Unlike brands like Derby, bultaco It did not stand out during the sixties for offering a series focused on a wider audience. Beyond that, mopeds were never in their line of work except for the 49 and 49 GT. Notorious failures, which, in addition to being late to the market, were caused not by the will of the brand but by constant pressure from its distributors in Spain. However, Francisco Xavier Bulto wanted to include very different segments from the start.
As such, while the TSS was being developed for client-pilots focused on speed racing, the Baltaco workshops were also configuring a wide off-road range that wasn’t all sportiness. Because of this, the Sherpa N was already on the market in the early 1960s. Strong and stable, it was distinguished by an excellent carburetion that enabled the motorcycle to function without loss of power in all types of conditions. However, its cost was prohibitive for those who wanted to use it on a daily agricultural basis.
Thus, the Sherpa N had no commercial impact as a practical motorcycle in the local market. Of course, because of the above qualities—more than remarkable lightness—it generated a lot of interest among test fans in the United Kingdom, thus the Sherpa Tee had an unlikely history in competition before “Sammy Miller” came along in 1965 to give it . A radical twist for this off-road specialty. With all this, in 1961 Bultaco thought of launching a motorcycle based on the same concept as the Sherpa N, although, at the same time, cheaper.
Bultaco Campera MK2 America, a motorcycle for riding fast in the field
With Campera in its range, Bultaco initially hoped to win over the target audience for the Sherpa N. Since then, the first generation of this saga derived directly from the Mercurio 125, just changed the position of the stem along with the handlebars. Next to the tube exhaust a practical protective grille. In fact, 1961 Camperas were sold with knobby tires. How special was that.
However, being one of the “popular” bultacos, its production came to deploy tens of thousands of units numbered alongside the Mercurio 125 and 155 from which it was derived. Now, when 1966 came, the model was coming to the fore. Thus, while the Model 21 sought to meet the needs of forest rangers paid by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Model 36 sought the export market as a less aggressive off-road machine than the Matador.
Of course, right at this moment a significant data maze begins, as Baltaco offers different versions of the Campera, incorporating some parts or others depending on whether each unit was sold in the local or US market. On the other hand, this company has something relatively common, where in order to reduce costs, the same part or element may be present in several models.
Be that as it may, what is clearly visible is how a new version of the Campera appeared in 1969 called the Mk 2 America Model 28. Very recognizable thanks to its tank – tailored to the saddle and, if we could possibly be influenced by the felt by the Montesa Cota 247 of last year-, this motorcycle with 174 cubic centimeters of cylinders and 14 CV at 5,500 revolutions per minute stood out for its more aggressive character. What’s more, a new swingarm was included as well as several other new parts, including bellows for the chain fairing. In short, it gave wings to those who wanted to feel closer to the competition for a moment. something that, as a very important detail, ended with a new variation with five ties instead of four. Of course, despite the fact that we can recognize the figure of 990 units built in the list, the Campara Mk2 continued in America with the same variations as the previously mentioned unit. In this case, it boils down to the fact that those destined for the United States tend to have better components than those offered in the local market. And it is that, protected by tariff policies, Spanish brands were not making merits in areas such as quality or innovation. In short, they were planting reasons so that, already in the eighties and with a more open market abroad, Japanese manufacturers would wipe them out.
