Since I saw the Makigai MaiMai on Cyberpunk 2077 I knew that the original reference was the asian minicars we all know but I couldn’t stop seeing a legendary car in Brazil, the Gurgel.
João Augusto Conrado do Amaral Gurgel was a Brazilian mechanical and electrical engineer who dreamed with a 100% nation car brand. He started his dream with $ 10.000 and 4 employees in the 60’ first producing the Ipanema buggie.
With the Ipanema success the company invested int he development of off-road vehicles, leading to the Xavante XT with a chassi made of steel and plastic (patented by gurgel as Plasteel), glass fiber reinforced plastic body and suspension developed by Gurgel himself, being their first car tested by the Army.
The Xavante XT lead the way for the X-12, wich caught the public attention, being one of the most sucessful in the 70’ by offering a civil option for the military line. It also had a unique and ingenious traction alternation system that allowed the traction to be exchanged between the wheels of the differential axle, a great substitute to the 4-way-drive system that were too heavy.
The most incredible part of Gurgel’s history was the first projects of electric cars still in the 80’ with the Itaipu E140 and the E400 but both were discontinued due to the high battery cost and low autonomy of the technology at the time.
Gurgel said in a interview on the launch of the E150:
“There are several alternatives today to replace oil. The oil can be replaced by several alternatives and in my opinion the most valid one is the electrical” (in Portuguese)
At the end of the 80’ he focused his brand to make the most affordable car in the market, aiming at a price tag of US$ 3.000 but they stabilished a US$ 7.000 car with the BR800 (personally the first image I have when someone talks about the brand) deliveryng 5.000 units to the streets.
Part of the success that allowed Gurgel to grow was due to the protectionist policies of the Military governments that ruled Brazil since the 60’ and in the 90’, with the lift of sanctions to foreign manufacturers and tax incentives for low powered cars, Gurgel started to decline in popularity since the multinational arrived with powerful low cost cars, most notable the Uno Mille from the italian Fiat.
And I finish my post with the Gurgel Motomachine with its full translucent doors.
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