Poor Mano’s Dino: 1973 Puma Spyder
The Puma Spyder was a convertible version of the Puma GTE, which was a low volume oddball built first on the Brazilian Volkswagen Kharmann-Ghia chassis and later the Volkswagen Brasilia chassis. It was the brainchild of Brazilian racer and businessman Genaro “Rino” Malzoni and sold in limited numbers in its home market, but a few were imported into the USA without engine/transmission and titled as kit cars. The combination of Ferari-esque looks and Volkswagen simplicity (and pricing!) makes for an interesting combination. Find this 1973 Puma Spyder offered for $3995 in Boise, ID via craigslist. Tip from Hugh.
From the seller:
1973 VW
condition: good
cylinders: 4 cylinders
delivery available
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 80000
odometer broken
paint color: silver
size: compact
title status: clean
transmission: manual
type: convertible
Fiberglass body no collision damage no rust. I have interior seats and a wood center console. This car was designed in Italy and built in Brazil. Only date I can find is for the motor 1969. Some cracks to the gel coat but Fiberglass bones are in good shape.
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Not too bad a deal if you have the skills to bring it back to life. I’d rather have a Bianco S if I were going this route.
Great find. Great project. If its rusted out below simply do the kit-car swap. Fantastic project and quality build it was at that time.