Gimson (cycles)
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Gimson was a Spanish
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
and
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
brand, manufactured in
Figueres Figueres (; ) is the capital city of Alt Empordà county, in the Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Dalí Theatre and Museum, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which att ...
by Gimbernat Hermanos S.R.C. in two distinct stages: the first in 1930 (producing a total amount of six) and the second from 1955 to 1982.


History


Beginnings

Early in the 20th century, Pierre Gimbernat i Batlle, a renowned
clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...
from
Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...
, obtained the distribution license for French manufacturer
Automoto Automoto was a French bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1902, which joined with the Peugeot group in 1930 and was fully absorbed by 1962. Prior to World War II Automoto sourced engines from Chaise, Zurcher, J.A.P., and Villiers Engi ...
for the
Province of Girona The Province of Girona ( ; ) is a Provinces of Spain, province in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest ...
. Gimbernat moved to Figueres, where he founded a small shop at 17th Sant Pau street. At first, he sold and repaired clocks and bicycles, also importing and selling bicycle spare parts. After some time, he decided to sell all this material and parts under his own brand, which he named Gimson.


Brand name

Gimson was an acronym for Gimbernat and Sons, a name that included Pierre Gimbernat and his three children: Pierre, Antoine and Françoise. A few years later they changed the business name to Gimbernat Hermanos, SRC. The company was always a family business. The main tasks where distributed to the three children of the founder: Pierre Gimbernat i Font, eldest brother, was the chief Engineer, Antoine was at the production department and Françoise was in the office, at the sales department. As an anecdote, Pierre Gimbernat i Font attended drawing lessons with the distinguished professor Juan Núñez Fernández, where
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
was a classmate. His parents thought that the fantasies of the future painter would be a bad influence on their son, thus they sent him to Mataro for a while, to live with a businessman who produced spokes for Gimson bicycles, to keep him away from distractions.


Business consolidation

With the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and, after, the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, Gimbernat was able to survive both economic conditions because their suppliers were small workshops nearby. Thanks to the experience gained and good results with bicycles, in the mid-fifties they began manufacturing their first mopeds, starting by mounting the Gamo engine made in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
by the renowned Parés brothers. The company achieved a big commercial success and ended up having more than a hundred employees. Its main market was a part of
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, North east
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The Gimbernats came up with a second brand for their bicycles named Esbelta, meaning slim, to have two distributors in the same place and a better control of the market. At one point, Gimson won a contest to provide bicycles to the Spanish Civil Guard, before the unit was equipped with Sanglas motorcycles. These bicycles were used to patrol the countryside, and were the standard model, fitted with a special support to place the rifle.


Third generation

Pere Gimbernat i Quintana, the founder's grandson and Engineer, had advanced ideas at that time. One was to produce the first electric moped in Catalonia. The prototype was presented in the 1973 Barcelona show, it had a Bosch engine. The prototype never went into production. Pere Gimbernat i Quintana was responsible for naming the new models, among which we find the successful Canigó, Polaris and Skipper. Moreover, he managed the whole process of the well-known commercial catalogs for their products (famous for its photographic and documentary quality). They were printed at local printing plants in Figueres, looking for the best spot to take the pictures, always landscapes from
Empordà Empordà (; ) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain, divided since 1936 into two '' comarques'', Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà. The city of Figueres, an important urban and economic center of the Empordà, was designated th ...
(the catalog pictures for the model Canigó were taken at
Sant Llorenç de la Muga Sant Llorenç de la Muga () is a municipality in the Alt Empordà comarca, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain with an area of 32.06 km2 and a population of 177 people. Sant Llorenç de la Muga is situated 16 km from Figueres ...
and the ones for the brand's main catalog were taken at
Empuriabrava Empuriabrava () is a community in the municipality of Castelló d'Empúries, in the Alt Empordà (Costa Brava, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain). It is located in the Gulf of Roses, surrounded by the Natural Park of the Aiguamolls de l'Em ...
).


Closure

When Pierre Gimbernat i Font, the founder's son, died prematurely, the company was going through a tough time, with an oversized staff and the inability to apply a
Layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...
plan, adding the effects of the
1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
and the entrance of the Japanese multinationals to the Spanish market. With the crisis, the company became a
Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
and stopped producing mopeds, focusing only on bicycles. Pere Gimbernat i Quintana was at an age where he could not take too much risk, and he didn't have the funds to buy his Uncles part of the business, the situation became untenable, all ending in the closure of the factory in Figueres. The manufacturing right of the mopeds was acquired by the company placed in
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
'Motos del Sureste (Motomur)', which they marketed under the Beneti brand, although later it returned to the Gimson brand.


