The archives of the Government of Aragon holds the records of CAF, the parent company of VIASA and later EBRO, who built Jeeps under license from Willys at their plant in Zaragoza, the capital of the region of Aragon in northeastern Spain. The archival holdings include thousands of photographs, and some of those are factory photos of Jeeps built by VIASA and EBRO between the 1950s and 80s. In looking through those photos, some shots of prototypes which did not go into production, and shots of Jeeps being tested, caught my eye.
One series of pictures documents the electronic testing of a long-wheelbase CJ-3B, known in Spain as the CJ-6 and later the "Bravo L" (see LWB Jeeps in Spain). I don't have dates for any of these photos, but this Bravo L would date from the mid 1970s or later.
The test instruments are loaded in the back of the Jeep. I'm not sure about the reason for the trailer, but I'm guessing it may be carrying the power supply for the electronics.
The test instruments appear to be connected to locations on the frame, so I am speculating that the engineers were interested in the flexibility and stresses on the chassis of the long-wheelbase Jeep.
See also a close up (210K JPEG) of the wiring attached to the frame.
I have no idea exactly how this equipment, secured on boards screwed to the wheelwells, might work, but the inclusion of a tape recorder and a multi-channel graph printer suggest that dynamic information is being recorded.
It appears that the recording equipment may have been too sensitive to vibration in the back of the Jeep, because before long it has been moved into a van, tied to the Jeep by a long cable. A tall pole keeps the cable away from the ground.
Willys Motors probably did testing like this, but the only similar photos I've seen are of the Nebraska Tractor Tests (see CJ-3B Farm Jeeps.)
The "Toledo" nine-passenger van is one of the SV series of forward control Jeeps built by VIASA and then EBRO between 1963 and 1980 (see Los Jeeps: Made in Spain.)
The van follows the Bravo L as it drives on a test track designed to stress the suspension. It's hard to tell how fast they're going, but it's obvious that this would have been hard on any electronic equipment in the back.
A few photos show other parts of the testing ground used by the EBRO engineers.
This shot can actually be dated accurately by the temporary 1976 license plate on this military CJ-3B.
This one could cause a double take. It has a high hood with rounded contours on the front, similar to Willys-Overland's 1950 X-98 prototype, but the Comandos in the background would date this to the late 1970s.
The Perkins or Barreiros diesel engines did not require the extra height of the high hood, but possibly EBRO wanted to maintain the option of installing the taller Hurricane gasoline engine. The diesel-powered Jeeps had the fuel tank on the passenger side, but in this case there's no tank installed.
Now we see why there's no fuel tank necessary; there appears to be no engine. Notice anything else unusual here? How about only six slots in the radiator guard? And the designers have adopted the fenders and windshield of the CJ-5.
Perhaps Francisco Diaz's new book Historia de VIASA (150K JPEG) will tell us more about some of these photos.
Here's another prototype with six slots -- and they're horizontal! Was EBRO thinking about the possible end of their licensing agreement with Jeep, now owned by American Motors? This would have been the late 1970s or early 80s, and EBRO would be bought by Nissan in 1985. However, they were still using styling cues from recent AMC Jeep models, including CJ-7-style door openings on these CJ-65 and CJ-35 prototypes.
This is apparently an alternate front end for the body of the CJ-65. It's tempting to think this might date from 1987, when the YJ Wrangler appeared in North America with its rectangular headlights, but the EBRO logo here suggests the designers in Zaragoza were about a decade ahead of that.
In the background is an AMC CJ-5, Levis edition, which appears in a few photos and which the designers were probably measuring and testing.
The changes in the CJ-35 were less radical, but the fuel tank in the rear was another innovation adopted from the AMC Jeeps.
This look at the CJ-35 dash shows that there was even a name in mind for this model: "Moncayo," which presumably comes from the mountain range not far from Zaragoza.
This undated photo shows another model name I haven't encountered before: "Caporal" which translates as "Chief," on the hood and radiator guard (110K JPEG). What's odd is that it's on a Jeep aimed at the military, who typically want a minimum of badges (see Military Jeeps in Spain).
A rear view (140K JPEG) shows a tailgate that has no badges and not even any strength contours.
This long-wheelbase proposal was clearly for the Army. I would like to get a closer look at that winch.
Yes, this is the one that's on the cover of Historia de VIASA (150K JPEG).
The low hood and front fenders definitely reflect the influence of the Land Rover Santana (150K JPEG) which was also built in Spain and was successfully competing for military contracts.
The name "Campeador," which translates as "Champion," was briefly used for the one-ton pickup in the cab-forward SV series. EBRO apparently tried to tempt the Army with a canvas-topped version of that one.
Thanks to Jaime Gomis who sent me the photos. We will look forward to hearing whether Francisco Diaz has details or corrections on my speculations here. -- Derek Redmond
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