Barreiros TT-90-22 ‘El Abuelo’

In the mid-50s there was a contest convened by the Portuguese army to acquire 400 AWD trucks. Eduardo Barreiros saw an opportunity and despite not having the mandatory administrative authorization to be able to manufacture complete vehicles, he decided to participate in the contest. A small team under D. Eduardo’s own hands went to work to create the first truck called Barreiros TT-90-22 and known as ‘El Abuelo’.

A prototype of an off-road truck was built in a record time and based on components of other vehicles, such as the axes from a Douglas crane, while the winch and the reducer came from a GMC of the Second World War, as well as some units from Ross. The truck was equipped with the most powerful engine in Barreiros range at that time — the EB-6, a six cylinder inline, with a working volume of 4.740 cc and power of 84 HP. One of the features of TT-90-22 was the front axle with traditional crossbows, which were anchored to a rocker type chassis.

With this prototype Barreiros won the Portuguese Army contest against famous international brands, and got the license to produce complete vehicles. The first military trucks (these were the updated version TT-90-21) were sent you to Portuguese army in 1958. The only prototype of ‘El Abuelo’ had been lost in the 70s after staying in the factory for several years. Now you can find the excellent replica of this truck in the Barreiros Foundation in Spain.