Talleres Arau was a small workshop in Barcelona involved in the transport sector as a supplier of frames for various motorcycle and motorised tricycle manufacturers. They were located at Passatge Pirineus del Poblenou in the 1950s but there are no traces of their premises left as this area was redeveloped due to the 1992 Olympic Games.
In 1958, Talleres Arau decided to produce their own light transport vehicles and their motocarros were normally supplied with a Hispano Villiers 200cc (197cc) engine. They were active in the production of motocarros between 1958 and 1965.
Then, between 1959 and 1961, they started to manufacture the Sansón 250 motorcycle. Their bike was fitted with a Hispano Villiers 250cc, twin cylinder, air cooled, two stroke and made its first public appearance in 1959. The González-Traver duo entered the prestigious 24 Hours of Montiuic motorcycle race with a prototype.
This picture of a Sanson 250cc was taken by Peprovira and is supplied on a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The Sansón 250cc motorcycle had a power output of 15 hp @ 5,500 rpm, a four-speed gearbox with foot controls and a claimed maximum speed of 120 km/h. Each bike was handmade to order, and it is believed that only about 6 were built but I only know of 2 – the example above and, photographed below, the example in the David Sala Collection.
This motorcycle is on display in the David Sala Collection at Sales de Llierca, Catalonia
They continued to produce motocarro units, unusually some with Guldner diesel engines but I am not aware of any Sansón motocarros having been preserved. Talleres Arau ceased production of Sansón motor vehicles in 1964.
The reproduction of the contemporary newspapers adverts here is authorised by the Ajuntament de Girona and are taken from their Digital Newspaper Archive.
Spanish Motorcycles 