Hispakart was a Spanish kart and racing car constructor based in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

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 company was founded in 1961 by Ramon Lopez Villalba.

History

Ramon Lopez achieved degrees in mechanics while doing military service at Aeródromo Militar de León in 1952. After working as an airplane mechanic at

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

and

Aviaco Aviación y Comercio, S.A., doing business as Aviaco, was a Spanish airline headquartered in the ''Edificio Minister'' in Madrid."World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. 16 May 1981. p1411 "Maudes 51, Edificio Minister, Madrid 3, Spai ...

Lopez went to work in his fathers garage in Madrid. In 1958 Lopez met Demetrio del Val, a Spanish motorcyclist who went to the U.S. to race

karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

. Lopez built his first kart with a Montesa engine and

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a ...

tyres. Lopez entered Portuguese driver Serafín Martins in a kart race at

Buen Retiro Park The Retiro Park (Spanish: , literally "Good Retreat Park"), also known as Buen Retiro Park or simply El Retiro, is one of the largest Urban park, city parks in Madrid, Spain. The park belonged to the Spanish monarchy until 1868, when it became a ...

on November 1, 1960. Martins won the race in the Lopez built 'Plantilla'. Hispakart was founded in 1961. Demetrio del Val ordered seven karts. The following year a kart team was created: Los Diablos Rojos (The Red Devils). The team was composed of Lopez, Martins and American driver Robert Shelton. Shelton was based at

Torrejón Air Base Torrejón Air Base (Base Aérea de Torrejón de Ardoz) is both a major Spanish Air and Space Force base and the co-located Madrid–Torrejón Airport, a secondary civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Madrid, east-northeast of t ...

, near Madrid. The Hispakarts were powered by McCulloch engines. The team achieved countless victories. Lopez competed in the 100cc Karting World Championships racing against

Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Superswede", Peterson twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in an ...

Toine Hezemans Antoine Emile "Toine" Hezemans (born 15 April 1943, in Eindhoven) is a Dutch former touring and prototype racing car driver in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from racing, Hezemans started manufacturing karting engines. He developed the Rotax ...

and many others. Hispakart started constructing racing cars in 1965. After seeing Tecno Formula 4 cars Lopez decided to start constructing cars for the Spanish championship.

Jorge de Bagration Jorge de Bagration y de Mukhrani or Giorgi Bagration-Mukhraneli or George Bagration of Mukhrani ( ka, გიორგი (ხორხე) ბაგრატიონ-მუხრანელი, tr; 22 February 1944 – 16 January 2008) was a S ...

imported a Tecno K250 and showed it to Lopez. Lopez copied the design and chassis without a licence to do so. Hispakart built 26 chassis. Prince Luitpold of Bavaria was one of the drivers. Hispakart had become one of the largest Formula 4 constructors in Spain. In 1968 Hispakart built the GT. Influenced by the Artes Campeador, built by Selex, the car was unveiled at the 1967

Barcelona Motor Show The Automobile Barcelona is an auto show held every second year at Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc Exhibition Centre in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). Established in 1919, the Automobile Barcelona is one of the biggest trade fairs held a ...

. The car had a tubular steel chassis and a fiberglass bodywork. The bodywork was built but the car was never completed.

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

launched the Formula 1430 in 1971. The class was effectively the successor of the Formula 4. Hispakarts first Formula 1430 car was built from unsold parts from the Formula 4 cars. Gregorio van Dulken started the first ever Formula 1430 race in a Hispakart from the second starting place. Van Dulken did not finish the race as he was involved in a multi car accident. Selex and

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

dominated the Formula 1430. Argentine driver Carlos Alberto Jarque, managed by

Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (, ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995) was an Argentine racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "el Chueco" and "el Maestro", Fangio won five Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the ti ...

, entered the Formula 1430 championship in 1974. But the season was disappointing and Jarque could not achieve any notable results. In 1972 a fire broke out in the Hispakart workshop located at the Calle de Padilla in Madrid. The workshop, and all the cars in it, were completely destroyed. Lopez opened a new workshop at Calle de Palermo. The company did not construct any more racing cars. Lopez started a

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

dealership. Hispakart continue to design and build new karts and trailers until the 1990s.

Cars

References

Hispakart History

External links

Official Hispakart website
{{Automotive industry in Spain Kart manufacturers Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Spain Manufacturing companies based in Madrid Sports car manufacturers Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1961 Spanish companies established in 1961 Industrial history of Spain Spanish racecar constructors