From 1972 to 1976 the Volkswagen SP2 sports car was built by Volkswagen do Brasil.
In the 1970s the Brazilian market was closed for imports and the only officially made sports car was the ageing Karmann Ghia. As only independent car makers such as Puma, Santa Matilde and Miura were able to fill the gap the decision to build a new sports car was made by Rudolf Leiding. Leiding was at that time the CEO of the subsidiary and later of the entire company.
Volkswagen SP2 © wikipedia.org/Pudong
The prototype of the SP2, the so called ‘Project X’ was first presented on a fair in São Paulo in 1971.
The car was built on the frame of the Brazilian VW 1600 Variant, with a steel body built by Karmann do Brasil. The engine was a Volkswagen air cooled engine upgraded to 1700 cc developing 75 hp (56 kW) and a top speed of 160 km/h (100 mph). Of the also built SP1 only 162 units were produced due to its poor performance of only 65 hp (48 kW). But the SP2 wasn’t that powerful either and often named ‘Sem Potência’ (Brazilian for ‘without power’).
The Brazilian Puma was much lighter and also faster.
The car had front disc brakes and rear drum brakes and a quite impressive interior with many extra features and a superb finishing. The comfortable seats had head rests and three-point seat-belts. The Volkswagen SP2 also had a front and a rear boot.
The SP2 was never officially sold in Europe or the USA and after only 10,193 cars had been built production ended in 1976.
Of the successor the SP3 only a prototype was built.
