page_title: Wifredo Ricart
section_title: The Barcelona "Happy Twenties"
hierarchical_section_title: Wifredo Ricart / The Barcelona "Happy Twenties"
caption_attribution_description: English: Share of Ricart-España, issued June 1927 Deutsch: Aktie von Ricart-España vom Juni 1927
context_page_description: Wifredo Pelayo Ricart Medina was a Spanish engineer, designer and executive manager in the automotive industry, who spent his professional career in Spain and Italy.
context_section_description: Born in Barcelona, Ricart graduated in 1918 as an industrial engineer. His first job was in a Hispano-Suiza dealer, but he soon moved to a new company, Motores Ricart-Perez, that successfully produced industrial engines.
  At that time, in the wake of Hispano-Suiza's automotive success, Barcelona swarmed with automotive initiatives. In this technically exciting environment, Ricart became increasingly interested in automobile engineering, and in 1922 designed his first car. It featured a 4-cylinder, 16-valve 1.5-liter engine which was advanced for its time. Two of these cars ran in the Barcelona Grand Prix for voiturettes, one winning its second race, a few months later.
  In 1926, Ricart founded his own company, Motores y Automóviles Ricart, and in October presented two prototypes of the new Ricart car at the Paris Motor Show, gaining a lot of attention. Nevertheless, financial difficulties compelled Ricart to merge his company with the one of industrial tycoon Felipe Batlló, to produce cars under a new brand, Ricart-España. It was for this company he designed a new model addressed to the high segment of the market, with a 2.4-liter 6-cylinder engine. Again this venture failed due to the general economic slump.
  In 1930, Ricart became a member of the American Society of Automotive Engineers and he established himself as an independent consultant, working for different European firms.
caption: Share of Ricart-España, issued June 1927
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