The esteemed Famel bike, which is found today in the garages of some owners and on the rural roads of others (Photo from Motos de Portugal)
Two of us waited for the brother mechanics in my neighboring village in the Beiras to swing open their doors one morning this summer. My commonplace bush-cutter took up the boot and interior of my car. The other machine was a far more fascinating one, a motorcycle from whose seat its wizened owner proudly schooled me on his half-century old Portuguese icon.
Famel-Zundapp read the metal emblem under the rider's nose.
Famel motorcycles, made from 1950 until 1994, still ride all over the villages of Oliveira do Hospital Municipality, Coimbra District, and in other rural areas. A neighbor owns one which, when parked outside his home, was mistaken for a collector's piece by a foreign visitor.
Now, Joel Sousa, the "re-founder" of the company, plans to rekindle the passion and the legacy of Famel with modern electric models. The firm has opened a round of financing, which closes at the end of September. The enthusiast hopes to begin delivery by spring 2025.
"Ten years ago, I had the dream of taking this historic Portuguese brand and reviving it. It is a brand that is close to the hearts of the Portuguese with an incredible legacy and that was linked to the towns. But today, with these two models (Classic and Café Racer), we intend to bring it to the cities in a nod to sustainable urban mobility," Joel Sousa, Famel's CEO, told Jornal de Negócios (September 10).
The motorcycle manufacturer already has an investment of 2.45 million euros from the NOVUS Fund, managed by Magnify Capital Partners in partnership with Banco de Fomento, reported Expresso (September 12). Magnify Capital Partners created the NOVOS Fund of 25 million euros to invest in small- and medium-sized companies headquartered in Portugal, according to the Magnify Capital Partners website.
Private investors also can invest in Famel with a minimum of 10,000 euros.
Famel's pride for its new beginning is the E-XF motorcycle, an electric version of the revered 1970s XF-17. It can be reserved for 600 euros, reported Expresso. Joel Sousa said that there are 100 pre-reservations, according to Jornal de Negócios.
Electric Famel (Photo from Famel webpage)
At one time, there were many Portuguese motorcycle manufacturers, although Famel became one of the largest.
"(Motorcycles) quickly became part of our imagination They were everywhere in the national landscape. They became an element of Portuguese culture," according to Jornal de Negócios (October 14, 2017). "Their history is essentially an economic history, with a broad social dimension, closely linked to job stability and the increase in wages for industrial and rural workers. It was these factors that allowed workers and landowners to abandon their bicycles and buy, in the most imaginative ways possible, a mota.
"This is how, especially in the 1960s and 1980s, they began to appear on the roads, streets, alleys and corners of villages mainly, but also in some towns and cities. During the day, they were used to go to work. . . . At night, they served, with touching loyalty, given the usually precarious state of mind of the driver, their owners in wanderings to cafés, dances and, later, nightclubs.
"From the moment, which arrived quickly, when owning one became a source of honor, its production and sales multiplied. The Casal Boss arrived, but also the SIS Sachs Andorinha, as well as the Confersil Diana 104, the Macal, the most legendary of all, the Famel Zundapp GT25, and also the Vilar, the (Sachs) V5 and the Cinal Pachancho, all of them manufactured in Portugal through licenses from the original brands.
"It must be rare to find a Portuguese person who does not have a story concerning one of these motas, even if it is just coming across one on an unlikely road. The same economic and social history caused them to decline from the 1990s onwards, thanks to the car. But they continue to circulate on remote roads in our land."
Famel's Story
Famel (Fábrica de Produtos Metalicos Lda) was founded as a metal rim factory for bicycles and mopeds in 1949 in Mourisca de Vouga, Águeda Municipality, Aveiro District. It began motorcycle production in 1950.
About a decade later, a partnership with the German company, Zundapp, began for the supply of engines. In 1975, the XF-17 was unveiled and would become the best-selling motorcycle in Portugal with sustained demand until the mid-1990s, according to Jornal de Negócios (September 10).
"When Zundapp ceased production, it put Famel in considerable difficulty as it had no alternative engine supplier other than Casal, which also was facing financial problems. Sales were dropping rapidly in the early 1990s, and this had a knock-on effect on its suppliers and agents. Famel began to lay off employees, and the company was declared bankrupt in 2002," according to Motos de Portugal (2018) by Emanuel Barbosa and José Bártola.
Motos de Portugal provides a history of 90 of the most emblematic Portuguese motorcycles as well as a record of all the vehicles selected for the exhibition of the same name, which took place at Casa do Design Matosinhos from September 2017 to January 2018, according to Ascari bookstore specializing in cars and motorcycles.
Other factors that led to Famel's downward trajectory were Portugal's entry into the European Economic Community in 1986 along with competition from international brands, according to Jornal de Negócios (September 10).
Famel Is Back
It was not until 2014 that the Famel name became a contemporary one again with the announcement of revitalization and developing a prototype. In 2022, the company presented the E-XF electric motorcycle. This year began the production stage of the Classic and Café Racer models, reported Jornal de Negócios (September 10).
Reservations are being taken for the models whose performance is equivalent to that of those with combustion engines of 125 ccs. The motorcycles will have a range of 120 kilometers on city circuits due to two removable batteries.
The price is an estimated 6,500 euros but still being adjusted, as the connectivity part still is in its finalization stage.
Famel CEO Joel Sousa plans to increase gradually the number of motorcycles until 2029 with production of 2,000 per year.
Sousa said that he has orders from emigrants in countries such as France for whom nostalgia is a key selling point.
"The first focus will be on these markets where people remember, but we also have orders from other countries."
Perhaps the unsentimental orders stem from Portugal's prowess in two-wheel design. One wonders about the advertising campaign and its target audience. The campaign could take so many different directions. For example, it could identify Famel with Portugal itself which, in the past several years, has become a known and sought-after destination, for better or worse.
António Viera da Silva, founder and managing partner of Magnify Capital Partners, said that the fund's investment establishes a foundation for Famel to stand out in the growing electric vehicle market, not only in Portugal but also in international markets, reported Portugal Forbes (September 11). During the past 18 years, he has worked as an international consultant in business development in 30 countries, according to Magnify's website.
With plans to start production in Anadia, near Águeda, the firm intends to take advantage of the industrial capacity in the region, which is known for being one of the largest bicycle producers in Europe, according to Portugal Forbes. Famal has found a partner there with 25 years of experience, CEO Joel Sousa told Jornal de Negócios.
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