Volkswagen SP2
HISTORY: In the early 1970's the Brazilian automotive market was closed for imports, meaning only Brazilian-built cars could be sold. Volkswagen do Brasil had been building VW Transporters & Beetles since 1957 and in 1969 its chief, Rudolf Leiding, instructed his staff to build an updated version of the Karmann Ghia, one that would signal the Brazilian wing's independence from the parent company in Wolfsburg. The design team was led by engineer Senor Schiemann and by 1969 he had conceived the "Projecto X" concept. His team of designers included Marcio Piancastelli, Jose Vicente Martins, and Jorge Oba. Marcio Piancastelli had done an apprenticeship with Carrozzeria Ghia in Italy in 1962 under the great Luigi Segre. Jose Martins was only 20 years old. After the drawings had been transformed into a full-scale plaster model in late-1970, the first prototype (hand-formed out of sheet metal) was prepared by the Italian Giuseppe Accasto, who had been ordered as a specialist by the Italian firm Fissore to Brazil. The functional prototype was built in-time for for the unveiling in March 1971 German Trade Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. One month after its unveiling the SP2 was featured on the cover of Auto Esporte, announcing this new Brazilian sports car to the world. The new Brazilian SP (for Sao Paulo) was an instant success and production (with help from the engineers at Karmann) began in June 1972. There were two models available: the underpowered SP1 (1.6L 54hp) and the performance SP2 (1.7L 63hp). Within a few months in early 1975 the SP1 model was discontinued for lack of interest compared to the more powerful SP2. All SP2 production was done at the Sao Paulo Brazil factory and ended in February 1976 with 10,205 SP models built. Of these only 670 were exported to Europe.


SPECIFICIATIONS: The SP models featured an all-steel bodywork (unlike the fiberglass Puma), were based on the existing Brazilian T3 chassis to save retooling costs, used the Beetle's front axle and the T3's engine. It had disk front brakes and drum rear brakes. The 1678cc flat-four cylinder T3 engine had dual Solex 34 PDSIT carbs, a 7.5:1 compression ratio, and was mounted into a swing-axle rear end. It ran on 185SP14 tires and could get up to 100mph although the speedo topped out at 120mph.


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