(first posted 10/16/2014) Fellow readers, what you see above this text, while admittedly not beautiful, is a piece of history. More unique than a Ferrari 250 GTO, though not nearly as desirable, what you’re looking at is the only car to ever be manufactured in Central America. If you’re surprised you didn’t know about this, don’t be. The Compadre (I’m not joking, that actually is its name) seems to have a perception filter built on it. Very few people know it exists and extremely few examples survive to this day. Finding information about it, let alone pictures, is extremely difficult and no one seems to know for sure what is actually the story behind it, why it came to be and how did it disappear from our shores. Dig a little deeper though and you’ll find quite a story.
It was a seemingly simple idea. In the early ‘70s a manufacturing company called Fabrica Superior de Centroamerica (Superior Central American Factory) decided to embark on a project that would bring jobs and strengthen the manufacturing sector in the region. To achieve this set of lofty goals they decided to design a car that would be easy to run, extremely cheap to buy and well-suited to the inclement conditions of the Central American region.
After the design was completed they’d set up assembly lines all throughout the region and employ the local workforce to manufacture everything except the engine, gearbox, and the axles which would come from the main branch of the Fabrica Superior.
It was a project for Central Americans by Central Americans, extremely large and ambitious in scope, somehow it was made to work. And so, in 1975 the vehicle was simultaneously released in three different countries. Honduran-built models were called Compadre while the ones built in El Salvador and Nicaragua were called Cherito and Pinolero, respectively.
Power was given by a 1.2 liter four cylinder engine mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox. It had such amenities as hydraulic power brakes and…no that was pretty much it. Just a good honest vehicle for the cash-strapped Central American farmer to haul his whatsits to the marketplace and sell them straight from the pickup bed.
I wasn’t alive then but I presume that on those days of initial hype before the car was released the people were actually very excited “finally we as a subcontinent were doing something for ourselves instead of having to succumb down to some namby-pamby man in a suit from the U.S. cynically forcing us to buy their cars at some ridiculous markup to help himself to whatever little money we may have. No, this is all coming from here and it’s going to be amazing!”
You can probably see where this is going.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you the General Motors Basic Transportation Vehicle, or BTV! In 1972 Vauxhall was tasked to design a vehicle for emerging countries. They achieved this by taking a Bedford HA and throwing almost all of it away, only keeping the axles, the low compression 37 HP engine and the gearbox. Using that as a basis they set up to build a body and a chassis that could be built as easily and cheaply as possible. Hence the bodywork having absolutely no curves.
A colonnade Compadre would’ve definitely been quite something to look at, but curves don’t save money, and saving money is what these cars were all about. It wasn’t just Central America, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Ecuador, Thailand. All of them had their own version of the BTV.
Yes, turns out the General was actually behind the whole thing. Fabrica Superior de Centroamerica was a subsidiary of General Motors designed specifically to bring the BTV to our shores and the whole thing was run by GM’s overseas division. What was in it for the countries where the BTV was built? Quite a lot of things actually.
For starters they now had access to a very cheap mode of transportation. The BTV wasn’t competing with the Volkswagen Beetle or any Eastern-bloc cars. It was competing with the horse, public transportation (if it even was available) and walking. The 1300lb payload was certainly better than all of the above. Also, employment and skills development for people that would ordinarily only aspire to work in the fields for all their life.
GM also got some numbers that would look nice on the next shareholders meeting and had a vehicle that didn’t create them so many tariff and tax woes because it was almost entirely built on the country it was going to be sold. As far as the population was concerned the only thing GM had to do with them was the engine, and even that in only some countries. The only site that has info on the Nicaraguan Version swears it has an engine built by the “Mitford” brand.
When I started my research for this car I myself thought that they were a regional-only initiative. It was until some research directed me to a LinkedIn profile of the man that oversaw the BTV project in Central America that I could look at the whole picture.
