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Transport in Argentina - page 5, classic cars and trucks in 2011 and 2018 (by Dick Gilbert)

Last updated 26 August 2024

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Argentina sparked my interest in Ford Falcons - this one probably dates from the early 1980s. There are several more in the page below.

These pages review some of the transport items of interest that caught my eye during a fascinating trip to Argentina and Peru in February and March of 2011, and again in March 2018.

A selection of classic cars (other than Di Tellas which are described on page 2) that I saw around the town of Veinticinco de Mayo (25th of May), some 3 hours drive south of Buenos Aires on the flat Argentine pampas that stretches for hundreds of miles down the eastern side of the country. This is semi-rural Argentina, and the modes of transport bear no resemblance to what you would find in the modern capital city. There are also some trucks at the bottom of the page.

First of all, here is a distinctly Argentinean product, the Valiant. In the early 1960s Chrysler in Argentina started building the 1960 version of the U. S. Plymouth Valiant 1. Three more versions appeared up to 1969, representing the various developments of the Plymouth original.

I think this is the 1962 version, but probably someone can give me more information. It was photographed in 2011 but I saw it again on my 2018 visit.

This picture from 2011 shows a late 1960s model Ford Falcon. They were built in Argentina from 1962 to 1991 and this particular example dates from the late 1960s. Old and tatty Falcons are everywhere in rural Argentina, while smarter ones can be seen in Buenos Aires. They may not be history yet, but I feel they soon will be, so I went hunting for them again on my 2018 visit.

Geoffrey Pratt from Argentina kindly emailed me to say that the Ford Falcon is "a very popular car here that was produced for a very long time, and became rather notorious during the military dictatorship, as their gestapo favoured light green versions." Thanks for that, Geoffrey. Falcons were also used commonly by the police and as taxi cabs. This is another example from the late 1960s, seen in Veinticinco de Mayo in 2018.

I think this is a Ford Falcon Ghia from around 1982, judging by the black rubber inserts in the bumper over-riders. It also once had black rubber bumper ends as well, but they seem to have been swiped off in whatever incident changed the shape of the offside bodywork.

I think this is the exotic 1973 Ford Falcon Futura, nicely restored by somebody it seems.

Finally here's another early 1980s Falcon Ghia with the rubber end of the bumper knocked off, but this time it's an estate.

I was told that this ancient little pickup, seen in 2011, was a Chrysler. It might be: Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, GMC, it's hard to tell. It certainly looked as though it had US origins.

Whatever it was, it was right-hand drive. Argentina switched to left-hand drive in 1945, so that's a good clue to its age.

What is this little fella? We drove past it in 2018 but didn't have time to stop. At first I guessed it might be a Ford, but it seems to have a radiator filler cap, which isn't a very Ford-like feature. And did the door always open like that, or was there once a window frame? It surely has to be 1920s.

Pushed out into the long grass alongside my daughter's place was this light truck chassis / cab, but again there were no clues to its identity, apart from a Fargo bonnet in the bushes which might have come from it.

This is the vintage Fargo bonnet that I think might belong to the chassis / cab shown above. Perhaps it was tossed aside when the engine was removed (I wonder what for...) If I'm right, then this would be an early 1940s Fargo-badged Dodge, both companies being owned by Chrysler.

Buried in the undergrowth was another Fargo. It looks like what was marketed in the UK as the 1960 Fargo Kew, but it was probably called something else in Argentina.

And this is a British Bedford, by George! My guess is a Bedford TJ6 from the 1960s. Bedford trucks were made by General Motors Argentina between 1961 and 1968 in San Martin.

Finally here comes a fine Ford operated by the splendidly-named Tito Duran (local transport firm Alberto S Duran). It's delivering timber to my daughter's place, which will be made into all sorts of things once it's dried out. As for the truck, it might be a late 1970s Ford F600, unless you know better...

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