My Escapes Spain Barcelona Exploring Gaudí's Sprawling Surreal Barcelona Vehicle Spotting in Barcelona

Vehicle Spotting in Barcelona

I did the long walks, I visited many museums, fired my camera countless times... and there was still a lot more to see and do in Barcelona.
It's a great place for spotting all sorts of nice vehicles... from various cars to luxury yachts, even!

Barcelona was actually the city that has inspired me to collect photos of interesting vehicles.
Once in a while, something interesting would pass me by and I would regret if I a didn't immortalize it... So, I started photographing cars, boats, any vehicle that seemed either rare, beautiful, vintage or just weird.

These are some of the vehicles I spotted in September 2008 on my first Barcelona trip...

On the photo above you can see one of the first submarines ever built! Actually, it's a beautiful life-like reconstruction. And, it's exposed in the Port Vell area.

It was designed by Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol in the late 1850's, early 1860's and successfully launched in 1864!

The wooden sub was called Ictineo II and was propelled by a steam engine, while its predecessor, the Ictineo I was man power-driven.

This mini submarine is mostly made of wood and brass. Small holes constitute windows and are made of thick glass.

Ictineo II has successfully reached depths of approximately 30 m (98 ft) and has stayed under water for 7.5 hours! Very impressive!

The sub was able to reach a 4.5 knot speed when surfaced, weighed 46 tonnes, had a length of 14 m, beam (width) of 2 m, height of 3 m.

It resembles a fish. In fact, even its name comes from a fish specie.

A cutaway showing its interior and additional details are available on this page by Microsiervos and very detailed explanation and historical retrospective on Low Tech Magazine.

And now let's move forward to luxury motor yachts! Admire the beauty below... Couldn't get close enough to it, due to the fences...

The Reverie yacht is a superyacht indeed... immense (to me, it's big enough!). Price tag: approximately 50 million US dollars!

The mega yacht carries 24 guests and has a crew of 29. Measures 70 m in lenght (!).

Oh, pardon me if referring to a boat as "it" sounds degrading. Some prefer the "she" term...

You might want to take a virtual tour of the Reverie motor yacht on this site.

Just behind the Reverie, a Guardia Civil patrol boat was passing across the water.
(The Spanish Guardia Civil is a federal military status police force, comparable with the Italian Carabinieri or the French Gendarmerie).

The port is a great place to admire old and new ships. Apart from the motor boats and the standard size sailing yachts, there are huge sailing yachts there as well.

This splendid old sailing ship was always there in the port...

Barcelona too is a motorbike and scooter-loving city... Bicycles are also frequently used.

Segways too and various light motor-driven vehicles can be seen here and there.

The first time I saw a 3-wheeled motor scooter with my own eyes was in Barcelona... Here it is...

The BMW C1 motor scooters were produced between 2000-2003 and were a "big hit" at that time. Although, they were quite expensive. Over 10,000 were built, but officially not marketed, nor exported to the USA.

Covered scooters protect from the rain, sunlight and strong frontal winds. But nothing protects on the sides...
Still, 2-wheeled vehicles that require feet to balance them when stopping/embarking/disembarking.

Rickshaws, tricycles are quite popular as well. The rickshaws are like tricycles, only that they have a cabin and usually there are passengers in the rear, while the manpower is provided by the driver sitting at the front.

I caught a single vintage car during this trip... It was an Austin-Healey. These cars were produced between 1952-1972 in the United Kingdom.
I know there are lots and lots of replicas, so I can't tell if the one below is a real one...

And we'll end this page with a "box" vehicle - an armoured van by Prosegur. Used for special transports. I suppose jewelry stores, banks and the rich resort to such transportation services.

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