A Christmas vehicle made in Andalucía

This is the British-Andalusian story of Commer, or rather, Commercial Car Company. This British manufacturer of transport and goods vehicles was founded by Julian Halford in 1905 in south London with a revolutionary approach for its time. The company's name comes from the fact that it was one of the first commercial vehicle manufacturers in the UK.

Up to 1979, light vans, medium and heavy commercial trucks, military vehicles and buses were widely produced. However, Commer had mixed fortunes and was sold several times, first to Humber and then becoming part of the Rootes Group which, by mutual agreement, was absorbed by Chrysler in stages beginning in mid-1964. Finally, in the 1970s, the name Commer was changed to Dodge.

It was during the 'Chrysler' period that Commer came to Andalucía to produce the Commer Walk-Thru. It was introduced in 1961 as a replacement for the Commer BF model. A Walk-through, also known as a multi-stop truck, is a type of commercial vehicle that was designed to make multiple deliveries or stops, with easy access to the load being transported located in the rear. They first appeared in the United States in the 1920s.

In 1964, production of the Commer Walk-Thru began at the Santana Motor S.A. plant located in Linares (Jaén province). The model was offered in 1½, 2 and 3 tonne chassis versions, with different types of diesel and petrol engines. Santana Motor produced and distributed this model in Spain under the name Commer Santana, apparently not ‘burdening’ Spaniards with the English name and pronunciation of the rare letter ‘W’.

The Commer produced in Andalucía was a success. Many Spanish companies began to use it as a distribution lorry for their enterprises. Particular success was enjoyed by the state postal service Correos, the Bimbo bakery (which, incidentally, also appeared in 1964) and... Coca-Cola, which for almost a century has had a special connection with the star character of Christmas.

In 1931, Coca-Cola's marketing department commissioned illustrator Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa Claus for Christmas advertisements. Thanks to his paintings, everyone recognises Santa as a happy warm character with human facial features including twinkling eyes, laugh lines and ruddy cheeks, and eventually more animated in every sense of the word with various vehicles that helped him deliver the drink to people around the world. This is why the Commer Santana, produced in Andalucía until the mid-1970s and used to deliver Coca-Cola in Spain, could well be named Spain's Christmas car.