(Yesterday we shared Part 1 of the curbside finds at Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. We follow today with Part 2)
Text and photos by riveranotario.
Car spotting was even better around the beach. The mosquito situation was way worse though! I took these first images while we escaped towards the city center in search of more repellant, which we had run out of, given our lack of familiarity with how often we needed to use it.
Still, around the beach, plenty of French cars. A Renault 11…
A Peugeot 504 Pickup.
And a Citroën AX.
A Chevrolet Joy, based on an older version of the Chevrolet Onix. GM tends to do that, keeping an old car with a different name as a cheaper alternative. These Joys are made only in Colombia now, but used to be built in Brazil as well.
Staying with cheap Chevys, I love seeing the Chevrolet Celta, a car GM developed from 1990’s Corsa underpinnings. Once again, to keep the old body around as a cheaper alternative to newer generation Corsas.
Then I caught a Prisma, a Chevrolet Onix in notchback style.
And a Chevrolet Agile, built in Argentina making use of –yes– 1990’s Corsa underpinnings.
Two generations of the Chery QQ, the famous Chinese copy of the Daewoo/Chevrolet Matiz. I find it curious these didn’t get a different name, as they did in Chile, where it was sold as the IQ. I always assumed the QQ name sounding like “cuckoo” in Spanish was a little too ridiculous. But I guess Uruguayans (and the Argentines) didn’t care.
Uruguay even saw a local plant assemble Cherys, but it seems they were Tiggo SUVs and not these little QQs.
Another Chinese car was the Foton FTR. One of a myriad copies of old Isuzu pickups built in China, some licensed, some not.
I better enjoyed seeing this pickup truck which, while also Chinese, can also be called Uruguayan. Peugeot developed the Landtrek alongside Changan, who sells their own version as the Hunter. For some markets, Peugeot builds them in Uruguay. In Chile, diesel versions come from Uruguay and the rest from China, if I recall correctly.
I now regret not getting closer to this Fiat 147.
This find did make me super happy! I was confused to see this little truck and wondered if it could be a locally built thing. But no, turns out Nissan built Sunny trucks in Japan until 1994. These came to Uruguay and I had no idea. By the way, this design was built in South Africa until 2008!
Here are some of the vehicles that seem placed as scenery for Instagrammers. Most are beyond rescue, like this Citroën Traction Avant.
However, this 1931 Chevrolet could use some sprucing up.
Right-hand drive! Uruguay switched to left-hand drive in 1945, alongside Argentina. I had no idea!
This touristy Vauxhall at least had a neat interior intervention.
This Toyota Corolla brought to my mind the song “Sitting by the Sea” by the Uruguayan band “Los Iracundos”. However, the view is of the River Plate, not the sea.
Lots of VWs too, of course. It is a huge brand in Brazil, and after all, Uruguay is part of Mercosur; the trade bloc dominated by Brazil and Argentina.
Fiat Idea Adventure. One of the many models Brazilians love to cover in plastic and lift in order to sell as affordable CUVs/SUVs.
A well-preserved Renault Clio.
A couple of Lada Samaras as well.
Some Renault 12s were assembled in Uruguay, but I have no idea if this one was among them. Parts came from Argentina, mostly.
Uruguayan-built Ford Escort. These were built in Montevideo from British-sourced kits between 1977 and 1980.
Against the Escort, Japanese had more modern alternatives: A 1980s Toyota Carina.
This was great to see! A Cadillac-inspired Chinese microvan; a Shanxi Hangtian Victory V1!
I learned that Ford sold the Festiva in Uruguay too, built by Kia in South Korea.
A Brazilian-built Ford F Series in a great color combination.
And for closing, Chinese EVs! This is the BYD Dolphin, a compact EV from the most famous and promising Chinese EV maker. They even began production of the Dolphin in Brazil, using a former Ford plant in Bahía.
Here are cheaper EV alternatives that are even sold on Alibaba. The Jinpeng Amy looks very cute in pink.
And the Today Sunshine.
Thanks for the interesting photos riveranotario. Your knowledge is impressive! I didn’t know cars where/are assembled in Uruguay.
