Ep. 28 World Tour: The History of the Brazilian Car Industry

[@LuisEPGomes]

Just some things to add: The Puma was part of something we call "fora-de-série" (out of line), they were made out of the platform of other cars (the Bettle for the GTC and GTE models and the Opala for the GTB models) with a new body, so we never really had a Brazilian brand entirely. They weren't the only brand that did that, Miura (who as you said, used VW platforms) and Santa Matilde (who also used the Opala platform), amongst many others. You didn't mention it, but our Military Regime closed the market for importation, so only cars assembled here could be bought. This defined our market, or better said, destroyed it. We never had good sports cars (the most famous around here would be the Opala SS, Gol GTI, Escort XR3 and that's about it), Chrysler was present but not nearly as much as these I mentioned. We mostly had scraps from other countries. The Maverick, as an example, was the low tier Mustang in America, and today you can't buy the GT model that comes with the 4.9 V8 for less than a hundred grand, and the base models with the 2.3 four cylinder engine go by more than forty grand. The Opala came with two engines, the 2.5 four cylinder that nowadays go for around 20 grand and the 4.1 six cylinder that go well over 30 grand. The most popular cars among our entusiast community are the Chevy Chevette and the Gol, the Chevette for being the cheaper rear wheel drive car and the Gol due to it's engine, which we kindly named the AP (Alta Performance, or "High Performance"), that came in the 1.8 to 2.0 sizes. But don't be mistaken, the AP engine doesn't have unbelievable power (115 HP at best), it just was the most sold engine in this country, so the aftermarket parts for this little piece can be found anywhere. The point I'm trying to make is that it's kinda depressing to like cars in this country, everything is inflated and everything we had is the unwanted parts of other countries which means we never had a true Brazilian sports car, but we still fought and built an entire community. We have some 1000 HP AP engines rolling around, believe it or not.

[@kury.4142]

Ele tbm esqueceu da gurgel e d q o miura x8 falava

[@gabrielv.4358]

Amazing explanation!!!

[@ivokiller2000intel]

I feel you neighbor, Argentina was the same (although a bit less depressing), we also were closed except for 1979-1981 and the 1990s (still with high taxes but at least the cars could enter the country), it really is depressing to be a car person in both our countries. At least we'll have the last laugh over Europe and USA as we'll probably be among the last to ban ICE cars.

[@LuisEPGomes]

@@ivokiller2000intel I can't see the prohibition of ICE cars happening. The prohibition of production of new models maybe, but Brazil has over 200 million habitants and I doubt more than 10% of us has EV cars, so what the government would do? Take the transport of millions? Most cars on our roads are from the 90s, I just can't imagine something like that.

[@_M_O_E_]

1000hp from a vw 4 cylinder sounds like such an insane machine

[@gabrielgochenour8225]

I truly believe this is one of the most underrated channels on KZbin. The production quality, the humor, and the information is all there! Thanks, Ed!!

[@juleswilko]

The humour is absolutely *awesome* - and I say that as a Brit.

[@ianperkins8812]

Absolutely seconded.

[@TSL73]

@Internet User I N T E R N E T

[@lucasfontes2053]

True! This channel is absolutely gold.

[@sudo11]

@Internet User HE works for FBI And FBI knows everything

[@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar]

Você contou a história mercado automotivo do brasil com bastante riqueza em detalhes, obrigado por ter atendido meu pedido no vídeo passado! Nunca vi nenhum estrangeiro tratando o Brasil tão seriamente assim os nossos carros!

[@NarfBLAST]

Hi Carlos: I translated your comment to English: "You told the history of the Brazilian automotive market in a lot of detail, thank you for answering my request in the last video! I've never seen any foreigner treating Brazil so seriously our cars!" (I used Google Translate because I am a lazy 45 year old first generation Canadian child of Portuguese immigrant parents from Madeira Portugal.) Greetings from Canada!

[@SPDriverSVC]

Eu já ia pedir também da história brasileira. Amei o vídeo!

[@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar]

@@NarfBLAST thanks, but the Idea is really to show that are really Brazilians viewers watching his Channel... I appretiate your attitude, thanks

[@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar]

@@SPDriverSVC achei cabuloso

[@EdsAutoReviews]

Este é o maior elogio que posso receber! (I hope I translated that right haha!)

[@imperator0151]

as a Brazilian I am surprised that a video in English about the national car industry is more detailed than local docs. Nice work

[@VTKoficial]

yeah right you dont see auto sports doing content like that

[@wanderinggentile]

I have a Brazilian Fiat Uno...which uses the 147 alcool platform and drive train. The commercials were sent to Europe and the hatch appeared in some but not all countries. A Brazilian Uno can be spotted from its Saab-type bonnet and petrol filler on the left. Italian Unos have a conventional bonnet and the petrol filler on the right. Brazilian chassis numbers begin with 9BD. Italian chassis numbers begin with ZF. I hope this helps.

[@gabrielv.4358]

Cool info i never knew about. Cool. Thanks for sharing. (I'm from Brazil btw)

[@wanderinggentile]

@@gabrielv.4358 Muito obrigado. I'm in Costa Rica. We get a few South American models.

