Spanish trucks: Ebro C-350: red copy from 1965

The Spanish Ebro C-350 truck: red copy from 1965

Ebro trucks was a Spanish brand of light and medium trucks and buses, as well as all-wheel-drive utility vehicles with plants located in BarcelonaMadridÁvila, and Cordoba.

Ebro trucks’s parent company, Motor Ibérica, was set up in 1954 to build original British-designed Ford trucks based on Ford’s Thames Trader ET4 4X2 and ET6 6X4 models under license using the name EBRO during the 1950s and 1960s.

During the late-1960s and early-1970s, the company took over four Spanish light vehicle makers: Fadisa, (Alfa Romeo Romeo vans), Aisa (Avia trucks), Siata (SEAT car derived minivans), and Viasa (various Jeep 4x4s and Forward Control utility vehicles). It also took over 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 l’/2 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 the controlling shareholder in Motor Ibérica.

Read more: History of trucks with Jim Andrews ...