The Forgotten Mopar History of the Barreiros Dodge Dart

During Franco’s fearful reign over Spain, just like in many other fascist countries, the Spanish automotive industry was in shambles due to the nationalization of the entire industry. With a lack of funds to design their own cars, they resorted to building Fiats, Simcas, and many other existing models under license, in Spain. One of the most significant vehicle companies at the time was called Barreiros, and they basically put the whole country on wheels. They built buses, trucks, tractors, and cars, all produced under license, at their Villaverde factory in Madrid.

In 1963, Barreiros struck a deal with Chrysler to start producing the six-cylinder Dodge Dart in Spain. The cars were delivered from Argentina to Spain as a knock-down kit, due to the fact it was the Cold War and the only way to access said parts was to collaborate with another, fascist government. The sheet metal production and the final assembly took place in Madrid, where they would later be tested at the factory’s private test track. The first gen was produced from ‘63 to ’70, and the second-gen Dart 3700 from ‘71 to ‘78. All were sold with a 3.7 lt straight-six, four-speed manual, and four-wheel disc brakes, but only 17,589 were made in 15 years. The problem was, that people could barely afford to eat, so a Seat 600 (Fiat 600) was more appropriate than a big Dodge Dart. Again, like in all fascist countries, the nice, expensive cars are for the “chosen ones”, a.k.a. politicians, secret police, you know the drill. If you saw a black Dodge Dart 3700 following you slowly, in early ‘70s Madrid, you’d be scared for your life, for sure!

Here’s a selection of first, second, and third-gen 3700s I saw during my Erasmus at Madrid in 2019, some of them with their original, Madrid plates too!