Puma GTS 1600 - Spider do Brasil

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Puma GTS 1600 - Spider do Brasil

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Created on October 22, 2022

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

19

Uli Sonntag

2

Balz Schreier

1

Archiv

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - it was also available in a much more colorful version

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - with plastic body based on the VW Brasilia

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - wheelbase 215 cm, length 400 cm

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - the double round tail lights were not available ex works, were they?

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - 166.5 cm wide, 120 cm high

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - at the Rallye Historique on the occasion of the Schloss Bensberg Classics 2012

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - at the Rallye Historique on the occasion of the Schloss Bensberg Classics 2012

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - simple cockpit with retrofitted Rial steering wheel

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - two large main instruments and three additional displays

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - the interior looks sporty

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - the four-cylinder boxer is fed by two Solex carburetors

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Puma GTS 1600 (1980) - the 1.6-liter engine sits low and in the back

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - around 70 hp should be gathered here

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - equipped with round rear lights

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - Cooling for the engine, lettering for the passers-by

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Puma GTS 1600 (1979) - the Puma lettering

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Puma II (1968) - very early version, still called Puma II, the proximity to the Miura is quite recognizable here

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Puma 1600 GT Coupé (1971) - at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show

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Puma 1600 GT Coupé (1971) - Brazilian variant

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Puma 1600 GT (1972) - Coupé, still with the air intakes in the C-pillar

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Puma 1600 GT (1972) - loading the cars at the port of Santos for Europe (Switzerland)

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Puma 1600 GT (1972) - the look always changes a bit

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Puma GTB - the small Brazilian sports car factory presents itself in a sympathetic way at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show with this sports car based on the VW 1600

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Puma 1600 GT (1973) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1973

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Puma 1600 GT - Brazilian model available as Coupé and Spider with plastic body and VW chassis, engine 1.6 liter with 70 hp - at the Geneva Motor Show 1974

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Puma 1600 GTE (1975) - largely hand-built in Brazil - Geneva Motor Show 1975

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Puma 1600 GTS at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show - plastic sports car on a Volkswagen platform from Brazil shown for the first time as a convertible

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Puma 1600 GTS (1972) - the open-top version was shown at the Geneva Motor Show as early as 1972

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Puma 1600 GTS (1971) - early convertible, with rear spoiler

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Puma 1600 GTE (1972) - as a convertible with rear spoiler

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Puma 1600 GTS Spider (1973) - early convertible version

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Puma 1600 GT (1974) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1974, stand neighbor Monteverdi

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Puma 1600 GTE (1973) - sporty two-seater based on a VW with a plastic body for just 18,500 francs - at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show

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Puma 1600 GTE (1973) - dainty plastic sports coupé from Brazil, based on the VW 1600 - at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show

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Puma 1600 GT (1971) - Jan Balder and Alfred Maslowsky were the winners of the long-distance Rallye da Integracao through Brazil 1971 over 5100 km

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Puma 1600 GT (1974) - Production of the Coupé and Cabriolet versions

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Puma 1600 GT (1974) - production, note the already refined front end of the second version

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Puma 1600 GTS (1972) - Cabriolet with hardtop

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Puma 1600 GTS (1972) - now without rear spoiler, with bodywork touches and redesigned aluminum wheels

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Puma 1600 GTS (1972) - Cabriolet with hardtop

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Puma 1600 GTS (1972) - early convertible

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Puma 1600 GTE Coupé (1973) - the gills remained until 1976

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Puma 1600 GTE (1975) - in dark color scheme

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Puma 1600 GTE (1975) - a pleasing sight from every perspective

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Puma 1600 GT (1974) - Test car with CH license plate in the snow

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Puma 1600 GT (1976) - late model before the redesign

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Puma 1600 GTE (1975) - the design is said to have been based on the Miura

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Puma 1600 GT (1978) - Coupé now with rear side windows

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Puma 1600 GTE (1976) - after the redesign with additional side windows

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Puma 1600 GTE (1976) - the model-maintained version

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Puma 1600 GTE (1978) - the design was adapted slightly time and again, but the basic shape was created in 1968

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Puma 1600 GTS (1976) - after the redesign

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Puma 1600 GTS (1975) - attractive even with the folding top fitted

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Puma 1600 GTS (1975) - the rear end can be almost completely lowered into the bodywork

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Puma 1600 GTS (1978) - one of the few remaining genuine cabriolets, from Puma with plastic body - Geneva Motor Show 1978

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Puma 1600 GTB (1977) - together with the Cabriolet 1600 GTS - Geneva Motor Show 1977

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Puma 1600 GTE (1978) - closed and open version

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Puma 1600 GTE (1978) - with the optional alloy wheels

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Puma 1600 GTE (1979) - the body is made of plastic

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - attractively shaped convertible

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - Export version GTE with skis

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - test car in Switzerland, 90 SAE horsepower promised

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Puma 1600 GTS (1980) - Cabriolet with closed roof

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - I wonder what is being suggested here?

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Puma 1600 GTS (1979) - new front design - Geneva Motor Show 1979

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Techno Classica 2011 - Puma 1600 GTS from 1979 at the Volkswagen Classic stand

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Puma 1600 GTS (1978) - at the "Fantastic Plastic" meeting 2013

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Puma 1600 GTS (1978) - at the "Fantastic Plastic" meeting 2013

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Puma GT (1972) - at the "Fantastic Plastic" meeting 2013

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Puma GTS 1600 (1980) - compact open sports car

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Puma 1600 GTE (1975) - with round indicators

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Summary

At the beginning of the 1980s, truly open convertibles were in short supply. With the Puma GTS, a Brazilian company offered an alternative to the Alfa Spider, Morgan and co. The easy-to-maintain mechanics of the VW Brasilia, together with an excitingly shaped plastic body, offered sports car fun for little money. This driving report focuses on the Puma GTS 1600 of the late seventies, tells its development history and shows it in a wealth of historical and current images and sales material.

This article contains the following chapters

Number II
Sporting success
Production in the storage shed
A world champion at the wheel
Overseas career
Improvements and adaptations
Muhammed Ali as a savior in times of need?
Few examples for Europe
At the wheel of the "Brazilian Porsche"

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

We would have liked a color other than white (especially for the photos) and the cloudy sky also only encouraged the desire to drive open-top to a limited extent. But when you get the opportunity to drive a Puma GTS, which is extremely rare in this country, you accept the circumstances as they are. When the company "Puma Veiculos e Motores Ltda" presented the Puma II at the Sao Paolo Motor Show in December 1968, the company was no longer an unknown quantity. In 1966, the small Brazilian company had already taken over the production of the DKW Malzoni, the small sports car with DKW 3=6 technology and attractive plastic bodywork, which was a very attractive product and a force to be reckoned with in racing.

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