Also, the most easily found picture of a Compadre is the one seen above. For all my saying that most people don’t even know about the existence of the poor thing, this particular model is on permanent display on the National Air Force museum in all its patina and dented glory. Dig those door visors.
As for the BTV project, I couldn’t find the date where it ended. Nor could I find a date when the Compadre ceased production. Some people say that it didn’t actually catch on because it was too plain-looking and simple for the general populace. Personally I think they’re missing the point. GM still makes small practical cars for developing markets but they’re overall more developed efforts like this Chevrolet Montana pickup. Designed and developed in Brazil.
As a closing image I leave you this. A modified Cherito (El Salvador model) I think Black and that Jeep-inspired grill suits it quite well. Proof that everyone can have a passion for a car don’t you think?
There’s a piece on the BTV on Vauxpedia http://vauxpedia.net/bedford-ha—btv-basic-transport-vehicle
Given it’s UK design origin the vague resemblance particularly round the front screen to the Land Rover (particularly the original split screen version) perhaps isn’t surprising. I wonder if the little lift-up bonnet idea came from the Bedford CA?
Hate to say this, but I could see these vehicles being used to take dead Ebola victims to mass burial pits or cremotoriums
Were you able to find how many were made in total worldwide? I remember reading something about this in an old Motor Trend from the 70’s, they showed a picture of the BTV next to the small article, I though that the picture was wrong since it looked like nothing GM made anywhere in the world.
Information on the entire thing is very scarce, the closest I can tell you is that they still built them up to the early ’80s.
Compadre, sure man!
It looks remarkably like the New Zealand made Trekka in design and execution though our was made from Skoda Octavia running gear giving it all wheel independant suspension, yep Third world auto engineering I love it.
Strictly small potatoes. You want versatility for a less-developed rural country? A vehicle that is cheap and can do anything? How about the belt-driven single-axle tractors in China? Farmers use them as plows, or by hooking on a trailer or a truck bed, they can haul anything…even people. Here is one, with a truck bed attached, hauling a two-ton shark that got caught in a fisherman’s net just two months ago.
I wish this photo was scratch and sniff…..
Is this the world’s first sharkskin brougham roof?
We still have a few ones in use in small rural areas where a tractor wouldn’t be practical, expecially into the mountains. They’re called “moto agricola” (something like “agricultural motorcycle”) and they’re very handy, though a bit slow.
I built myself one with a small tiller, mainly for fun, for my use on the farm.
Here’s a small selection of examples I found for sale in the classified.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/fieldside-classics/gardenside-classic-1988-bcs-715-6-tiller-my-italian-exotic-which-always-starts-on-the-first-pull/
Looks wonderfully practical. Papa and Mama and Abuela in the cab, kids and chickens and bags of corn tumbling around in the stake bed. All you need to run a small farm!
Reminds me somewhat of the Crosley Farm-O-Road.
Fascinating! And they have a unique charm…I could see owning one if I lived in Central America.
I lived in Guatemala in 1975 & 1976 , they had a tiny ‘ factory ‘ building some thing like this ~ the guy who showed it to me was very proud indeed .
Also VW Do Mexico made a front wheel drive affair like this called ” The Ormiga ” (ant) ~ it had a 1200 C.C. (40hp) engine mounted back wards and steerable hubs on the ends of what looked like a standard swing axle transaxle .
-Nate
If I’m reading the ad correctly, the Nicaraguan version was built at a Shell gas station at the 7.5 km mark of the Carretera Norte highway.
4 Blocks away from it in fact.
Interesting… Israel did have an equivalent (sort of) in the hideous Sussita pickups and utes (see below) but those had a fiberglass body. There was something called the Pony which was looked like a Puch Haflinger but not as successful and was not progressed with.
Some more about the manufacturer of those contraptions, Autocars (no connection with Autocar trucks) here: http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/triumph/around-the-world-autocars-of-israel/
Fabulous! Looks like the love child of a Land Rover and a Mini Moke.
With a sad face….
