In the Switzerland of South America – in Montevideo, Colonia and Punta del Este – a unique Uruguayan approach to cars can be seen. Cars are expensive and the climate is benign, so the road along the south coast from Montevideo to Punta boasts gently rusting fields which present a history of the car in the twentieth century. And some are on the street …
At Carrasco airport, the taxi fleet is dominated by white C-class Mercedes estates, and the long-distance bus services are frequent and excellent. The transport infrastructure is sound.
The familiar brands are there.
In Punta, playground of the rich, you see plenty of Porsches and the odd Ferrari, while at the other end of the scale, Uruguyan recyclers – recolectores – use a very eco-friendly form of transport.
Horse-drawn transport has its enthusiasts and collectors, but most striking is the 3- and 4-wheeled, small-engine transport.
As elsewhere, quad bikes are basic and economical, adopted and developed enthusiastically. The well-known brands appear here too.
In Colonia hire quads ply the cobbled streets; Dad drives with son up front, while Mum and daughter take the rear-facing seat, enjoying that view. Quads can also be hired at the ferry terminal from Buenos Aires.
Locals clearly find them useful.
None more so than the jobbing builder I encountered. It was hard to believe that this is road-legal, though it reveals the Uruguayan approach to regulation: when he’s stopped by the police the usual reaction is a joking “Get that thing out of the way!”
It boasts a 1969 100 cc Honda engine, like the Honda Cub step-through bike, and does 38 kilometres per litre, 107 miles per Imperial gallon.
Metal sides, fibreglass roof repaired with gaffer tape, sliding windows, carpeted floor and doors …
He has to drive carefully in cross winds, and take corners slowly. Don’t think somehow he’ll be putting in a claim for injury on the job either …
P.S.
Here’s one I saw at a wedding reception.