In this final installment of cars I saw during my trip to Argentina in March/April, I’ll go over the cars I didn’t see. Many of these are homegrown, though there’s a badge-engineered vehicle here ‘n there. One of them you may even lust after, so read on!

Industrias Kaiser Argentina
There’s a lot of cross-pollination with this one. IKA was founded in 1956 and started with Willys Jeeps, as far as I know. Then, the dies for the Kaiser Manhattan (which was discontinued in 1955) were shipped to Argentina, where the Kaiser Carabela was produced for several years (in all my travels, I only recall seeing one in an alley). By the beginning of the next decade, IKA was producing the Renault Dauphine. Renault would have a long relationship with IKA. which would also include the 4, 12, 18, and Fuego.

Also beginning in 1960 was the Bergantin, a restyled Alfa Romeo 1900 powered by either a Willys four-cylinder or, later, the Continental six-cylinder from the Carabela.

Next in the IKA story was a cooperation with American Motors Corporation. The Rambler Classic and Ambassador replaced the Carabela and Bergantin for 1962 using the Continental engine. And, in an ironic twist, the Jeep Gladiator (later to become an AMC product itself) began to be produced.

However, the IKA Torino was the progeny of what many consider the greatest car to be built in Argentina. If you can imagine a 1964 Rambler American sent to Pininfarina, what would it look like? It came out spectacularly well and was built from 1967-82. Kaiser’s Tornado OHC straight-six powered the Torino, and a less fancy version was used for Ramblers as well.

IME Rastrojero
Industrias Mechanicas del Estado was a state-owned manufacturer that produced several vehicles that I used to see around Buenos Aires. The first-gen Rastrojero (“Pathfinder”) truck clearly has a Willys influence.

The second-gen version was a lot more car-like, but it stands to reason because it also was produced as a passenger car — in fact, it gives me Checker vibes. These 1968-79 vehicles were powered by a Borgward diesel four-cylinder, later to be succeeded by a Peugeot diesel four.

Fiat 1500
While many Fiats were produced in Argentina (including several we had in the U.S.), the 1500 is the one I used to look at with curiosity. For one, I had an old Matchbox of it, so I could actually see this car in the flesh.

The other reason is that doesn’t come off as being very Italian, especially with what appears to be a Corvair-influenced design.

Peugeot
My uncle used to have a robin’s-egg blue Peugeot 404 with the rally lights and a column-shifted four-speed. These used to be seen everywhere as it was produced through 1981.

The 504 also was popular, available from 1969, but starting in 1981, it began to be produced by a new company called Sevel that merged Fiat and Peugeot’s Argentine operations to become the largest automaker in the country. Sevel continued producing the 504 (as well as the 505, several Fiats, and a full-size Chevrolet C10 pickup) through 1999, when Sevel was disbanded. Like the Falcon, the 504 went through several styling updates that were unique to Argentina.

SIAM DiTella
The SIAM (Seccion Industrial Amasadoras Mecanicas) Di Tella was based on Pininfarina’s British saloons from BMC. Up front, it looked like a Riley 1500, which was not an attractive car to this kid, but apparently, it was popular as a taxi due to its spacious interior. It was produced until 1966, when the company went bankrupt.

Once again, big thanks to Michael for the use of his scans.