Following on from the short-lived Catalan brand, Ardilla, manufactured in Barcelona between 1950 and 1952, the company relocated from Barcelona to Madrid.
Here, it was promoted by Senor Juan Torres Martin, who owned a vehicle repair and spare part production business at Especialidades Mecánicas Sato, located at Goya Street 79 in Madrid. The Ardilla was now rebranded as Raid and was in production in Madrid from 1953 to 1957. The early examples were just an Ardilla, with minor cosmetic changes and crankcases embossed with the Raid brand name.
This Raid 125cc has the in-house engine and is on display as part of the Walter Ankli Collection at Caldes de Boi, in Catalonia.
The in house 125cc engine was developed by Ardilla and had a Dellorto carburettor. It had a squarer cylinder fin profile and twin exhausts
In 1954, industrial technician Natalio Horcajo García completely overhauled the Raid models. The Raid proved to be a popular machine, but the erratic nature of an artisanal production schedule made it difficult to fulfil orders. Later models used Hispano Villiers 125cc and 197cc engines but production had finished by 1962.
The 125cc Raid in the photograph above dates from 1956 with the air cooled, two stroke, Hispano Villiers 10M engine and is on display in the Museo de la Motocicleta Española 28802 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid)
Natalio Horcajo García was heavily involved in the short lived IMFAP (Industria Madrileña de Fabricación de Automóviles Populares) project. This was a project to manufacture a microcar and in 1955 and 1956, 4 different models reached the prototype stage, the first 2 models were powered by Raid engines.
This beautifully restored IMFAP Practico dates from 1956 and 20 were manufactured. It is powered by a twin cylinder, 372cc, Raid engine. It was photographed at an Exhibition of the Claudi Roca Collection in Gironella (Catalonia) in 2023.
The photograph above of the twin cylinder Raid 372cc was taken by and supplied by Claudi Roca, the owner of this IMFAP.
Spanish Motorcycles 
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