Tubarão is the brazilian name for “Shark”, that’s for sure an aggressive name for a car which is actually not a rocket but, at the same time, has an aggressive look.
These cars were built by the brazilian Puma, a factory founded in San Paulo by Gennaro Malzoni (clearly of italian origins) who also drew these cars. We must admit that this car has beautiful lines and guessed proportions: that is quite rare when we see other hand-built cars outside of Italy.
While the first cars built by Puma were based on the DKW chassis and engines (these cars are the most rare and valuable), then he started – in 1967 – to build cars using the more economical and reliable VW chassis and engine. This model in particular is based on the Volkswagen Brasilia chassis but the engine has been tuned in order to produce 70 hp: not a powerhouse but this is a car which weighs 1500 pounds (700 kgs) so they are enough to push this car well. This car in particular still has its brazilian plates and looks in very nice shape: some more photos would have been better. Find it for sale at €22,500 (today $25,100) here in Perpignan, France.
the last name of Puma’s designer is Malzoni, with an M.
Pumas were Brazil’s effort to have a sports car when the market was closed for imports (1976-1990) or, prior to it, when it was “just” heavily taxing import cars. aside from the early DKW-based models and the more common VW-based ones, there is also the Puma GTB Series, based on the Chevrolet Opala (itself a Brazilian version of the Opel Rekord, with an American inline-6 engine), like this one:
http://carplace.uol.com.br/carros-para-sempre-puma-gtb-s2-o-felino-com-espirito-esportivo/
now I wonder what a Subaru engine could do for a Puma Tubarão…
LikeLike
Name Fixed!
LikeLiked by 1 person