• VAUXHALL HB - VIVA aka GRUMETT PICK UP, VAN, COUPE & ESTATE IN URUGUAY
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MY THANKS TO CHRISTIAN G FOR SOME OF THE PICTURES & ADVERTISEMENTS IN THIS SECTION & ALSO HELP WITH THE HISTORY

Marbaden is the pseudonym used by Uruguayan automotive designer, artist and illustrator and is how Mario Ferreyra Daniel Barreto used to sign most of his works. Born in Montevideo in 1947, Barreto Ferreyra had a passion for cars from a very young age. He learnt to read early as well by collecting brochures and literature which also had the effect of stimulating his natural gift for drawing and enhancing his visual memory.
As a teenager he dreamt of having a career as an automotive designer. Unfortunately engineering was the only avenue open to him since in the early 1960s there was no opportunity for automotive designers in Uruguay as there was very little in the way of an automotive industry. 
But the prospect of a career training as an engineer took him away from his normal academic studies, but training as an engineer was an option that motivated him to try his luck.
In 1968, forced by the need to adequately fund his passion, he entered a competitive application for a cartographer position in the Ministry of Livestock and Agriculture. Despite there being 500 other applicants and his relative lack of experience and previous training he got a position of "expert cartographer cartoonist" with excellent score in the Department of Soil and Fertilizers Ministry of Livestock and Agriculture. In January 1969 he was moved to a project with a similar function at the Joint Commission on the Laguna Merin and later with the Department of Agricultural Research and Statistics (National Agricultural Census) as assistant principal expert in agricultural statistics.
Late in 1969 he entered the Phillips Industries technical department as a draftsman, complementing this work he began to take the first steps in the task of "industrial quality control."

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THE PROTOTYPE HB VIVA PICK UP OUTSIDE THE DESIGN & ENGINEERING CENTRE AT LUTON COMPLETE WITH URUGUAYAN PLATES READY TO BE DRIVEN BACK TO URUGUAY. THE PROTOYPE WAS METAL BUT WAS USED FOR FIBRE GLASS PRODUCTION BY GRUMETT

Finally, at the age of 22, in early 1970 he was accepted for a position in Super SA National Automotive, a company dedicated to the construction of car bodies in polyester resin and fiberglass integrated with mechanical components imported from Vauxhall in England. In this company he served as Assistant Automotive Engineer where his main responsibilities were: technical draftsman and manager of the quality control of the finished product. The first project he worked on was a crew cab version of the up HB Viva pick up which Vauxhall designed and built a prototype specifically for the Uruguayan market for Super SA’s Chief Engineer Schaich to

take back with him and use as a pattern for the fiberglass version they would build. The prototype was registered with Uruguayan plates and driven back. It began production in 1969 and then in May 1970 as the crew cab SL.

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THE FRONT VIEW OF THE GRUMETT SL PICK UP, SADLY FEW REMAIN TODAY

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FROM THE REAR THE ORIGINAL HB REAR LIGHT UNITS ARE USED, SOME MODELS FEATURED A LOAD COMPARTMENT COVER

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VIEWED FROM THE SIDE THE CREW CAB SECTION IS CLEAR BUT SPACE WAS TIGHT, NOTE THE ORIGINAL VAUXHALL SL WING BADGE

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THE INTERIOR USED THE VIVA HB STEERING WHEEL, WITH AN SL BADGE, DOOR HANDLES AND WINDOW WINDER HANDLES BUT THE DOOR CARDS ARE UNIQUE, THE DASHBOARD, WHATS LEFT OF IT IS AGAIN THE SAME AS THE HB VIVA

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A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE GRUMETT SL DASHBOARD WHICH WAS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE VAUXHALL HB VIVA

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A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE VAUXHALL 1159cc ENGINE

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A VIEW OF THE CARGO AREA OF THE GRUMETT SL DOUBLE CAB COMPLETE WITH HB REAR LIGHTS

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A 1972 GRUMETT SL PICK-UP

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A FRONT VIEW OF THE SAME 1972 GRUMETT SL DOUBLE CAB

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A GRUMETT SL ESTATE & VAN WAS ALSO EXPORTED TO ECUADOR AS SHOWN HERE

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ANOTHER VERSION OF THE GRUMETT ESTATE WITH UNIQUE BODYWORK MIX OF HB VIVA AND OPEL KADETT, IN FIBREGLASS, AND STILL USING THE HB VIVA REAR LIGHT UNITS

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FROM ANOTHER VIEW THE FRONT HALF IS HB VIVA WHILE THE REAR IS LOOSLY BASED ON THE KADETT B ESTATE BUT WITH VAUXHALL LIGHTS

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