What in the world is a Chevy Opala? No, not an Impala, an Opala. It is a Brazilian built sedan that use the German Opel Rekord/Commodore platform and today’s version is the luxury equipped Dimplomata. It is also covered in an amazing shade of brown and has more style than a well worn leather jacket. […]
Do you ever find a car and think: “why do I want this car?” It isn’t a car that’ll be fast, fun, or efficient. And it won’t be something the neighbors appreciate being parked in front of their house or acceptable at the middle school pickup line. However you will have the only car built […]
The Volkswagen Beetle was used for a number of kit-style cars over the years — but don’t think for a minute that you need to settle for some homebuilt project, because a few crazy people in Brazil built a legitimate production car using bits of old Beetles…and it doesn’t look bad at all. Find this […]
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 […]
The MP Lafer is a Brazilian (Brasilian?) built kit car designed by Parcival Lafer that uses the engine/transmission from a VW Beetle and bunch of fiberglass to look like an MG. You might have some questions, and you probably should, but the real question today is “who signed the spare tire cover?”. Mr Lafer himself? […]
If this next car looks simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, you are not alone. This car is a result of some international disputes that made Brazil ban (or make them really expensive) the importing of foreign cars for a number of years. The folks at Volkswagen got around the furrin car hate by building a factory (or two) in Brasil and eventually letting the locals design and develop their own cars. Nossa Senhora! This car is a Volkswagon of Brasil built type 3 that was designed by Marcio Piancastelli and it was given the nickname of Zé do Caixão (“Coffin Joe”) because of its boxy shape. This 1969 Volkswagen 1600L failed to meet reserve at a bid of $9800 (but will probably be back up for sale soon) located in Daytona Beach, FL.
Life in Brazil consists of pretty much nothing but playing soccer and partying in the streets…but that was before COVID, and today they mostly try to avoid this virus. Anyway, there is an fascinating automotive subculture in the former Portuguese colony and up until the 1990s Brazil (the world’s fifth largest country by population and geography) did not allow imported automobiles, so major OEMs around the world set up local manufacturing centers. At first the local plants built vehicles designed and engineered from the parent company’s home country, but eventually the locals starting building unique vehicles, particularly Volkswagen of Brasil. The SP2 was developed on the Type 3 Variant chassis with styling by Marcio Piancastelli. Find this 1976 Volkswagen SP2 bidding for $17,000 reserve-not-met located in Daytona Beach, FL via eBay.
Up until the 1990s Brazil (the world’s fifth largest country by population and geography) did not allow imported automobiles — and as a result, major OEMs around the world set up local manufacturing centers. In the beginning, the local plants built vehicles designed and engineered from the parent company’s home country, but eventually the locals […]
The Volkswagen Brasilia was sold in Brazil (and Mexico) from 1974 through 1982. The type 321 was manufactured by Volkswagen on Brazil and borrowed most of its chassis from the Karmann-Ghia and engine from the Beetle., but the styling was pure squareback cool. This is the first we’ve featured on DT, probably because they were […]
The Ventura was a fiberglass rebody of a Volkswagen from Brazil — similar in concept, spirit, and styling to the awesome Puma. If Volkswagen made a rear-drive GT car that preceded the Scirocco and Corrado, and it looked half as good as this does, they would be everywhere. Instead, the Ventura got the “just another […]