[@JK061996]

Something similar happened with the Fiat Punto 310, which looked like the Grande Punto but was derived from the Palio and Mk2 Punto. It can be spotted from the rounded edges on the B pillar.

[@Filipe1020]

Such a crime to leave out Gurgel, the most important 100% brazilian car brand we had decades ago.

[@gabrielv.4358]

I'm sure if this video goes well but really well, he might think," well, lets make a second video with a more detailed view of this country. "

[@oole0111]

The most important? Don't lie to yourself...

[@sainjor3932]

​@@oole0111 Ok, they will ignore the first factory to make electric cars in the world... Very professional

[@Eggyteevee]

​​@@oole0111k lets ignore the first 100% brazilian car, the little BR800, not a important anyway

[@AUTOLISTAS]

@@sainjor3932 deixa de ser maluco, carro elétrico já existia desde o final do século 19. A Gurgel nunca foi tão pineira igual vocês imaginam/falam, tudo que ela fazia era inspirado/copiado de algum conceito estrangeiro. É só estudar a história automotiva um pouco que você logo já descobre. Antes do Gurgel Itaipu já existia o Sebring-Vanguard Citicar, que era feito baseado nos carrinhos de Golf elétricos.

[@renan9724]

You don't know how much I was waiting for the last episode to be about Brazil, absolutely amazing video. But i have to say i really missed talking about Gurgel, a brazilian brand basically killed by the lack of government incentive, i really hope it gets a separate video, but still a astonishing series at all.

[@TheJosu145]

De repende, todos os brazukas brotaram aqui kkkk

[@renan9724]

@@TheJosu145 é a tropa dos tupiniquim

[@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar]

O cara mandou muito! Esse foi raiz, ele tá de parabéns foi o único gringo que eu acompanho que foi a fundo nas marcas!

[@renan9724]

@@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar Sem duvida, tava acompanhando a serie e não vou mentir fiquei um pouco apreensivo com ep sobre o Brasil, mas fiquei de cara, puta conhecimento não só dos carros mas do contexto geral, gringo brabo!

[@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar]

@@renan9724 deve ter mão do Bellote aí e do agbadolato

[@Rockport1911]

Brazil getting into Ethanol fueled cars to combat import oil was a genius move and as far as I know they are the only country who did that. Beetles and T1/T2s are everywhere. Volkswagen Brasilia made a name here in europe when VW decided to import the VW Fox. It couldnt quite replace the cute Lupo but after years there are plenty of them left.

[@IsmaelWensder]

And it seems that now 10~20% of ethanol is used in gasoline from other countries to replace leaded gas. Ethanol was a solution, now it backfired, our gasoline now contains a lot of it, which reduces its efficiency and makes some vehicles not work at their best. I once let a guy store his car in the yard because he had filled it with adulterated fuel, probably so much ethanol that the gasoline car couldn't start.

[@gamerdad9870]

there are brasilias in europe?

[@PeteDarrell1972]

@@gamerdad9870 He meant the imported models from VW Brasilia like the Fox he mentioned. The model VW Brasilia based on the 1600 was only imported to Portugal as far as I know. There are still some on the road today, I nearly bought myself one when I was still living there about 15 years ago, plus the Gol, but in the rest of EU Europe these models are 'unknown', plus most Brazilian cars wouldn't pass the EU safty standards, just like the last VW Combo models, you could only import them via the loop hole Portugal or UK into the EU to get a legal registration as a new car on them... Portugal & Brazil had always some special trading agreements, especially till the mid 70th when it was still a military dictatorship aswell, plus Portugal doesn't like to be over ruled by the EU, so in some parts they still do their own thing today... Good! Yeah, I get you, model VW Brasilia from company VW Brasilia is a bit confusing... ;-)

[@andresparins]

Love how you nailed the pronunciations right on!!! I'm Uruguayan but still really close to Brasil, there's still a massive cult around old and in my opinion overrated cars : the opala outputting 160hp out of a 4.1L, the gol being a carburetted car literally 6 years away from the year 2000. But something I do love about their market is the variety of two door wagons. I'm a proud owner of a 97 2 door parati shtibox :)

[@bernardogaetani]

Most of the econoboxes had carbs till 1997, Volkswagen Bus T2 had carburattor till 2005!

[@doabarrellroll69]

The Gol is a interesting phenomenon, because while you correctly state it still had a carb until just before the turn of the millennium, it was also the first Brazilian car to be equipped with EFI in the 1988 GTi model.

[@andresparins]

@@doabarrellroll69 certo!! Mas o AP carburado deixou de ser utilizado nos começos dos anos 80 em europa. E isso que eu me refiro, que nos ofereceram algo _muito inovador" com o gti, sendo que já era utilizado há mais de uma década no mundo inteiro. Por favor desculpa meu mal português e não pense que eu estou criticando esses carros, eu teve um gol quadrado 1.8 como primeiro carro e amei!!!! Zero dramas

[@LuisEPGomes]

@@andresparins you aren't wrong, our market was always late compared to everyone else. It really explains why the modern cars in Brazil have the enormous prices they have now even though they offer the bare minimum. And your Portuguese is quite good.

