History of Galgo, Part 1

By Fedor Eliseev and Fernando Rey

Photos by Sebastian Ariel Palomeque and the Miarroba forum

Our friend Jorge Ignacio Prieto has recently published the list of model manufacturers from Argentina. He did a great job researching the names of companies, which became a part of history. Our aim is to tell the history of some of them. We have published a series of articles about the biggest manufacturer from Argentina, Buby. Now we are glad to represent the first part about another very important and big company, Galgo.

The history of Galgo began at the end of the 1960s. By this time, Buby had great success in the Argentinian market for models and toys, producing a huge range of miniatures in scales 1:40-1:43 and in 1:64. The government of the country encouraged domestic factories and prohibited imports. Therefore, the collectors could purchase mainly Buby models inside Argentina.

But the market was very large and the demand was enormous, so it was no surprise that other players appeared. It was a good opportunity to make a profit. And Galgo became one of the most successful companies in the toy market in Argentina after Buby.

Galgo was founded by brothers Enrique and Roberto Pecareq. There is not much information about them, except they had Italian heritage and were talented entrepreneurs, who knew how to invest.

Galgo started as a Bijouterie (jewelry) producer in the 1960s. Looking at a growing toy market, the Pecareq brothers decided to enter this growing segment. The first models made by Galgo invaded the market in 1969.

Their early production was very interesting but unreliable which was perhaps caused by a lack of knowledge. The engineering department had no experience in diecast technology, so Galgo used lead alloy for their models. The bodies were made in rubber molds, so different batches of models could slightly change shape.

The plastic baseplate was fixed to the body with rivets and had the the model name and catalog number on them. There was no motor, gearbox, suspension or exhaust system details cast into the baseplates.

The miniatures were equipped with windows made of vacuum plastic colored orange and had no interior; some of them had opening bonnets with a motor inside on the early batches. The tyres were plastic and the models came with a suspension. All Galgo models at that time were hand painted causing imperfections in the finish.

For packaging, Galgo offered a cardboard box with the image of the car and catalog number. Later, the boxes became more informative: the name of the model was added and the name “sinfricción”, without friction in Spanish. This may be a nod to Hot Wheels but using their own fast wheels or speedwheels.

The main purpose of the first models by Galgo was to compete in the Matchbox / Hot Wheels segment. Their scale was approximately 1:64; some models copied the castings of Matchbox 1-75 but most were original.

Their first model was the Ford Group VI (sometimes called the Group 4).

The second model was the Lotus Mark II. The photos below show it plain and with an added arial and opening rear hatch.

From 1969 until 1977, Galgo produced 24 models in this series.

Here are three of their sports cars. [Click on the photos to see the names of the model cars.]

Most models copied sport cars, and several times Galgo mis-interpreted their names. For example, Alfa Orion, Monza Pininfarina or Lotus Mark 2. The Alfa looks similar to the Alfa Romeo Carabo concept car and the Lotus similar to a Lotus Europa. [Click on the photos to see the names of the model cars.]

Some models, like the Maracaibo Hai, are mysterious (perhaps their interpretation of the Monteverdi Hai). And some, like the Mazda Tibura, resemble a Matchbox very closely.

At the same time, Galgo opened up a new segment in Argentina – Formula 1. In 1972, the first F1 models in lead were introduced. No doubt that they caused great interest among collectors in the country of the well-known F1 drivers like Fangio, Gonsales, and Reutemann!

Galgo made models of several F1 cars form the end of the 1960s to the beginning of the 70s. All their miniatures had race numbers for every driver, different colors depending on the exact Grand-Prix, and the figure of the driver inside the cockpit, molded as a single piece.

There is some difficulty in identifying F1 models by Galgo. For instance, Galgo made the Matra Blue Flame and the Tyrrell WP 10. Apparently, the Argentinian company actually made the Matra MS 10 and MS 11 from the 1968 and 1969 seasons (a Matra and Tyrrell collaboration). Driving these cars, Jackie Stewart began his battle to be World Champion and became one at the 1969 championship.

Another iconic F1 car made by Galgo was the Ferrari 312T. In fact this miniature resembles the Ferrari 312B of the early 70s (very hard to identify exactly).

At the same time, the Ford Coyote V8 looks a little similar to the 1968 McLaren M7 driven by Denny Hulm, but more likely it is in reality the AJ Foyt Coyote from 1970’s Indy racing in the US. It is in red and has race number 2.

The other cars modeled by Galgo has been changing from time to time. It’s very interesting that the company modeled many Italian cars. Perhaps there is a connection there due to the Pecareq brothers’ Italian heritage.

The lead model range by Galgo wasn’t very successful. Back then, other Argentinian manufacturers like Buby, JET, Muky and Aguti offered more sophisticated models. Some collectors, who had the opportunity, preferred to purchase Matchbox or Tomica. In addition, using the lead alloy in model construction was a great mistake. Most of the early miniatures by Galgo were destroyed with zinc corrosion (zinc pest).

The Pecareq brothers understood that if they want to be important players in the toy market, they should change technology and create a new attractive model range. To reach this aim, they hired Luis Biasatti to be their production manager. He was a young talented engineer who had experience in the diecast industry. His capabilities and freedom given him by Galgo’s proprietors allowed him to build up the company and transform it to one of the biggest producer of diecast models in South America.

In 1977, Galgo introduced a new model line up in different segments – 1:64 F1, 1:43 street and racing cars, 1:87 vehicles, 1:64 cars, trucks and buses, 1:43 trucks, TV series cars, and plenty of toys.

Stay tuned for Part 2 to learn about these later ranges.

Nowadays, the first lead alloy models by Galgo are very expensive. It’s hard to find them in mint condition, so collectors really appreciate them. Most of them did not survive, though the models which did are real treasures and witnesses to history.