new Portaro CAMPINA pickup trucks both of them were relaunched in early 1982 and revealed for the first time at the FIL Motor Show in May that year.

These two new models had been rebuilt with a choice of modern new DAIHATSU Diesel or the new VOLVO petrol engines with 5 speed manual transmissions. The last batch of the GV TAGUS DIESEL 4X4 models were made until around 1986 but soon removed from the GV-SEMAL catalogue due to their low sales. This truck became another big champion seller too and there were some other different Campina 4WD models to choose from, with restyled cabines, with short & long chassis versions, very unusual 3 seats inside, and most of these were powered by the Daihatsu Diesel DG 2800 running gear, taken straight from the popular 1980s DAIHATSU Rocky, Taft and Wildcat 4WD offroad model ranges of the same decade, all of these were very popular in the UK.

The new PORTARO CELTA 4X4 itself was a big further development of the earlier 1970s JIPE 240 model which formed its basis, though the CELTA was very much changed from the ground up, with several modern parts and featured fresh interiors and included some luxury items inside and outside, and it could be turned into a convertible offroad jeep. The model was completely revamped with numerous new components fitted underneath as well, mostly shared with new CAMPINA Pickup truck.

The new CELTA 4WD was a genuine offroad jeep model and a typical 1980s model using a modern and new DAIHATSU DG80 2800 DIESEL engine or else DG60 2500 TurboDiesel engine fitted. These Daihatsu engines though they sounded noisy were reliable and had good torque too, but customers could choose a thirsty but more powerful VOLVO PETROL 2100 Supercharged and 2300 Turbocharged forms, all four options with 5 speed manual gearboxes plus a new HIGH-LOW dual-range offroad transferbox was adopted with a total of 9 speeds. These mechanicals became standard fitted to all the PORTARO 4WD models, though the petrol versions never sold well with less than 1000 units sold before 1990. Most buyers got their new PORTARO models with diesel engines for fuel economy. Due to the major technical upgrades made and a brandnew generation of PORTARO offroad vehicles they were again suitable for endless potential buyers/customers from farmland owners to the Army, Police Forces and other Public Services.

Around 1990, PORTARO CAMPINA and PORTARO CELTA model production was transferred to a bigger FMAT factory at Tramagal. Today the same FMAT factory assembles current ISUZU and MITSUBISHI medium to large sized lorries and vans, all intended for export to France, Spain, and North Africa automobile markets. FMAT company are one of the few large vehicle manufacturers left in Portugal.

FMAT then bought the production plans & the manufacturing rights from GV-SEMAL, soon producing another new generation of PORTARO offroad vehicles for the 1990s. These last new PORTARO vehicles used cheaper, plentiful and updated 1990s FORD TRANSIT running gear and stronger chassis, with new current 1990s ARO 4WD axles with new restyling design done, four round headlights, inside there was leather seats for 2-9 passengers, carried more extras and equipment fitted with wide opening larger roofhatch, besides several other items the customer could order for his new 1990s PORTARO 250FMAT 4WD model, but sadly at one stage FMAT encountered some unexpected manufacturing problems and production halted.

The PORTARO 4X4 production suddenly ended in 1995 when the RPTC (Romanian-Portuguese Technical Contract) deal expired and within a couple of weeks that year, and no more ARO genuine parts arrived to the Lisbon docks. The FMAT factory owners claimed that Portuguese State funds were no longer supporting them, with severe issues about failures to renegotiate again with the Romanians of ARO, that were complaining about the Portuguese who had deserted them and never paid ARO for their ordered CKD components, resulting in an apparent corruption in the whole process.

All of these problems forced FMAT to slow down vehicle production gradually and the last 1000 PORTARO vehicles manufactured were actually built with all the leftover stockparts with other spares that FMAT had acquired before in 1990, that were still kept unused by the original PORTARO previous owner & importer GV-SEMAL based in Lisbon. Sadly, the once very successful RPTC deal was soon declared void and little or nothing was done, so that causing the end of the road for the PORTARO offroader, and slowly the brand disappeared from the Portuguese automobile market during the Summer of 1995.

PORTARO marque was made in Portugal since 1975 and was joined two years later by another Portuguese manufacturer, UMM, another motor company, who also adopted an original 4WD vehicle made in France, under a franchised manufacturing project.

Model Range

This is a complete list of all the original GV-SEMAL brand, makers of the TAGUS and the PORTARO Model Range of 4X4 vehicles manufactured 1975-1995 also made by the FMAT agriculture company.

GV SEMAL Tagus Range

(Made 1976 to about 1986)

GV SEMAL PORTARO Range

(From 1975 to 1995)

HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4 or the Spanish ARO, another relative

Besides the PORTARO 4X4 utility model range assembled and made in Portugal from Romanian, Japanese and Swedish parts, ARO of Romania also started another derivative based on its own offroad designs although this one appeared much later, this time in Spain. This new model was powered again with foreign mechanicals as this was the easiest method ARO could find to start their new model project another modern offroad vehicle called the HISPARO Todo Terreno 4X4, this new model lasted from the early 1980s to around 1991 the last for the HISPARO offroad production and it was assembled by the ENASA factory at Sagrera in Barcelona where most Pegaso light models were manufactured. These new HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4 models had a strong styling resemblance to the Japanese classic 1981-1983 Datsun Safari Estate 4X4 / Nissan Patrol Long 4WD both names were used for the same offroad utility vehicle.