[@phzitos_]

My dad had a Parati too! Sadly a truck rear ended it and destroyed it. My dad managed to get away unharmed. It was a 1990 GL Monochromatic Beige. I'm still looking for one today but they are hard to find and rocketed in value. And yes, all of our sport cars are overrated, but people can extract a lot of them today aftermarket. Well, that's all we had at the time. Guys destroying "communism" and actually destroying the economy.

[@volktales7005]

Here is a fun fact. From 2007-2010 you could buy a Mark 4 style Volkswagen City Golf in Canada. Marketed the same time as the "regular" Mark 5 Golfs, the significantly cheaper City models were imported from Brazil. Also a few Puma GT 1600s found their way here via private import and I have actually driven one. Very cool cars!

[@sganzerlag]

Yeah the 1600cc Pumas are sweet!

[@cvanscho]

South Africa also did the City Golf thing. They were very popular.

[@diogenes26]

And to think that we never actually got the Mk5 in Brazil, just the "updated Mk4" at the price of a sports car

[@cajoncitodecosas]

I loved to see Argentina in this list, they have a interesting car industry history

[@TheJosu145]

but Brazil has the 5° largest country in the world, and 5 football world cups, so....

[@bernardogaetani]

it would be really interesting argentinan and mexican industry history....

[@gabrielv.4358]

They had the Best Gol G4... Lucky "hermanos" haha

[@juancruzmarolda7726]

Me too

[@foreyfriend145]

But where is Xuxa Menguele?

[@dankananga]

You forgot about Gurgel, the only large-scale attempt at making a 100% Brazilian car manufacturer, since Pumas, Miuras and alike were more artisanal cars, or "out-of-series" as we call it. I hope you make a video about Gurgel some other day.

[@foreyfriend145]

and the (F1) Copersucar project.

[@tomk3909]

And the Volkswagen Brasilia. A local and quite successful design.

[@ThiagoGames-uh1im]

And the Rural, Chevrolet Veraneio, D20.

[@Lisdexanfetamine]

FINALLYYYY BRAZILLL I love your videos. From the state of Goias - Brazil

[@diecastchannelminiaturasde2357]

Just one correction: The Chevrolet Opala was made after the Opel Rekord C, instead of the Opel Kadett, which has shaped Brazilian Chevrolet Chevette. The Chevrolet Opala had its front end inspired on the 1968-72 Chevy Nova and its was somewhat an americanized version of the Opel Rekord. The name "Opala", besides being a stone, is also said to be the merger of Opel and Impala, since the Opala was first built with the 3800L straight six Impala engine. It was also offered with the American 153 cid inline four engine which equipped the Chevy Nova. Ford Corcel was first lauched as a four door sedan and it had the Renault 12 as an inspiration. It's second generation, the Corcel II and then, it's "richer brother", the Del Rey, had a boxier design that somewhat reminded the Fox Body Mustang and Germany's Ford Taunus. By the way, there were rumors that the Taunus would have being produced in Brazil, but Ford had preferred to cancel it and work on the Maverick. The Dodge 1800 (a sort of rebadged Hillmann Avenger) was first made in quite a rush and had so many issues that was nicknamed "Dodge 1800 Problemas" ("Dodge 1800 Problems"). Those issues were then solved and it became quite a good car, but its reputation was already ruined! Chrysler tried to save it by rebadging it as "Dodge Polara". It didn't work! On the other hand, its production had continued in Argentina, where it was later rebadged as "VW 1500". The Ford Galaxie was a very well built car, but it's suffered the effects of the oil crisis! The Ford Maverick was a different story: Ford needed a mid-sized car (by Brazilian standards) to compete against the Chevrolet Opala and the Dodge Charger (a sort of fancier Dart GTS). At the same time, it intended to use the outdated 2.6L inline six Willys engine and the Maverick seemed to be a good idea to do so! It was a fiasco! The engine was known for sucking up fuel as a V8 and for having the performance of a 4 cilinder! The Maverick GT, a Brazilian version of the Maverick Grabber, on the other hand, had the reliable and well known Ford's 302 small block V8 and became a success! Ford, then, decided to replace the inline 6 with a new 2.3L inline 4, that was produced in the city of Taubaté, in São Paulo state. That new engine has proven to be way better than the old inline 6 Willys engine, that was then retired. After Ford quit making the Maverick, the 2.3L engine continued being produced and was exported to other countries, including the US, where it was used in some Ford cars, such as the Fox bodied Mustang and mid-eighties Thunderbirds. Fiat, on the other hand, suffered from very poor quality control! The 147 was ahead of its time, but it was a piece of junk! Shifting gears was also a nightmare! It sort of reminded the Yugo! There was also Alfa Romeo 2300, a very fancy, but also very troublesome car! Fiat started making better cars just at the end of the 1980s.

[@Sevenogusmao89]

OPEL ASCONA C (1981 - 1988) = CHEVROLET MONZA compreendes?

