The History of the Automotive Industry in Portugal Featured in the “Arquivos do Saber” Series

The history of the first attempts to establish an automotive industry in Portugal will be the focus of the third session of the “Archives of Knowledge: Science, History, and Memory” series, which will take place on September 23 at 2:30 p.m. at the FCT campus. Admission is free, but advance registration is required by September 22.

The session, moderated by Maria Luísa Sousa of the Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology at NOVA FCT, is titled “The Automotive Industry in Portugal: A Sheer Veil of Fantasy (1896–1958)” and will feature a presentation by José Barros Rodrigues, a researcher specializing in the history of the automobile in Portugal, who will trace more than six decades of projects, ambitions, and experiences related to the development of this sector in the country.

The exhibition begins with the arrival in Portugal, in 1895, of some of the first motorized vehicles, at a time when mechanical mobility was beginning to spark the interest of the industrial elite, policymakers, and a new clientele. Over the following decades, several companies sought to explore the possibilities of this new sector, including Indústria Automóvel Portuguesa, Alfredo de Brito, Lda., and Estaleiros Parry & Son.

The timeline also includes the Edfor project in the 1930s and the various initiatives that emerged in the 1950s, a period when the possibility of establishing a domestic automotive industry came closest to becoming a reality. The year 1958 would mark the end of this cycle and the transition to a new phase, associated with the so-called Assembly Law, which established limits and conditions for the importation of automobiles.

The “Arquivos do Saber” series is an initiative of the FCT, organized through its Science and Technology Archive, aimed at promoting its documentary collection, which possesses unique characteristics for the study of the history of scientific activity in Portugal. Through these sessions, held in an informal and collaborative setting, the goal is to foster knowledge and the study of the documentation held by the FCT, which is of great importance to the history of science, scientific policy, and research institutions in Portugal.

See the full program for this session here, and visit the page for this series of sessions for more information.