Thanks again for portraying Uruguay’s fleet, Rivera!
A couple of comments.
The Citroen Traction Avant has been sitting on that very same place for decades, it’s a city feature. I think the Ford A also has been there for a long time, but not in the sense of foliage going through it as in the TA.
The Renault 12 you show us was assembled in Uruguay in 1979 or 80, with an 1.4 and 4 speed. Of course, you can change wheels and trim, but there are several items that indicate that.
The Toyota is a Carina, not a Corona. In the local market, it was head and shoulders above the Escort in terms of price and quality (imports at the time, especially Japanese, were of a quality level unattainable here)
The two first French cars you show us, the R11 and the 504, were Argentinian and locally assembled. The Citroen AX was imported, if memory serves well, from Spain.
The red Mark II Escort has interior bars. That’s because the model has been used for many decades as a rally car, because of its power, ease of tuning, and apparently strong mechanicals (not everyone agrees). You can see the car is somewhat lowered. It was incredibly succesful here, both in 2 and 4 door guise, sold from 76 to 81, even when the front drive model was arriving they were still selling stocks from the prior car.
The Ford Model A didn’t have longitudinal leaf springs, but did have the fuel tank in the cowl. The interior shot shows a different instrument panel than an A, yet the exterior of the cab looks like an A, except for the radiator shell. Could this be a local composite??
It’s a 1931 Chevrolet.
Thanks for the correction! I’m clearly terrible at identifying pre-war cars.
Gosh, I should have known that after I shot a similar vintage Chevy a couple of years ago in San Salvador. The post has been updated now.
It’s not easy telling them apart. Cars looked remarkably similar at the time.
More great finds – thanks! I can’t think of much that’s more perplexing than the current range of Chinese vehicles. Actually the Chevy’s global model ranges may come in a close second.
The QQ is definitely an odd name; I doubt it rolls easily off of anyone’s tongue. IQ (or virtually anything else) seems like it would be better. Oddly, QQ is used as a license plate code for US Forces in Germany, which I’ve always thought peculiar, since those letters seem to stand out as being a bit odd.
I like that Renault in the lead pictures.
Lots of fab finds. I still covet a 504 pickup. Love that outdoor carpet in the Vauxhall. Amazing about that Nissan Sunny pickup being built all the way to 2008. Those T1.5 VW buses never fail to mess with me a bit. The old Ford pickup with the “new” grille is terrific.
Thanks for sharing.
What a lot of interesting stuff, yet again. Great post, sir.
I really like the Fiat Idea Adventure – reminds me of my old Renault Scenic.
Arguably the most remarkable is that Lada Samara. We got them here (Australia) for a bit in about the late ’80’s (as I’m pretty sure this one is too), and they were unbelievably dire. The fact that this one lives on means either a very determined owner, or a very, very lucky one!
Lots of interesting cars that we don’t see in North America.
The Lada Samara also made it to Canada in small numbers, but without the success of its Fiat based predecessor. There was one in my town, but I only ever saw it parked at the side of the house, never being driven. It vanished a few years ago.
Beautiful imagery! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for bringing these strange and wonderful machines to our attention. The door handle placement on that Chery Tiggo triggers me, but mostly I was admiring all of the French cars that we never got here. I love the 504 pickup and sad Traction.
The variety of cars that are on offer in places that did not have their own home-grown car industry (to protect?) is simply amazing and a car enthusiast’s delight. Thanks for sharing all of these, with multiples of them being completely unfamiliar and highly interesting. And of course some of the more familiar ones being absolutely unfamiliar as of late in any real sense.
Excellent vignette on a country I may not ever get to visit – but now want to!
Whatever is left of that Traction Avant looks like a postwar 11 Légère, i.e. the smaller (and narrower) model, albeit with what looks like a UK market grille. Weird combo. A couple more shots with a bit more detail might help narrow it down.
The Chery QQ takes me back… Those were abundant in Myanmar when I lived there ten years ago. Just like the mosquitos mentioned in the post. . Love the Vauxhall, the Carina and the R11 (those are rare in France now!), but the best one has to be the 504.
Keep us updated !
Like the “lil, Chevy QQ”!