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1974 Volkswagen Brasilia

1974 Volkswagen Brasilia

Published December 18, 2020 by Carter

I’ll start out by saying that the Brasilia is not the most beautiful Volkswagen product. It is not the most beautiful air-cooled product, either. In fact, we can go a few steps further and argue that it’s not even the most beautiful product from Volkswagen do Brazil, but a factor of at least two – since the SP2 and Karmann Ghia TC have that market pretty firmly cornered. But all three of these Brazilian creations share one thing in common, besides being air-cooled and produced in South America – they’re über rare in the states. Today a clean Brasilia has popped up on eBay in Florida, and it was worth a look:

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1982 Puma GTC

1982 Puma GTC

Published September 18, 2019 by Carter

Over the last few months I’ve taken a look at a few oddball Volkswagen do Brasil creations that were popular but never appeared here. Most recently was the Karmann Ghia TC, before that was the legendary and fantastic SP2, and first but mostly forgettable was the Brasilia:

1978 Volkswagen Brasilia LS

But the Brasilia’s rather humdrum existence was spiced up by an aftermarket producer known as Puma. Puma Indústria de Veículos SA’s roots were actually in producing rebodied front-engine DKWs in Brazil, but they managed to make the kit work with some refinement first on the Karmann Ghia and later on the Brasilia. The result was the Puma GTE – a pretty slick budget Ferrari Dino knockoff which somehow managed to work when so many VW-based customs didn’t. Puma added a convertible version called the GTS in the 1970s and then renamed that model the GTC for 1980, two years before the Brasilia shut down production. Sold as complete cars in South America and later South Africa, some kits were sent to North America – but this one is an original build and import:

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1978 Volkswagen Brasilia LS

1978 Volkswagen Brasilia LS

Published March 15, 2019 by Carter

Do you ever wonder ‘What if VW had decided to make the Golf platform develop from the Beetle rather than the Audi 50?‘

Me either. But it’s an interesting thought exercise, and what’s interesting is that we actually have an example of what could have been. That’s because Volkswagen do Brasil did produce a hatchback successor to the Beetle, and here it is – the Brasilia. The Brazilian branch of VW utilized a Karmann Ghia floor, a 1600 cc Beetle motor and borrowed the styling from the Type 4s to create a small 3- and 5-door hatchback.

It was reasonably successful, too – Volkswagen do Brasil reportedly sold somewhere north of 1,000,000 of them over a ten year production cycle from 1973-1982. They were sold primarily in Central and South America, never making it past the Rio Grande officially, but kits of the Brasilia were also sent to Africa. The Brasilia remains the only mass-produced air-cooled rival to the Beetle, amazingly. Today, an absolutely pristine example is up on eBay:

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1980 Volkswagen Brasilia

1980 Volkswagen Brasilia

Published February 7, 2016 by Nate

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Paul has featured a couple of Brasilias here before, but its small original market means we almost never see them in the US. This one has made its way to Florida and looks to be in great shape after just 66k miles. The ones Paul featured were 2-door shooting brakes, while this one is the slightly less elegant 4-door. Interior and exterior look extremely nice, even in the frunk. It’s pretty much a Beetle but with a lot more practicality and a bit less cuteness. Who needs cute when you can be funky and rare?

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1974 Volkswagen Brasilia

1974 Volkswagen Brasilia

Published March 28, 2015 by Paul

The two-door estate, or shooting brake, as it is sometimes referred to, is a bit of a dying breed in the automotive realm. MINI revived the concept a bit with the Clubman based on their second generation platform. Technically, this was a five-door vehicle, but it was essentially a two-door vehicle with a third door for rear egress and two dutch doors for the tailgate. Volkswagen has dabbled in this breed as well, most recently with the Fox, a variant of the Brazilian market Gol brought to the US in the late 1980s. It wasn’t a huge seller, being pulled from the market after a few short years and two years before the Fox disappeared altogether. You could almost consider the car you see here, the Brasilia, as that car’s ancestor.

The Brasilia was developed by Volkswagen do Brasil as a larger, more luxurious alternative to the Beetle, with some being built in Mexico, like the car we see here for sale in the state of Jalisco in Mexico. This car was never sold new in the United States, but a few have appeared in enthusiast circles north of the Mexican border, serving as a curious and slightly more up to date version of the Type 3 Squareback.

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