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European cars in Argentina during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s

January 18, 2013

Ford was one of the first car industries to settle down in Argentina during the 1920s. We can say that during the first half of the 20th century, the market was primarily dominated by american car companies.

During the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s european car companies became a serious competitor for the americans in Argentina. By the 80’s, european had a much wither and modern offer than Ford, still building arely the same Ford Falcon as in the 60’s. Even Ford introduced many european models like the Ford Taunus, Ford Granda and Ford Escort among others.

I must admit, I was never a big fan of european cars but there are a few cars that gained my respect because of their acceptance in Argentina, many of them getting a cult status along the decades, like the Fiat 600 and the Ford Taunus.

Here you have a few european models that shaped Argentina’s streetscape during the ’60s, 70’s and ’80s.

Among the European models, the Peugeot 504 was the most sucessful, becoming very soon a competitor of the Ford Falcon and sharing the same path of design and production, in the sense of the compines using the same bodies and engines with minor technical and optical improvements for decades. The peugeot 504, like the Falcon, was very popular among the taxi drivers, but the great advantage of the 504 was its very economic and robust diesel engine. The 504 was produced in Argentina from 1969 until 1999. 550.000 units were made. Another very sucessful peugeot in Argentina was the peugeot 505, for the better paying sector of the market.

Also Volkswagen was -an still is- very sucessful. The world famous VW T2 van (transporter) was produced in Brazil for decades and sold in Argentina. And the VW beetle, although there are many in Argentina, it was not a hit like in Brazil and Mexico.

If I ever liked an european car back in the day, I can say they were the Ford Taunus and Ford Granda MKI and MKII. During a few years, my father used to have a 1980 Ford Taunus MKII V6 in red, and my mother a 1977 Ford Taunus MKI in white. I loved both cars.
Enjoy the pics!

 

1958 Opel Rekord

 

1961 Citroen 4L

 

1962 Fiat 600

 

1964 Peugeot 404

 

1968 Fiat 125

 

1969 Peugeot 504

 

1970’s Citroen 2CV

 

1974 Citroen Ami 8

 

1974 Fiat 125 Sport Coupe

 

1974 Ford Taunus MKI

 

1975 Fiat Multicarga

 

1963 Renault Gordini

1975 Ford Taunus MKI

 

1980 Ford Granada MKII

claudio m January 22, 2013 at 9:50 pm

Nice years ,
I remember those cars you could repair the home,
many European models had a caracteristic sound ,
with my brother we played guess the brand by sound
its engine ,
regars
claudio m

Nicolas March 1, 2014 at 8:34 pm

the car that you say be an 125 fiat. is not a fiat 125. its a fiat 1600. i have one.

Seb March 7, 2014 at 3:48 pm

Hi Nicolas, thanks for the info!
I’m not a Fiat expert, sorry for teh mistake! 😉

Nicolas March 10, 2014 at 8:50 pm

hi! now you are one!! whatever you need to know from argentina just ask me. im from there

Ashlee April 5, 2014 at 6:47 pm

Got one of those peugeot 404s except mine one is the pick up one 1968
Currently under restoration
Nice to see some in the same condition :)

Seb Perez April 7, 2014 at 7:52 am

The 404s look great! Lucky you to won one!

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