In 1997, Josep Rubau, a young industrial designer, was completing his MA in automobile design at the Royal College of Arts in London (UK), when he happened to strike up an interesting conversation with an English car collector while collecting an award for his end of studies project (a design for a "Miura" motorcycle). The collector’s nostalgic observation that "they don’t make cars like they used to" sowed the seeds of an idea that finally led to "a.d. TRAMONTANA.
As soon as he had graduated, Josep began working as a designer in Germany (Volkswagen), where he designed, among other vehicles, the New Beetle "Dune" 4x4, which was presented in international motor shows, such as Detroit, Paris and Geneva.
With that initial idea for the TRAMONTANA, and with the experience gained in the automobile sector, he returned to his native country a few years later, with the aim of putting his idea into effect:
"To create a highly exclusive vehicle using the highest technology available"
To be able to turn this business idea into a reality he needed the support of a businessman from the industrial sector with an entrepreneurial spirit and a great deal of management experience: He found all this in the figure of Albert Foncillas, an industrial engineer who also shared Josep’s passion for applying high technology in vehicles. This partnership brought together the foundations and values of the a.d. TRAMONTANA company.