[@B_Shira]

I would just further highlight how major "VW do Brasil" was (and still is) in the country: - After starting with the Beetle, Kombi/Bus and some imported rarities eg. Karmann Ghia in the 50s and first half of the 60s, VW was already the leading maker by volume, making the country one of the priority markets of the company. With this, an era of many very interesting locally developed models where introduced, all still following the boxer air-cooled philosophy, such as the hatchback Brasilia (a "replacement" for the Beetle), Variant I and II, Karmann Ghia variantions (mostly notably the 911-inspired TC) and the legendary SP1 and SP2 sport cars (with a tuned Beetle underpowered engine) - Just to clarify, there are many, many other obscure Brazillian manufacturers and models, with a boom after imports where banned in the late 70s. Many of them used VW parts for its popular and cheap parts, mostly chassis and engine, just like the Meyers Manx buggy, but now for passenger cars, sports cars, etc (some upmarket vehicles such as the mentioned Miura used a more modern watercooled VW Passat/Santana powerplant and other non- Beetle based chasis and parts). - The Gol lineup (replacement for the Beetle/Brasilia), with spawn other body variations such as the Voyage (sedan), Parati (Station wagon) and Saveiro (pick-up/ute), has no relation to the Golf at all (platform, engine, etc), if that is not clear. It was the first watercooled locally develop project from VW. - The Autolatina joint venture is indeed one of the weidest things to happen in the automotive folclore. Thing is, VW still was the market leader and this was the second option other than to do a M&A, and for Ford, they needed VW resources, one of the main being their engines (the AP lineup) to substitute their archaic Renault-derived CHT engines. The bottom line here is: there are exclusive vehicles from this partnerships. One would think in just doing a literal badge swap, however, models from Ford included new bumpers, headlights and interior, such was the case with the Versailles, an upmarket VW Quantum, and VW just went full german and in some cases did a complete exterior redesign and even changes to the platform (eg. VW Logus, based on the Ford Escort).

[@gabrielv.4358]

Great info! Maybe he makes a follow up video with more info about the Brazil in the future.

[@GatoMendesdaSilva]

A Volkswagen brasileira tinha ligações muito suspeitas com a ditadura militar brasileira. E, inclusive, um ex-nazista que veio morar no Brasil, ingressou na administração da Volkswagen nessa época.

[@cauacesar4585]

I'm from Brazil and I thought the episode was fantastic. Congratulations!

[@Ahoderasan]

You did very good with the pronounciation Ed! The Opala was based on the Opel Rekord C not the Kadett. VW achieved quite the success with the Passat between the fusca and the introduction of the gol and about Troller unfortunatley it's dead. They killed it last year. #RIPtroller

[@e28forever30]

Yes, I saw the Opala and was thinking the same. My grandfather used to own several Rekord C cars.

[@pauloluciomachadodebrito8107]

I follow this channel since video 01, and never thougth it would talk about brazilian cars. Sigo esse canal desde sempre e nunca imaginei que esse dia chegaria, doidera kkkk

[@CarlosHenriqueNoronhadeAguiar]

Eu também, fiquei torcendo pra ele falar do Brasil e aconteceu!

[@AlexCarloss]

Hello from Brazil! Nice and precise history review, congratulations. I'm 65 and I miss those Dart, Galaxie and Maverick V8 engines that I had the pleasure to drive back in those days.

[@ramoncf7]

That Miura X8 looks absolutely gorgeus.

[@christopherrobins8963]

I had the privilege of watching this on vacation, sitting next to a Brazilian - in Brazil. Her father had even been the proud owner of a Willys Aero. She affirmed all your facts, and felt your economic insights were spot-on. I don’t know how you do this kind of great work over and over (it’s in all your videos), but please don’t stop!

[@rafaeldiasdasilva3793]

great video ed! but you could've talk about gurgel and how visionary he was by making eletric cars in the 70's and the great br800 and it's inovative solutions like making a 0.8 engine car built for the masses. Could've also talk about how the 1993 president(Itamar Franco) loved the fusca so much he asked them to start producing it again and to this very day you can still see them on the road.

[@Rand0mGypsy]

Finally you've come to Brazil, love your content, even more by now!

[@brunobalestra]

You nailed the DKW Vemag pronunciation! And kudos, nah excellent video. You showed films from my country I'd never seen. Outstanding!

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

What a great series, i thoroughly enjoyed it. I was waiting for this episode as I knew very little about the Brazilian car industry but did know that they manufactured good quality tools and cars. At least Brazil still manufacturers cars as here in Australia we now have no car industry and import everything. Brazil certainly designed some good looking cars and reminded me of Delorian, cool, futuristic looking cars with pathetic engines. Your episode on the Australian car industry was extremely accurate and well researched so I’m assuming this episode about Brazil is just as well done. Thanks so much for making the series, I found it entertaining and educational. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺.

[@andrs901]

There's a reason for it: Brazil is a huge country with lots of people, and its Latin American neighbours have similar tastes in cars, thus creating a large export market. Australia had neither.

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

@@andrs901 Very true. 👍👍👍

[@adrianrutterford762]

More Ed!! Excellent news!

[@pedroneves4465]

The brazilian car market has taken a bit of a slump since 2019. Since we're always in crisis containment mode, prices have skyrocketed since then. A lowly Renault Kwid, that in it's cheapest form started out at around R$ 35k, now has gone up to R$ 60k. And it's base model doesn't even come with a radio. Cars like the Civic and Corolla and Jeep Renegade became luxury items akin of a BMW or a Mercedes, while the buying power of the population has gone down dramatically. That coupled with the fact that most technologies introduced overseas usually take the best part of a decade or two to arrive here in full (like DOHC engines and automatic transmissions), along with manufacturers killing off dozens of (often good) models, like the Fiesta, Focus, Civic and Fit, leaves us in a not so good position for the following decade.

