If a few months ago we were talking about the restoration of our historic “Cometa” model, today we are talking about another bodywork that may not be as well known, but which also has a lot of history.
It was the year 1969, an era when Unión Carrocera Castro-Caride, “metal bodyworks”, bodied 80% of the buses and coaches in Galicia and 18% nationally. “It amazes with its technical perfection,” recalls an article from the time, “one of its main objectives is to combine price and quality with the most advanced aesthetics. This, along with productivity and technique, are the keys to the great acceptance of its bodyworks”.
That same year, Unión Carrocera Castro-Caride began manufacturing its Arosa urban bus. This historic bodywork is the subject of our article today.
What was the Arosa urban bus like?
The Arosa was mostly bodied on Pegaso chassis, although also on other chassis such as Barreiros.
This bus had a front or rear engine and always had two gearboxes: one automatic and one manual. At a time when engines had not yet developed their full power, in front-engined Arosas, the manual gearbox was located on the rear axle and was a double reduction. This meant that, instead of the normal 5 gears, it had 10 (each with a low and high range), to make gear changes smoother.
Its structure, strong and flexible, was built with cold-formed and rolled steel profiles. The exterior cladding used “first quality” cold-rolled steel sheet, with anti-corrosive paint and anti-vibration paste.
Detailed Features
We highlight some of its other most significant features below:
- Floor: made of okoume phenolic, a type of board composed on its outer faces of okoume veneer, a smooth wood from Central Africa with straight grain and pale brown color. It is also a waterproof material, as phenolic water-resistant glues are used in its manufacture.
- Doors: two pneumatic doors on models shorter than 11 meters. For lengths of 11 meters and above, they had three pneumatic doors for passengers and one normal door on the left side, for the driver.
- Windows: mounted in anodized aluminum frames, a treatment that provides great protection against corrosion and high resistance to surface abrasion. All Arosa windows were safety glass and were divided into two parts, with the upper part sliding open to ⅓ of the window height.
- Ventilation: achieved through a skylight at the front and static vents at the rear. The driver had a hatch that drew air through the grille.
- Accessories and miscellaneous: the Arosa had four electric pushbuttons for passenger use and CCUP seats with a metal frame and anatomically shaped polyester or Palmadera wood seat and backrest. The route signs at the front were roller blinds, while on the right side, at the height of the conductor’s booth, they were standard.
Extras of the Time
At its launch, the Arosa was offered with a series of optional extras:
- Wheel covers, in aluminum or brass.
- Electric clock with bracket.
- Fluorescent electronic panels.
- Rigid CCUP type seat.
- Upholstered CCUP type seat or similar.
- Passenger counter machine with its supports, bars, and mounting.
- Floor lined with 4 mm thick alloy aluminum.
- Anti-fog for the driver.
- “Par-sol” anti-glare windshield.
- Conductor’s booth with seat and protection.
Today, all these accessories have either disappeared or are standard equipment on a bus. However, at the time, they were novel extras that substantially improved the vehicles’ equipment.
The evolution of the Arosa to the CS-15
As explained in our article “The history of Castrosua: seventy years of passion and commitment”, in 1979 D. José left UNICAR and bought the Santiago factory. Thus, his business project began the 80s as Castrosua.
In this new phase, the Arosa also acquired a new name: CS-15.
“A veteran on the road” was the slogan used for its presentation. Indeed, in its 10 years of history, the Arosa had proven to be a reliable and durable vehicle, ideal for service in school transport as well as regular and discretionary short-distance service. “The years go by,” reads a CS-15 catalog from the time, “but its classic and simple lines are its best guarantee of continuity.”
We recall a curious anecdote about the CS-15: 5 units were manufactured for Endesa, to transport workers to the As Pontes open-pit mine. These were 4×4 vehicles with front engines. At that time, there were no passenger transport vehicles capable of performing this service.
This was the Arosa urban bus, one of our most historic bodyworks. If you had the opportunity to know it, either as an Arosa or as a CS-15, we would love for you to share your experience in the comments.
