The Grand Years Of Mallorcan Motoring

October 1900 is a month that has significance in the history of transport in Spain. It was in that month that the first motor car was registered: a three-wheel Clement. José Sureda y Fuentes, a retired naval officer, was its owner, The vehicle was a hundred kilos in weight and it boasted two and a half horsepower. It was given the registration PM-1. Yes, the first motor vehicle to be registered in Spain was registered right here in Mallorca.

There is an old photo from the collection "Fotos Antiguas de Mallorca" which shows a car of rather greater sophistication on the mountain road from Lluc to Inca. The year that the photo was taken was 1923. One of the curiosities of this photo is that the car is being driven on the left. Cars in Spain have always been driven on the right, haven't they?

Well actually, they haven't. In Madrid, they were driving on the left until a change was made to the right in 1924, a move which brought the city into line with Barcelona. But elsewhere, the rule was not well observed either way. It wasn't until the 1930s that a formal national rule was introduced, and right it was.

The early years of motoring in Spain, those of the first quarter of the last century, were marked by haphazard rule-making, some rather grand motor manufacturing and some shortlived attempts at cracking the market. Driving on both the left and the right was indicative of the anarchy that prevailed on the roads. A reluctance to actually register cars - PM-1 was comparatively unusual in this regard - reflected an owner desire not to pay tax. A month before PM-1 was registered, the "Regulation for the service of cars on roads" had been published. It was widely ignored for several years.

But what were those early drivers actually driving? The rudimentary Clement was soon joined on Mallorca's roads by a more advanced vehicle. It had four wheels for  a start. It was manufactured in Barcelona and it was the Hispano-Suiza 10CV. It appeared on the roads for the first time in 1904 and by 1908 the company was so successful that it had to find proper and large premises.

The car in the photo on the Lluc-Inca road may be a later Hispano-Suiza. It is possible to detect on its bonnet what may be the distinctive stork that became its symbol. It was a car manufacturer of some distinction, and not just because of the stork. Among its clients was King Alfonso XIII, but his patronage was to prove to be a mixed blessing. He ceased to be a client when he went into exile in 1931, and the company was looked upon disapprovingly during the Second Republic because it was associated with the aristocracy. It made a comeback, and the official vehicle that took Franco on his celebratory parade in Madrid in 1939 was an Hispano-Suiza, but in 1946 it became part of the nationalised ENASA.

But while Hispano-Suiza represented the years of grand motor manufacturing, there was a motor company whose short life exemplified enthusiasm for the still new industry and the uncertainties that came with it. A technician from Renault turned up in Mallorca. His name was Albert Ouvrard. He made contact with two businessmen - Antonio Ribas, whose interests were mainly in shipping, and Rafael de Lacy, who represented the Belgian Minerva car brand on the island. In 1920 they formed a company, the name of which combined the first letters of their surnames - Lacy, Ouvrard, Ribas y compañia. The company was Loryc, Mallorca's first motor manufacturer. In November of the following year, a car with the registration PM-507 took to the roads. It was the first Loryc model to be registered and it was not unlike an Hispano-Suiza. Then came a sports model that was nicknamed the sardine. It was powerful, it took part in races and it pushed Loryc into the top five by sales of brands in Spain.

But no sooner had success been gained than it was snatched away. The elimination of tariffs on finished cars and a quadrupling of them for components caused the company's demise. It had been going for only three years when the factory doors were closed in 1923.

All this was a long time ago. Now, the Loryc is returning. "We are back" says the legend on a restored Loryc. A German enthusiast and businessman, Charly Bosch, has revived the brand and given it an electric motor. It will appear in Mallorca next spring. Its price, 45,000 euros. When the Loryc factory closed in 1923, its vehicles were being sold for as little as 5,000 pesetas; the cost of its Citroën engine alone had risen to 4,500 pesetas. It's no wonder that the old Loryc didn't survive.   

* Photo: Find Fotos Antiguas de Mallorca on Facebook.