Motorcycles


Beginning with the Gamo engine

From 1955, Gimson returned to the motorcycle business, starting by mounting
Cucciolo Cucciolo is the title character of an Italian long-lasting comic book series. Background Cucciolo, together with the inseparable friend Beppe, are a couple of comic characters created in 1940 by Giuseppe Caregaro as writer and Rino Anzi as artis ...
and Villiers engines. Later, they produced their own model with a Gamo engine -manufactured in Barcelona between 1950 and 1955- consisting of 49 cc (moped) and 65 cc (velomotor), very advanced for that time, with a two-speed change, secondary transmission by single chain and rear brake on a singletube chassis in which protruded the bubble type Fuel Tank. The two versions of this model were named respectively 49 and 65. Subsequently, the model Sport was launched, coexisting with the previous (known since Turismo), with the same engine and cylinder capacity. The Sport model was the first which had a T-shape stamped plate chassis that would become characteristic of the brand, with a seat upholstery in two colors and a rounded fuel tank, as well as a painted exhaust pipe, unlike the general trend which was chromed. This model was distributed in color schemes of blue and gray or red and cream. Both models had a luxury option called Lujo, externally differentiated because the swingarm was tubular instead of stamped sheet metal, also had a different crankcase logo from the usual.


Consolidation with the Flandria engine

With the withdrawal of the Parés brothers (manufacturers of the Gamo engine), the company needed another engine to mount, opting for the Belgian Flandria, which they produced under license. The first model that mounted this engine was the Gimson Polaris. Keeping its predecessor Sport scheme, mounting the same stamped sheet metal frame (adapting it to fit the new Flandria engine), but with a more rectilinear shaped fuel tank. This was probably the most successful model of the brand, running to three series, all of them in blue and grey or red and cream color schemes. The same way appears the first
offroad Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...
Gimson's model, named Canigó after the Canigou mountain. The first production series, this model is almost the same as Polaris, except for the back part, and was followed by a second version, still with the same frame, but with a more appropriately adapted shape for its offroad purpose. Referring to the automatic models, appears the Velomatic moped, with a similar aesthetic to Turismo but with straighter lines and in accordance with its time, with bubble-shaped tank mounted on a frame similar to a bicycle. That moped mounted a Flandria engine, with direct admission to the crankcase and a single gear, but without variator.


Expansion

From that moment Gimson switched their frames to a tubular fishbone scheme, launching different models that expanded their range. As road models the Polaris Super, renamed as Meteor, and its Sport variant (the same motorcycle, but with accessories such as indicator lights which were not required at this time). This motorcycle is easy to recognise, because it has the fuel tank in two different colors, the orange top, and a triangular rubber lining that protects the area bordering with legs. On the other hand, alsos arises the Elite (which had a new logo and was characterized by its red color) and had two different decorations, with Gimson's logo before with straight lines on a white background, after with curved lines on a black background. Regarding the country motorcycles, arises the Skipper Trial, one of the first motorcycles designed only for
trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...
in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and its successors Jumper Cross (
Motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
type) and Enduro E87 (
Enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is ...
type).


Murcian stage

Back in the '70s, with motorcycle's manufacturing rights sold to the Murcian company Motomur, they produced the Nevada and Elite 2 models, and the Sport variant which mounted cast rims instead of spoked, as well as other aesthetic improvements. However the scheme and the engine of the Gimson motorcycles remained the same as the original from Figueres, changes being mostly aesthetic, such as the appearance of a false double cradle in the tubular frame. Concerning the offroad motorcycles, the LSA model was launched, later on the LSA RA (being "RA" an acronym for "Refrigerada per Aigua" which means water-cooled). While the frame and engine are the same, for the first time adopted a cylinder with liquid cooling, above disc brake and modifies the swingarm to adopt a rear monoshock system, as well as a more elaborated design of the model. Unfortunately, Gimson could not go ahead and this model has become one of the most difficult to find these days. They produced a sporty model called M1 with a design that resembles a racing motorcycle. In the automatic section we found the only one keeping the Beneti trading name, the Beneti Stylo model, which had a
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
engine.


Models


References


External links


Article about Pere Gimbernat and Gimson brand in the website amoticos.org

Facebook fan page for Gimson brand
{{Automotive industry in Spain Cycle manufacturers of Spain Moped manufacturers Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of Spain Companies based in Catalonia Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1930 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1982 1982 disestablishments in Spain Motorcycle trials Spanish companies established in 1930 Figueres