Ford did very much the same thing, the Fiera, finding some success in Indonesia and the Philippines, but more so in the PI.
There was also the Africar, that was based on Citroen 2CV mechanicals and had a timber body with no curves. It also was designed to be easy to manufacture etc.
You know, I always hated the 2CV’s but Jesus Christ this thing is so damned cool! I would drive it in less than a heartbeat here in LA! Seriously, I love it! 🙂
No, I’m not one of those hipster douchebags that hang out in Silverlake/Echo Park
I remember reading about the BTV and the comparable Ford version, and was rather intrigued. Too bad it didn’t make a greater impact, but it’s hard to fight against a Toyota pickup, even a ten or fifteen year old one. Which is probably what kept these from being more successful.
I could see someone building these in Eugene out of a small workshop….. 🙂
Great story, I read something about it months ago and was intrigued if people in Central America would still remember them or if they were completely forgotten. I somehow miss that concept of an extremely simple vehicle for rural areas but, as Paul mentioned, they couldn’t compete against a Hilux or other japanese pickups. In Chile, we had a similar vehicle, the 2CV-based Citroen Yagan, the same idea as the Mehari, but even simpler (and, why not to say it, uglier). Here’s a picture
From the Socialist Golf Cart school of design. I can see it hauling anything from manure to a small platoon of Sandinistas.
@ABB – I can envision that Africar in Silverlake, driven by someone trying to one-up his VW Thing driver neighbor’s hipster quotient.
VW had it’s version of a bare bones truck called the Basis Transporter for developing countries. It had a Beetle air cooled engine and front wheel drive.
Another variant of the VW 1200 air cooled FWD Basic Transporter.
VW Hormiga (spanish for ant).
It didn’t work, because pre-owned beetles were cheap like cucarachas.
I remember the Pinolero back in the late 70s. I believe that in 1978 they had started to build a SUV version of it as well, and the lines were beginning to look better. The company that sold them to the public was Casa Pellas (still in business).
Interestingly enough, I have found a picture of one being used by the Sandinista populace on the very first days of the revolution after Somoza was deposed from power.
The one in the first picture,is not a Pinolero,the second picture were the owner is standing next to it,that one is from 1977 model,They were sold in Nicaragua,by Indevesa.
That looks like it could be a Gurgel
Found another picture from someone in Nicaragua that had restored one!
Nicaraguan Pinolero, GM-BTV, model 1977.
Nicaraguan Pinolero,cargo,commercial, the price for the Pinoleros was, $3,000+ Dollars.
Nicaraguan Pinoleros, GM-BTV,1977,INDEVESA9the Nicaraguan factory) sold four models in Nicaragua,they were very popular vehicles.
Nicaraguan Pinolero-GM-BTV model 1975.
Company AJANSA,the Nicaraguan AAA service of the 70’s.
I remembered this article when I stumbled upon this ad of a Guatemalan version named Chato. Apparently they were also assembled there. Any information available is pretty scarce.
Also known as the GM Andino in Ecuador, GM Mitai in Paraguay (I think), and Bedford Harimau in Malaysia.
GM and Ford pioneered this segment with the BTV and Fiera, respectively, but it was Toyota who really put it on the map with the Indonesian Kijang in 1977, which evolved over the years to become today’s Toyota Innova. But the Innova had moved upmarket, so the Avanza was introduced as a lower-priced companion. But the Avanza had moved upmarket, so the Calya was introduced as a lower-priced companion…
kuwait hi
Very interesting post, all new to me.
Reminds me of the Citroën FAF, which was built in a bunch of places (Indonesia, Guinea Bissau, etc). But then there were many 2CV-based derivatives before that, too – including the Chilean one mentioned above.
A great article to see just how much you really need to get the job done. 37 horsepower able to haul 1300 pounds means this beefy little truck hauls more ass per hp than many. Safety aside of coarse.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_HA
Acá podemos ver mucha información acerca de este auto