31 Aug Restoration of vehicles listed as “historic heritage”
Restoration of vehicles listed as “historic heritage”
Urban mobility is closely linked to the history of cities. Urban vehicles are part of the historical and cultural heritage and of the collective imagination. Buses, trams, trolleybuses… they are not just transport vehicles, they also explain what cities and their society are like. For this reason, preserving them allows us to get to know a part of the past that helps us to understand the present.
Recovering a historic vehicle is a very delicate task because it must also be rigorous because it will have an informative function. For this reason, it must always be done with a team of historians so that the final vehicle is faithful to the original. However, it will never be exactly the same because priority is given to safety and environmental impact according to current parameters and its subsequent useful life so that it can be easily preserved.
Restoration of historic vehicles is a challenge
Restorations are a challenge because often there is no manual with the procedure to follow or there are no spare parts for the original parts. Therefore, the most important thing is to have an experienced, cohesive and passionate team that is able to find creative solutions when there is a problem.
At Consman we have been lucky enough to be involved in the restoration of several iconic Barcelona vehicles. We are an industrial vehicle workshop and we have the facilities to be able to carry them out, but above all we have an experienced and involved team. The projects in which we have participated have been related to urban mobility in Barcelona:
Chausson Urbas
Our first restoration was a Chausson Urbas, number 59, and the only one preserved in Barcelona. It was in very poor condition, but they were very popular in France and parts can still be found there. This allowed us to recover iconic parts such as the front windows or an engine so that it could be driven again on special occasions.
Its appearance was a characteristic dark green on the lower part and cream on the upper part and it circulated around Barcelona between 1955 and 1976.
Aclo 410
In 2010 we were asked to restore Aclo 410, an English double-decker bus in a striking red reminiscent of London’s iconic Routemasters. It was in poor condition, but we were fortunate that it was in one piece, as they had already tried to restore it in 1978. At that time it was decided to make a steel body as the original one was made of wood and was in very bad condition.
This bus circulated in Barcelona for approximately two decades, between 1949 and 1965. At first it retained its red colour, but in the 1960s it was painted blue.
PCC Washington 1931 Tramway
Almost at the same time that we finished restoring the Aclo, it was the turn of the PCC Washington 1631 Tramway model. On this occasion we only had to restore its appearance, but not to make it run.
This tram was manufactured in the 30’s in the United States with a great acceptance. In the 1960s, when its popularity waned, Barcelona City Council acquired a batch that came from the capital of the United States, hence its name. They were in operation between 1963 and 1971, when the tram service was suspended in the city.
Tilling Stevens TS3A
Our last and most complex restoration because it had to be completely rebuilt from scratch, from the chassis of another vehicle of the same model, and there was very little information about the vehicle.
This type of bus was the first to travel the streets of Barcelona in 1922. It had a characteristic red colour and consisted of two floors joined by an external staircase. Most interestingly, it was powered by a “petrol-electric” engine, the predecessor of today’s hybrid propulsion.
Tibidabo's plane
Although not everything has been vehicles, in 2017 we were offered to restore the mythical Tibidabo aeroplane. For the first time since 1928, it left the amusement park to improve its structure.
The complexity of this restoration was technical because it was complete but the bodywork had to be improved, new materials were sought to withstand the inclemency of time without losing its original appearance.
At Consman we specialise in the integral maintenance of industrial vehicles, but we also offer other related services such as historical restorations. We have the facilities to carry them out, but above all we have an experienced and motivated team that enjoys restoring the splendour of these vehicles that are part of the collective imagination of the city.
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