[@TheJosu145]

como explicar para os gringos que um dos carros de entrada deles custa o equivalente a 60.000 contos kkkkkk

[@pedroneves4465]

@@TheJosu145 pior, como explicar que o dólar subiu pra caramba junto. Pq ele sendo holandês, se colocar na ponta do lápis os valores em euros vai pensar que tá é barato

[@rynopieterse3294]

It sounds almost exactly the same like here in South Africa. The same is happening here

[@dalelumina3]

60000 real for a fucking Kwid?! I own one and I am quite sure it isn't worth even half that much

[@Someone_that_is_very_tired]

@@dalelumina3 welcome to Brazil

[@Eumesmo-x7k]

As a Brazilian, I'm truly glad and thankful that you made this video shining a light in one of Brazilians biggest passions, the automobile and automobilism

[@danielraas2148]

Ed ! Oh my.. you forgot to mention the VW SP 2 .. my favorite Brazilian sports car.. Sacrilège !!! Thank you for this Brazilian Ed-ition😉 Your my favorite ! Dan Raas

[@johnclayden1670]

Fascinating: I lived and worked in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais for all of 1983. I had a company car - Opel Diplomata, 3-speed column change - leased from Hertz and had a Sao Paulo plate. I still remember the number - NX-9810. Underpowered is not the word. My driver hated it: 'Nao tem poder, nao ha forca' (no power). I was struck by the Volkswagen SP2, a neat little 2-seater coupe, a poor man's Porsche perhaps, and wondered why this episode had no mention? Great vids, keep 'em coming.

[@RafaelPernia]

People wanted it and Ed delivered. There are so many rebranding in Brazil's history... the Corcel is just tip of the iceberg. Escort, Monza, Del Rey, many Chevettes... the Venezuelan industry was also booming with big Chevrolet plants. 50s and 60s were big for this region

[@Sevenogusmao89]

THE CHEVROLET MONZA (EUROPEAN OPEL ASCONA C) IS A BEAUTIFUL AND EXCELLENT CAR.

[@RafaelPernia]

@@Sevenogusmao89 I drove one for a while. It had 2.0 engine (in cheap-oil Venezuela, the smaller cars usually had larger engines). It had some known issues but plenty of power. Not very safe to drive actually because of the power but quite fun

[@Math_0027]

As a brazillian car afficionado, thank you for making this video, I always thought our car industry was solid and interesting

[@SiqueScarface]

The Volkswagen Gol (Portuguese for Goal as in Soccer goal) was based on the 1.3 liter engine from the Volkswagen Beetle, but turned around 180° and built into the front of the car. The platform itself was that of the Audi 80 of 1972. Thus differently than the Volkswagen Golf, with its transverse engine, the VW Gol has a longitudinal engine, at least for its first two generations.

[@gabrielv.4358]

True!!!!

[@johnd8892]

So the Gol at first used the beetle air cooled engine mounted in the front. Using front wheel drive or rear wheel drive?

[@SiqueScarface]

@@johnd8892 Like the 1972's Audi 80, it was a rear driven car. The charme of the Volkswagen Gól was that it reused the Beetle's engine, which was well known to all the mechanics out there and widely used in the Brazilian Beetle and the Volkswagen Type 2, but had a much more modern platform than both. At the same time, the German Audi 80 got a new front wheel drive base, freeing up the machines to build the old one. Thus, the Volkswagen Gól could be cheaply made while still being a huge improvement over the Volkswagen Beetle, contributing to its success.

[@Lando-kx6so]

Football*

[@SiqueScarface]

@@Lando-kx6so Soccer. More than 150 years ago, in 1863, the Football Association was founded in England, British Empire. People playing according to the Association Rules were playing Association Football, differently than for instance Gaelic Football, Canadian Football or American Football. Because Association Football was too long for collocquially calling the game, it was shortened more than 150 years ago to "Soc", or in the taste of the time, Soccer.

[@dougdax]

We had a 1978 Puma GTE... Really fun to drive.

[@LuisEPGomes]

Leeeeeet's gooooo, my country!!!!

[@robertoshigeeda1944]

now the views gonna blow up 🥰✌️ honestly imo the best era from Brazil market was in the 90's...there was a lot of import cars that were sold at the time...and sometimes we seen hidden in our streets like Preludes, Galants, Golf 3, Fiat Coupe and other oddities like Ladas too

[@mr.grumpygrumpy2035]

Completely agree... The local industry had to catch up with the imports and the best Brazilian cars were built around that time. The Chevrolet Omega for instance was a really great car at the time.

[@carlosandresantimannunez4862]

In Chile, the opala is used for the chilean taxi drivers, carabineers of Chile and the cni.

[@bernardogaetani]

Chile had Opel and Chevrolet Brazil imports at same time, havent it? I imagine how crazy it was going to buy a new car and deciding between Opala (66-72 Rekord with american engine) or a newer Opel Rekord with european engine for roughly same price...

