The story of the first car in Portugal

The first car arrived in Portugal at the end of 1895, going through several adventures and being the protagonist, on its first trip, of the first car accident. In just a few years there was enormous growth in the import of these vehicles and motorsport, from an early age, captivated both royalty and several important figures in the country.

D. Jorge de Sousa Feio was a wealthy Alentejo landowner, owner of lands in Portalegre, Beja, Ferreira, Santiago do Cacém, Messejana, Ourique, Mértola, Almodôvar and Castro Verde. His political presence was noted and on October 29, 1891, he was titled by King D. Carlos as 4th Count of Avilez.

With several connections and friendships in Paris, D. Jorge de Avilez began to have contact with the automobile world, having caught his attention a model of Panhard et Levassor (Peugeot), which in that year of 1895 had won the “Paris-Bordeaux - Paris". In this test, the brand demonstrated its technological superiority over its competitors, as its combustion engine far outperformed its competitors' electric and steam engines.

It was then, in September 1895, that the Count of Avilez purchased his second-hand car, Panhard et Levassor, with windshield and removable roof, which arrived in Lisbon the following October. Months before this event, the first vehicle with a combustion engine had been imported into Portugal, a bicycle, an option that the count did not consider due to the agility required to guide it, which he would no longer have due to tuberculosis, a disease that would kill him six years ago. after.

The transport of the Panhard to Lisbon is not documented due to the lack of customs documents in the year it arrived in Portugal, however, the most accepted hypothesis is that it was carried out by ship. Arriving at Lisbon customs, the car was a novelty for everyone, who were filled with doubts about the classification of the merchandise. This problem was overcome and the cars that arrived in Portugal later already had classification and also a high customs tax.

It was on October 12, 1895 that the count's merchandise was dispatched and transported by the Count of Avilez, initially to a friend's workshop in Lisbon. This was the moment when the adventures began. The task of starting the car, which should have been simple even taking into account the characteristics of engines at the time, became very complicated. The oil placed in the tank did not allow the car to start and only after realizing that the car ran on gasoline did the trip begin. According to sources at the time, the fear of the count and the engineer that the engine would explode with gasoline was so great that they had to ask a street boy to turn the crank. Fortunately the guy was fine and managed to start the machine.

From this moment on, the objective was to take the car and its occupants from Lisbon to Santiago do Cacém, at the time known as “S. Thiago”, which was no easy task. There were no bridges over the Tagus yet and the maximum speed of the Panhard et Levassor was 15 km/h, on good roads, which was not the case on roads in Portugal at that time.

On October 14, 1895, the count, his friends and the vehicle crossed the river to the bank south of Lisbon by boat, attracting the attention of everyone they passed, who were seeing a cart moving without the horses. Arrival in Santiago do Cacém only happened 2 days later, also motivated by what can be considered the first car accident in Portugal.

It was in Palmela that the car's occupants were forced to spend the night due to being run over by a donkey, which led D. Jorge de Avilez to pay compensation to its owner. The people of that village were perplexed and the matter was discussed among them for a long time.

Despite several setbacks, the count arrived in Santiago do Cacém in the early hours of October 16 and wasted no time in showing off his new acquisition to everyone. In the following days, he took several trips to neighboring lands and the population even came up with a nickname for the car, the “gasolina”.

In the remaining years of the 19th century, a few more cars were imported to Portugal, including around 4 Peugeots, some tricycles and others with steam engines.

Little by little the business, which initially lacked complicated import processes directly from the producer, began to have Portuguese companies focused exclusively on selling cars, even if they had no response throughout the entire sales chain, particularly after-sales.

The royal family was also a great contribution to the car market gaining a foothold in Portugal so quickly. Infante D. Afonso, brother of King D. Carlos, was a car aficionado, having bought several. His relationship with this means of transport was so great that his nickname became “Arreda”, for saying this word so many times while driving.

The first car that was purchased for the royal house was also a Panhard et Levassor, in 1898. Years later, motor sport began to take root in Portugal, with the majority of races being sponsored by the King. The “Real Automóvel Club de Portugal” was created in 1903, with King D. Carlos I himself as one of its founders and after more than 100 years it still exists, losing the “Real” designation with the establishment of the republic.