Ardilla was a Catalan brand of motorcycle, briefly manufactured by the company Industrias del Plata, SA in Barcelona between 1950 and 1952.
This restored/preserved 1952 example of the Model 52 was in the Museu Sala Team at Manresa when I photograhed it in 2021 but the museum has now closed.
The company made a single model, a single cylinder, air cooled, two stroke, 125cc (Bore/Stroke of 52.8mm x 57mm = 124.77cc) that had a claimed output of 4.5 HP at 4,500 rpm. It had a steel tube frame, a three-speed gearbox, and a top speed of circa 75 kph with fuel consumption of 3.5 litres per 100 kilometres.
A significant proportion of the Ardilla manufacturing output was destined for Argentina. To combat the risk of famine in the early 1950s, the Franco led Spanish Government imported grain and meat from South America, specifically Argentina and the exported motorcycles helped to fund this trade by exchange. Some sources have suggested that Industrias del Plata SA was actually government owned.
This unrestored example was photographed at the the Museu de la Moto – Bassella
Unusually for one of the lesser-known brands, Ardilla engines were produced in house.
This adds to the suspicion that the Industrias del Plata SA, had full Government backing.
A subsequent change in Spanish economic policy and its reduced reliance on these imports is often cited as a reason for the rapid demise of the marque, as its primary market disappeared.
Interestingly, an Ardilla unit served as the foundation for the initial prototype of the future MYMSA. In 1952, while waiting for bureaucratic permits to establish their future company, the Aragall brothers – founders of MYMSA – constructed their first engine. Lacking their own materials, they mounted it on a rolling Ardilla 125cc frame, which they had obtained from the Ardilla factory located near their workshop in the Sant Andreu neighbourhood. The name Ardilla means squirrel in Catalan and Chipmunk in Spanish.
Spanish Motorcycles 
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