While the Spanish government was betting on SEAT, FASA -later called FASA Renault- began to take shape in Valladolid. The first, whose initials stood for the Spanish Tourism Automobile Society, was linked to the Regime and the National Institute of Industry (INI); the other -Fábrica Automóviles S.A.- responded to a private initiative.
Renault wanted to manufacture in Spain, but protectionism made it essential to do so through a local partner, who was granted the license under strict conditions for the use of local components. Lieutenant colonel and engineer Manuel Jiménez-Alfaro faced the challenge he had dreamed of for years, at the proposal of Renault. Jiménez-Alfaro, head of the Automobile Department at the Army Polytechnic School, had worked at SEFA, a Spanish company that produced De Dion-Bouton trucks and had been in the sector since 1928.
Jiménez-Alfaro himself, in a letter to the newspaper El Norte de Castilla in 1978, explained that he met a senior Renault official who was trying to reach an agreement with a firm authorized to manufacture automobiles. However, the negotiation did not come to fruition, so he sought the support of Alfaro, who obtained the license to manufacture the Renault 4CV in Spain. Likewise, he managed to have its production finally carried out in Valladolid instead of Alcobendas, where it was originally planned.
The mayor of Valladolid was a personal friend of Jiménez-Alfaro (they had been classmates at the Artillery Academy), the city had good rail connections and had industrial buildings that could be used. There was also a sufficient population to cover the jobs and, above all, a group of local businessmen willing to invest.
It was not easy to carry out the project. Steps were needed at the highest level. Those responsible for the INI, whom the industry minister had consulted, did not want competition for SEAT.
In October 1951 the project was approved by the Council of Ministers, after Jiménez-Alfaro made some personal negotiations with Carrero Blanco -then undersecretary minister of the presidency-, “to whom I confidentially delivered the dossier”. Carrero spoke with Franco, who gave the go-ahead.
There was a lot of work to be done: finding the investment capital, establishing the company, finding suppliers, assembling the first pre-series prototypes… It should be noted that only the assembly was carried out in Valladolid, because the engine was manufactured in Santander by Nueva Montaña Quijano, while the body parts were made by Cointra and the gearboxes came from Sevilla ISA.
In 1952, a Renault 4CV -popularly known as a 4/4- arrived from France, as well as the parts to assemble two or three more units. The objective of sending the disassembled components was so that the national suppliers could analyze them so that they could produce them in series and prepare the budgets for FASA for their acceptance.
At the beginning of 1953, 10 pre-series units were assembled and the factory had a hundred employees. On August 12 of that same year, the first production models, fresh off the assembly line and still unregistered, paraded through Valladolid, from the factory to the Town Hall. The company was already running.
The choice of the Renault 4CV to be produced in our country responded to the fact that it was a consolidated car. It was born in France in 1946 -although it began to take shape in 1940- and its serial production began in 1947.
Its characteristics made it ideal for the incipient Spanish market. The engine was low-displacement: a 747 cc inline four-cylinder block and water-cooled. It was mounted on the rear overhang and developed 21 hp, enough because they only weighed 585 kg. The car could hold 80 km/h comfortably.
It was a small car. It was 3.66 meters long and taller (1.47m) than it was wide (1.43m). It had some similarities with the popular 600, but with four doors, which the SEAT model did not have. Both models contributed to popularize the automotive industry in our country. Such was the importance of the Renault 4CV that it is the only car in Spain declared an Asset of Cultural Interest by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Junta de Castilla y León on November 17, 2004.
The gestation of the project was not easy. Some suppliers initially chosen had to be dismissed due to deficiencies in quality. In other cases, some parts were replaced by cheaper ones. And some adaptations were made, such as the oil bath air filter, because the Spanish road network was full of dusty roads.
The 4/4 equipped some interesting details, such as a glove box, electric cigarette lighter, ashtray. The front trunk had a capacity of just 120 liters and the essential spare wheel was kept in it. Some parts were imported, at least until they could be produced in Spain, such as the headlights.
In 1953, 747 units were manufactured, a figure that increased the following year to 1,643 copies. In 1955 the bar of 4,000 cars was exceeded. In total, they had produced just over 26,000 units of the model in Spain when in 1958 it was replaced by the Dauphine. Those were years not exempt from convulsions among the FASA partners themselves and between them and Renault, due to the difficulties in meeting the established national parts quotas.
It is curious that together with the 4/4 an accessory industry was born to customize it or better adapt it to the needs. The factory options were not yet in style.
