Vintage gated 1960s ATLAS Traction Elevator - E 3rd St. - GO, BR

January 10, is the 103rd anniversary of the founding of Pirie, Villares & Cia., which would become Elevadores Atlas and the Villares Industries group. So why not, one of their most iconic elevators ever, the popularly known, "Atlinhas"?

I never thought I'd find one of these in original conditions in here, with such an easy access! Usually it would've been already modded or replaced, but no, it's up and running well! And in near pristine condition, too. Just so you know how old it actually is, it's from before Villares got their legendary symbol designed by architects CauduroMartino. Back then, the logo was only an english shield with a V in the middle and "Villares" written on the top. Just for those who like fun facts.
This elevator is located in downtown, in one of the very old buildings that there always are. This place is a commercial one, with office rooms. Front desk and staircase besides the elevator just look and feel as they did back in the 60s, few things have been renovated or changed.
Despite being a commercial building, the elevator is a residential configuration one, due to cost and the small size/low traffic of the building.
The cab is original, but shows it's age. Could've been worse, it's still very well done for an elevator that is around 60 years old. Swing doors haven't been replaced, they're original. Even the metal capacity plate on the back wall is still there, a rare sight in most Atlas installs from the 1950s and onward, which means that this is one of the first ones. You might have noticed that there's no capacity markings on the bottom of the COP like most Pop-out panels, which means that the plate back there is original.
The fixtures, too, are still the same, the call button on T is original, however the button light and arrows on it that work as the lanterns, don't light up anymore (as expected). Residential Atlas pop-out call stations were not the same as the COP, instead, they went for this big, siliconated white button that lights up, with the directional arrows in each ends. Finding one that has up and down buttons is uncommon.
Maintenance is not done by Schindler, but by a small local generic brand that also mantains another unique elevator one block away from here that is soon going to be featured in this channel, so STAY TUNED! Generic company is doing a nice job on it, their maintenance seems to be decent from what I've seen.

How this elevator runs, is what you would expect for an older and lower-end model from it's time. Only one speed, but the bumps aren't all that bad. Only some floor contactors can be heard on floor 1. No complaints on this aspect.
The gate, for my surprise, is automatic, though I'm not sure if it's original or added later. It still has the handle there, so probably at one point it could've been manual. When I tried closing it manually, some relays were clicking up in the machine room. Since it seemed to be "locked", I thought of just pressing thr floor button and seeing what happened. And there it was, door operator came into action. The "PO" (Push to Open) button being pushed in was another thing that made me think it was manual, since even elevators without automatic doors still feature the PO door button, due to the same panel being manufactured for all installs (and by the time it came, most Atlas was already phasing out manual doors).
Overall, a pretty awesome find! Hopefully there are at least a handful more in town. The problem is, most are located in private apartment buildings, which means, no entrance unless you have something to do with a resident. Downtown is a great place to find them, however, since it's where the old places are located.

Specifications:
Manufacturer: ATLAS Villares
Mantainer: SCS Elevadores (local generic)
Model: Unknown (these ones are unnofically called "Atlinhas")
Fixtures: Black Pop-out buttons, residential version
Type: Passenger Residential
Hoisting: Overhead Traction
Doors: Automatic Pantographic gate (car), manual swing doors (landings)
Capacity: 420kg/6 Persons
In Service: Early 1960s
Floors Served: 3 (T* - 1 - 2)
Operation: Relay-controlled, single-speed running
Rating: 10/10! This is an awesome find for me, and a very unique one. Still running great, nothing new added or replaced at all, a very fun one to ride. Cab is a little bit aged though.

Shot: November 13, 2020
Camera: Samsung Galaxy A71
©2020-2021 L. Naves

[wendellpinheiro]

Lindíssimo! Isso sim é um elevador de verdade...

[diegomoreira]

Caramba que top irmão! Pop out muito legal e até que tá bem conservado! Infelizmente muitos estão sendo modernizados, mas ainda bem que tem alguns como esses! Parabéns pelo vídeo

[rafaelrigoelevadores]

caraca mano q massa, esses Pop Out dos anos 60 é foda msm, sera q eu consigo encontrar um desses num prédio de 2 andares bem velho ?