Avia 3500: the Spanish Avia’s 3.5-tonne truck

The Avia 3500 was the second truck of the Spanish Avia, introduced in 1962 with a 4,192 cc Perkins diesel of 68 hp. Its chassis was used for the Avia-Deutz fire engine built by the Spanish subsidiary of Klöckner Humbolt Deutz, and interest in the model led AISA to build larger coaches.

Avia 3500 at a glance

Based on one source: the Spanish Wikipedia article on the Spanish Avia (AISA), which covers the 3500 together with the rest of the range.

History of the Avia 3500

The Spanish Avia was the commercial vehicle brand of AISA, the Madrid aircraft company that began building motor tricycles and light trucks in 1957. Its first truck, the Avia 2500 with a 61 hp Perkins diesel, went into production in 1961 and was joined a year later by the Avia 3500, a larger vehicle in the 3,500 kg payload class.

The 3500 used a Perkins diesel of 4,192 cc and 68 hp. Like the 2500 it was a light truck with a conventional chassis, and it could be ordered with different bodies. From 1964 Avia vehicles were also built under licence in Setúbal, Portugal, by SODAG, and the Spanish Avia was sold abroad under the Alas brand.

Fire engines and coaches

One of the most interesting applications of the Avia 3500 was the Avia-Deutz fire engine, built by the Spanish subsidiary of Klöckner Humbolt Deutz on the Avia 3500L chassis. It combined the Spanish chassis with an air-cooled Deutz engine and fire-fighting equipment from Magirus. The interest aroused by the 3500 in 1962, and later by the 6500 with its Perkins engine, encouraged AISA to build more comfortable coaches with greater capacity.

By 1969 the range covered models of 1500, 2500, 3500, 4000 and 6500 kg payload, and in 1973 a 7000 kg model was added. In the mid-1970s AISA associated with Motor Ibérica, the maker of Ebro vehicles, and Avia gradually became a second brand of Ebro. When Nissan bought Motor Ibérica in the 1980s the Avia name was dropped, and the last truck with the Avia badge was sold in 1984.

Design and features

• Bigger Perkins diesel: 4,192 cc and 68 hp, a step up from the 2500’s 61 hp engine.
• Chassis for special bodies: the 3500L chassis was used for the Avia-Deutz fire engine.
• Coach connection: the model’s success encouraged AISA to build larger coaches.
• Export brand: sold as Alas outside Spain and built in Portugal by SODAG.

Avia 3500 versions

• Avia 3500 (1962): the standard truck in the 3,500 kg payload class.
• Avia 3500L: long chassis used for the Avia-Deutz fire engine.
• SODAG-built vehicles: Portuguese licence production from 1964.

The smaller Avia 2500 was the first truck of the Spanish range, and the heaviest model of the 1970s is described in Avia 7000. More models are in the Avia collection.

Sources

• Avia (automóviles), Spanish Wikipedia: 3500, Perkins engine, fire engine, coaches, range