[@SpeedWiz]

As a Brazilian, I can say that was a very good episode. A well done research job. There´s a few lack of some things. Ford already left Brazil last year. And missing the legendary Volkswagen SP2, a 100% project of VW Brazil. There are one in VW Museum in Germany.

[@jd9689]

I hope you get to re-visit some of those cars, they have quite a history and honestly some have the styling that could rival anything the world had at the time... Except in the performance category. GTB, SP2, Hoffstetter Turbo, Opala, Gol (which are nothing alike european Golfs, believe me) the brazilian Escort, not to mention some brands that were brushed over like Gurgel, which would honestly warrant a video of its own. There was also a lot of "homemade cars" surging sometime around the 70's, and a coachbuilder company (named Sulam, would also warrant a video of its own though there's not all that much info around the internet about them) that would create replicas of european cars in a time where imports were prohibited in the 80's. Overall, I quite enjoyed the video.

[@felipesancho]

Man, Gurgel is super cool. When I saw one in Santiago chile I couldn't believe it!! They deserve a video on their own.

[@julianvizio2190]

Awesome ed! I know a lot about their history and you nailed it! In the future you could add another one: Argentina, that had the inverse of brazil, higly developed from 00’-60’s and then declíned. In those years interesting cars they designed, like the IKA Torino (and some brands, IKA, iAme, Lodi, Gaucho, Siam, Justicialist etc and some domestic from foreign brands very rare

[@flaviokart16]

13:15 Oh boy, you make me feel old! :-D I remember taking that "7281 Patriarca" bus with my mom to go to São Paulo downtown.... Also, when I was born, my father decided that I deserved to be transported from the hospital to home in something special: a brand spanking new Ford Maverick in light blue, which was one of the most expensive cars back then.

[@zucods]

Hi, Ed. Brazilian here. It seems you forgot to mention that we had a ban on imports from the 70's untill the mid 90's, due to the military regime thinking it would promote local designed cars to be comparable with european or american markets. They could not be more wrong. We had some amazing "out of line" (as in out of the production lines of official factories) cars, made by small companies, like Puma, Miura, etc., mostly based on the Fusca chassis. The Puma GTB S1 and S2 were based on the Opala chassis and engine. And some small corrections: the brazilian Charger never had the slant 6 and was offered with the 318 V8 only; The Gol is NOT just a rebranded Golf. It even had longitudinal engines; Other than that, amazing video, glad to see someone overseas enjoying our bizarre car market. If you need more info, hit me up! Hahaha! Cheers!

[@gabrielv.4358]

Nice info

[@jessesteinbar]

I'm truly happy to see our GREAT auto industry presented by this amazing car presenter!

[@maaltagabriel]

OH MY GOD I AM SO HERE FOR THIS. I saw the title I had to watch it. Love your work!

[@danilomancini]

I came here as fast as possible, expecting to se some mistakes. But you did an awesome job. You did everything right, even pronunciated right most of the times. We really like to see foreign poeple talking about anything from us, specialy our history. The only thing I would point out, it's the absence of Gurgel, a tottaly brazilian car company with some really nice story. But nontheless, relly nice work!

[@moestrei]

You make great aeroplanes too !

[@matheustoddynho]

@@moestrei yes, thank

[@johngraves6878]

At this point, Ed, you have a Ph.D in the world automotive industry. One of your greatest assets is you know how to keep things moving in your videos. Never a dull moment! I visited Brazil in 2016 as part of a film crew, so this video in particular resonated with me. Greetings from Los Angeles.

[@poipoipoipoipois]

This is great i had a brazilian 91 vw fox(the gol down there) up here in canada, great little car Great episode keep it up!

[@josephivan5094]

I want most of these cars. They look great. Or at least all the older cars.

[@Alex-zv4gy]

Awesome! Congrats. However, you missed 2 legends on Brazil's auto industry: The Volkswagen Brasília - a locally designed car that was the replacement of the popular "Fusca". The VW Gol was the replacement of the Brasília later in the 80's. The Brasília was one of the VW top sales for years. The second miss was the truly 100% Brazilian car, the Gurgel. Please, research this one. It deserves it's on episode here. Cheers!

[@spiegmongbergmonocif]

Brazilian here. Love how you pronounced brands such as DKW (something like 'dê cá dáblio' in portuguese) in a typical Brazilian accent, even with its mannerisms (calling it DKV, 'dê cá vê', as it's easier to pronounce). Great chanel, keep up the work

[@byBartusRC]

Aqui, a marca ficou conhecida popularmente como “DKV” (considerando que o "W" tem som de "V" em alemão; desta forma, a marca BMW deve ser pronunciada "bee-em-vee").

[@GStolli]

Congratulations for posting this video! You had descbribed brazilian auto industry precisely! I'm really impressed!

[@atlasfugged9044]

I'm the american owner of a 1993 VW Fox, built in brazil. It is the only VW to ever get the "Wolfsburg Edition" name and badging despite not actually being built in wolfsburg, germany. It is a quite rare import into north america or so I'm told, and of course I make sure to tell people that. Picked it up for $100 back in 2014 and it's still going as my daily driver. Being so small and light, with no frills like power steering or an autotragic transmission it's pretty fun to drive. When my friends drive it they always want to drive it more. I've off roaded it and taken it through snow covered mountain passes and basically beat the hell out of it and it just keeps going. It has at least 3 deer kills under its belt with no major repairs.

