Envemo: More Than Just 356 Replicas
In a car quiz, hardly anyone would have recognized the convertible pictured here. It was built by the Brazilian company Envemo in São Paulo in 1978. The design was by Rigoberto Soler, and it was the first complete sports car from Envemo, a company that had previously made a name for itself primarily by tuning GM/Chevrolet vehicles.
The elegant plastic body was mounted on a chassis with longitudinal and transverse members; triangular wishbones were used at the front and a solid axle at the rear. Chevrolet supplied the powertrain: a 2,474 cm³ four-cylinder engine with a side-mounted camshaft, producing about 88 PS at 4,600 rpm. Power was transmitted via a four-speed manual transmission or a Tri-Matic three-speed automatic.
The car weighed about 800 kg empty; at 422 cm long, 166 cm wide, and 127 cm high, it was quite compact.
A top speed of 171 km/h was promised, and a time of 11.5 seconds was expected for the 0-to-100 km/h sprint.
However, it never went into series production; Envemo decided instead to build Porsche 356 replicas based on the VW Brasília's chassis, shortened by 30 cm, a few of which also made their way to Europe. The magazine “auto motor und sport” even published a test drive report in 1982. However, production of this model ended as early as 1983 after just over 200 units had been built.
But that wasn't the end of Envemo's story; off-road vehicles, motorhomes, and similar vehicles continued to be produced in São Paulo well into the 1990s, though no more sports cars were made.