In A Ditch: Driving in Mallorca

Ah, the joys of motoring in Mallorca during the winter. Empty roads, the sun shining, you can take your time and admire the view, untroubled by heavy traffic or by tourists wandering along the middle of roads, armed to the teeth with inflatable dinosaurs. Until, that is, some twat comes hammering along behind you.

The main road from Playa de Muro into Alcúdia is a 50kph zone. In summer, this speed limit is arguably too generous (all those rubbery reptiles threatening to lift off in the breezes demand a lower limit). In winter, it is almost certainly unnecessarily slow, unless you buy into the argument that speed limits are also imposed to keep noise pollution down.

I would buy into this argument myself, were it not for stuff that ventures onto roads that make a mockery of the wish to keep noise down, such as those souped-up quad things and any number of spluttering motos. It isn't much of an argument, in truth, but if speed limit there is, then speed limit there should be. Despite there at times being hardly any other vehicles around, I pretty much observe it. Firstly, because I am rarely in any hurry and secondly, because it isn't unknown for the odd mobile speed trap to be lurking.

I am unconcerned by the inevitable tailgater. Nor am I concerned by the tailgater who, unable to pass or unwilling to take the risk of overtaking along a stretch of road where it is forbidden (not that all are unwilling), takes to one of the parallel side roads and hares along those in order to get ahead. No, I find it amusing. But I do wonder quite why Trafico devotes so many resources to blokes standing about at roundabouts, generally adding to a sense of divisive us-and-them, rather than having spotters that would enable the state to coin in just as much, if not more, from speeding and dodgy driving.

But these speed limits can be curious affairs. Let's take what there now are on a part of the road between Alcúdia and Puerto Pollensa, just by the Club Pollentia Resort. As you come towards the hotel from Puerto Pollensa, there is a sign saying 70, a few metres after it is another sign saying 50. How is anyone meant to be able to slow between these two signs, especially if there is some berk right up your backside? And where does the 50 limit finish? There is no indication that it does, until you come to the bend just before the beach where the kitesurfers go and there are two more signs: one that says 60 and a bit further on, right on the bend, that says go faster - 70. Has no one from the Council of Mallorca or from the police or from whoever it is arranges for these signs ever noticed that these signs don't make any sense?

Knowing at what speed one should be driving is never totally clear, except on motorways. In urban areas, there is huge confusion. In Can Picafort, for example. There, so Santa Margalida town hall had announced in September, all roads apart from the main road through the resort were to be 30 kph (safety and alleged noise reduction being the justification). Yet, come into Can Pic from the Eroski roundabout and what do you see? 40kph. So, what is it? 40 or is it 30?

What one does tend to know, however, is that main roads, like for instance, that which passes the power station between Puerto Alcúdia/Playa de Muro and Sa Pobla do not have speed limits of upwards of 200kph. They don't need signs to tell you that anything much over 100 might be a tad on the excessive side. But if you happen to take a Ferrari out on this road earlyish one weekend morning when there are unlikely to be any police controls out or indeed many other road users, you might feel it is safe to go boy-racing. Except if you lose control, end up in a ditch and manage to write the Ferrari off that you have only just taken delivery of.

"El Mundo"* has named Toni Vanrell. Everyone knew who it was who put the Ferrari in the ditch, as the reports were transparent without actually naming him. Brother Damian explains that the Ferrari had been bought (for half the amount initially quoted) in order to exploit a niche in the market - renting out to filthy-rich Russians. He also explains that his brother is experienced at driving powerful cars. So experienced, he manages to end up in a ditch. Doing what speed?

And this is really the point. Speed. Hiring out a Ferrari to Russian tourists might be good business, but how many of these might be experienced with the ways of high-powered sports cars and at what speeds might they drive? There is no real point in a Ferrari, unless it can be driven at speed. The maximum limit on any Mallorcan road is 120, that for the motorways. Damian, it's not good business, as who else will end up in a ditch or in a worse condition?

* http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/12/15/baleares/1355599631.html
** The "Diario" reports that its story about the Ferrari incident has broken all records in terms of reads and social media pass-ons for any of its web stories.


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