[@lucallegra]

Great episode, even if I expected some more about Fiat and VW, as there are models designed and produced only in Brazil.

[@bestvideoseverintheworld]

Underrated channel! You are amazing! Never give up!

[@arthurspader5423]

I was waiting so badly for this video, i loved the way you spoke brazillian names, and damn, you spoke well for an english speaker. Btw, love your videos, this is better than most tv documentaries out there lol

[@clc2328]

But he's NOT a native English speaker....I think he is Dutch which makes it even better. And his humor has me spitting my beer out on every episode. Dude is epic!!

[@dalelumina3]

the irony. Ed is Dutch lmfao

[@dinkydober]

How do you keep a Brazilian car shiny? Brazilian wax of course! Love your videos and your slaughtering of names and words!

[@vitormarchese9531]

Excelent video Ed, I was hoping so much that the last one was about my country ! On the topic about the 100% brasilian made car you forgot to metion the first one we had, the Gurgel BR800, a small copact city car launched in the 1980's, and the brand Gurgel as well also made cars based on already existing ones like the Fusca(beatle) for example, and they made some very quirky cars and some strange ones. Thank you for showing to your public that Brazil is not just about samba, football and beaches.

[@davidcoudriet8439]

I love your stuff, Ed!

[@magoid]

I lost it at 11:25. BTW, kudos on the pronunciation of Brazilian names. Much better than native English speakers when those talk about Brazilian things.

[@simca5980]

Loved the way he talk about our cars! Thank you very much Ed, you channel has an great quality, much better than most famous car themed channels. You're the best!

[@matthewjones12181]

This was a great series! A thought for the future: the Star Chief from Pontiac. Some have said the first muscle car was the 1956 with the 5.2L V8. And it was partially designed by DeLorean!

[@jimwebb9328]

Your intentions to feature Argentina and India are good. Look forward to seeing those. I spent some years in Buenos Aires in the mid 70s and enjoyed seeing the various versions of the 1963 Ford Falcon that were running around, as well as other US, French and Italian variations. I remember an AMC sedan with a 6 cyl French engine IIRC.

[@paulsemeraro]

Your videos just keep getting better and better. This one was awesome! Thank you!

[@Father_of_Death]

The pre-1960s production music is what makes these videos stand out. It's so nice to see these music cues be used even in today's media. I'm pretty sure we quit using them a while back.

[@arthie553]

amazing video! you actually got even the details right and portrait the Brazilian car scene as it really was and still is.. unfortunately, small, affordable cars are being upscaled into larger and more expensive crossovers, while keeping the lack of features (specially safety). interesting fact is that, the troller pickup truck, the pant-anal (lol) was a terrible flop due to a engineering issue, so all of them were bought back and destroyed before a big lawsuit happened. troller, unfortunately, is doomed... we lost our favorite and most beloved off-road car maker because of Ford's greed

[@Paragrafo-kw4iu]

As a Brazilian I can say is the one of the best video i saw about our industry, congrats.

[@Hazdazos]

Loved the series. Consider going around the world again and covering countries like the Philippines, India, China, Russia and others.

[@stacyholt6529]

You, my friend, are a treasure! Thank you for the humor and in depth look at the automobile.

[@currentsitguy]

The part Ed missed what the strange history of Jeep after the Ford Willys buyout. The venerable CJ5 ended up being a Ford, rather than an AMC product there, and it was made for years after production ceased in America.

[@gabrielv.4358]

Cool to know

[@krol_luka]

man listening this dutch guy talk about the car culture of my country feels nice.

[@jessesteinbar]

6:17 The Fushca hahaha we just say FuSca with only one S sound, but in Rio everyone says Fushca too

[@flaviokart16]

I was an engineering intern at Ford and later worked for Chevrolet as a consultant. Even though I was a petrolhead all my life, these experiences showed me that the automotive industry in Brazil was terrible to develop a career. Thank god I left it soon.

[@danilomancini]

AUUUU MA MAAN, I literally jump out of the sofa when the notification appeared on my phone.

[@eduardosantabaya5348]

14:13 Ford Galaxy (VW Santana) made in General Pacheco, Argentina

[@carlseiler6441]

As a kid in the 1970s, I spent six months in Salvador, Bahia. It was boggling to me how many Beetles were on the road. My grandfather drove an Opala. I thought it was an Impala for several months. We occasionally borrowed a large SUV-like vehicle, the name of which I cannot remember.

[@pedrodossantos5890]

Could it be the veraneio?

[@carlseiler6441]

@@pedrodossantos5890 Could be. Great suggestion. My forty-year-old memory of it isn't that great, though.

[@DouglasB42]

The only 70's suv-like cars i remember are the Chevrolet Veraneio and the Ford Rural (formerly by Willys)

[@carlseiler6441]

@@DouglasB42 I am thinking the Veraneio.

[@sganzerlag]

It must have been a Chevrolet Veraneio. Best regards from Brasilia, Brazil.