HISPARO 4X4 Development and Start

Before the new HISPARO 4X4 even existed, Aro of Romania believed it could also produce its own models in Spain, in a similar way the earlier PORTARO model was, so ARO contacted the largest Spanish motor vehicle manufacturer ENASA company based in Barcelona, Madrid and Valladolid to help ARO launch and produce an offroad utility vehicle designed in Romania but made in Spain, under the chosen brandname of HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4 built with modern current EBRO, PEGASO and VIASA running gear and numerous imported Romanian parts in CKD form.

HISPARO 4X4 Launched and Production

ENASA of Barajas near Madrid agreed to produce the new HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4 as long as they carried most ARO components and main parts, but the Spanish had to find another source for its mechanicals somewhere else and then launch their new HISPARO 4X4 jeeps & pick up models to the Spanish automobile market during the mid-1980s. So ENASA contacted the local VIASA company based in Zaragoza the most experienced Spanish offroad vehicle manufacturer and placed an order for a prototype go-anywhere vehicle complete with running gear fitted and two new different offroad vehicles were delivered to the ENASA factory for a complete evaluation. These were called the ENASA-VIASA EV1 4X4 and the EV2 4X4. Standard HISPARO vehicle production was given the go-ahead.

One of the prototype models was powered by a Perkins Diesel 2700cc 4 cylinder engine and was a 6-seater jeep and the other one had an EBRO-Nissan Diesel 2800c 4 cylinder engine and was a 3-seater pickup truck, both vehicles had 4WD axles, with its own 5 speed manual gearbox and VIASA-JEEP dualrange transfer gearbox for offroad driving and the cars were made in 1984, one of the few road vehicles that VIASA-JEEP made for other firms, after a week evaluation these prototypes became the basis for the then new original HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4. Current HISPARO Todoterreno production models were powered by standard PEGASO TD and PERKINS Diesel 4 cylinder engines, but very soon customers had also the choice of optional EBRO-NISSAN TD or ISUZU TDI modern running gear.

Because ENASA produced mainly heavy-duty vehicles, so it was never designed for light and small vehicles, it was decided to transfer HISPARO 4X4 production to their other smaller ENASA factory at Sagrera in Barcelona where PEGASO light delivery model range were made since 1960, these were mainly pickup trucks, combivans and vans plus the new HISPARO 4X4 model range starting in early 1984. Near them in the same industrial estate, there is also the EBRO MOTOR IBERICA another motorvehicle factory, that makes similar vehicles and it is also a large company, now owned and run by the NISSAN MOTOR CO of Japan.

After the new HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4 models entered the Spanish automobile market of the 1980s, there were already many other makes & models, and most carried the words " Fabricado En Espana" with a wide choice of many other 4WD vehicles available made under these names: AVIA, BARREIROS, EBRO, IASA, IBESA, IPV, LUNA, NAZAR, PEGASO, SANTANA, SAVA, UROVESA and VIASA besides the well known SEAT car company. At the beginning HISPARO sales were reasonably good during the mid-1980s to early 1990 with many of them being acquired and were going to the local Fire Departments, Emergency Services, Police Forces and the Spanish Army to join the other locally made vehicles mostly Pegaso and Santana along with other offroad vehicles but a decent large number of them ended or bought by civilian buyers too as the needed spareparts and engine components all were plentiful.

Unfortunately by 1990 sales were becoming slow because some customers were more interested in longer established offroad makers like EBRO-NISSAN, SANTANA-LANDROVER and VIASA-JEEP that were better known and more popular than other 4WD models, so this soon overtook the HISPARO Todoterreno 4X4 in sales and it was decided that ENASA would cease their production in the early 1990s and ARO soon realized they had to quit exporting components and parts for Spain to keep HISPARO vehicles under production without demand. By the early 1990s the original HISPARO 4X4 lifespan was also short-lived too as the large Italian IVECO Group bought the Spanish ENASA-PEGASO truck business in September 1990 and ENASA was no longer interested in the HISPARO automobile project but assembled around 1800 HISPARO models before this brandname vanished and ENASA itself later merged into IVECO.

HISPARO TODOTERRENO The original Model Range

HISPARO 241D 4X4 A Perkins Diesel 2600cc engined 3 seater van model with modified ARO bodyshell.

HISPARO 242D 4X4 A Perkins Diesel 3000cc engined 3 seater van with 3 doors built on a new Pegaso chassis.

HISPARO 243D 4X4 A new Pegaso Diesel 2700cc engined jeep with 6 seats and new interior built with many ARO parts.

HISPARO 244D 4X4 A new Ebro 2800cc TD engined jeep with 9 seats fitted with new suspension and restyled interior.

HISPARO 245D 4X4 A luxury jeep with 9 seats, new interiors on an extended chassis with a Pegaso 2700cc Turbodiesel engine.

HISPARO 241DP 4X4 A new Perkins Diesel 2600cc engined 3 seater 2 door pick up with a standard ARO chassis.

HISPARO 242DP 4X4 A new Isuzu TDI 2800cc engined closed 3 door pick up truck with new longer ARO chassis.

HISPARO 243DP 4X4 A new Ebro Patrol 3000cc Diesel pickup truck with new interiors, allround suspension and 3 seats.

HISPARO 244DP 4X4 A new Ebro 2800cc Turbodiesel crew cab pickup truck model with 4 doors and seats for 6 people.

HISPARO 245DP 4X4 A new Pegaso 3000cc Diesel powered restyled sports/leisure pickup truck 5 door model with 6 seats.