[@YeeSoest]

OPALA is a great name: - Opel + Impala - Variation of Opal - The sound you make when you stumble over a rock or a root

[@peruchi3309]

I am impresed with how much research you did, well done mate

[@ChatterboxFM]

Top-tier stuff my dude!

[@davepetros3827]

This was a fun series! Thank you for taking the time to produce these

[@BradleyTurmel]

I honestly love these videos. It really feels like you hit your stride! Also in the videos where you show your face you're very good-looking.

[@exoroxx]

One interesting fact is that (at least in my point of view) some of the unique models made the step to Europe. Like the Ford EcoSport, the VW Nivus/Taigo or the VW Fox. Ethanol fuels (+really small engines) are also a thing, which was barely copied in Europe with their approach of E85 cars.

[@alexandernystrom7195]

The best thing about Ed's videos is that you can confidenly click play and like in one smooth hydramatic move!

[@pizza2437]

I loved the series!

[@gustavozimmer8015]

Yo Ed, loved the video man!! I'm from Brazil and I'm pretty glad that you gave our car industry this highlight. I've watched the other four episodes and in the last one I prayed "oh man, hope Ed talk about our brazilian pearls in the next one" and YEAH, you did it. Pretty resumed but I love your videos man, you're kinda funny but also a wonderful storyteller. And I already had a 1980 Chevrolet Chevette, loved that car. Yeah, it had its problems but is also a rough rider, tough and relatively indestructible. Always ran it on wires and plastic belts 'cause sometimes the engine used to shake as hell and some bolts got loose 👀 brazilian style bro, we name this the "gambiarra" (max improvisation like a punk guitarist on a jazz band). Thanks for this vídeo Ed, I absolutelly L O V E D it!!

[@phzitos_]

And as a foreigner you nailed the pronunciation of pretty much every Portuguese word. You sounded like someone from Rio when you said Fusca. But I'm curious how you would say the name of the Brasinca 4200 GT: the almighty UIRAPURU

[@christianotten560]

The Golden Car at 9:30 min looks more like an Opel Rekord C series with an changed front than a Kadett. Great Episode Ed ! Greets from Germany

[@ΑγγελοςΦιστουρης]

You should do an episode about the Greek car industry we have a lot of interesting cars like quirky three wheeled ape lookalikes, an electric compact from the 70s and what claims to be one of the fastest cars in the world the chaos

[@craigkleber9316]

Your videos are superb. From every angle they are engaging. Your content and atmosphere are ‘just right’. They teach me, they make laugh, they provide sharp analysis. What a treat.

[@jessesteinbar]

12:00 we only had 8 cylinders Darts/Chargers in Brazil and same for the Landau

[@DouglasB42]

Exactly... the dodge slant 6 was available only in Argentina. Brazilian dodges were all equiped with the 318 and its variants (except for the 4 cylinder polara/1800)... And the galaxies/landaus had the 292 (early models) and the 302 (later models)

[@1974UTuber]

Ed I gotta say I am so impressed by this series. The depth and detail of the information provided in an easy to follow yet entertaining and hilarious manner is absolutely top shelf. I see big things in your future. I would certainly watch a TV show with you in it.

[@johan3561]

I dont think you should end the series already. There are a lot more interesting countries to talk about, South Africa, Mexico, Turkey ect. But thank you for the series nonetheless. They were a really interesting watch. Well made and well researched.

[@AbuLuluwah]

I pray to God that your accent does not go away 😅. Love it, it keeps me coming back to watch more videos 😊. Well done video as usual keep it up. 👍🏻

[@lucascarioli]

I'm brazilian and it was very well resumed. Just i would added the GURGEL company, the truly 100% national car efford, completely made with glass fibre. But it can't be perfect. Today brazilian car industry its struggling again, like the eighties. With the fall of the Real and the rise of unployment, the new cars are stuply spensive, and the brands basicly don't do cheap cars anymore. The majority of the public is looking now just for semi new models.

[@germancollection_br]

Congrats on the effort on pronouncing our Portuguese car names, you pretty much nailed all of them. Moreover, it’s hard to find such an in-depth content on Brazilian cars even here in Brasil. Obrigado!

[@securepoint-delviso-5247]

Come on Ed justo one more episode of world tour ..... Argentina ..... we are not only Fangio and Maradona !!!

[@livinginvancouverbc2247]

6:44 Those two Alpines are gorgeous! The 2nd one is nicer than the first and the first one is beautiful. I never knew they existed. Thank you, Ed.

[@nicksothep8472]

Brazil has some really tasty "rebadges" with sweet unique feats. In my list of oddball dream cars there is definitely an Opala or two, particularly as a former owner of a Rekord C h/t coupè..which was the platform over which they were built, not the Kadett. Puma GTBs and Galaxies are also intresting, and most definitely the Interlagos.

[@MrJommins]

Another fabulous series of episodes! Thank you so much Ed. I’m looking forward to the next one.

[@TigreBSO]

VAI BRASIL!!!

[@raylarkin5004]

Ed. there is nothing that comes close to what you bring. Always interesting and educational. For many, that could be enough but you kick in humor which people enjoy but have no idea how to make it work. BUT... You do and that is your payoff! Thank you Ed!