Gurgel
Encyclopedia
Gurgel was the brand name of Gurgel Motores (later Gurgel Motores S/A), a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian automobile manufacturer, named after its founder João do Amaral Gurgel
João do Amaral Gurgel
João Augusto Conrado do Amaral Gurgel was a Brazilian businessman. In 1969, he decided to start a very small factory, producing small cars. Early models were fiberglass bodies installed on Volkswagen Beetle chassis and machinery...
. The company was founded in 1969 and first specialized in buggies and off-road vehicles. Early models were fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
bodies installed on Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
Beetle chassis and machinery, but VW bodies and chassis were later replaced by a unique solution made of Plasteel
Plasteel
Plasteel may refer to:*Plasteel, composite of fiberglass and steel patented by automobile manufacturer Gurgel and first used in 1973*Plasteel , a durable tough form of steel mentioned by Frank Herbert in his 1965 science fiction novel Dune and its sequels*Plasteel , steel-reinforced plastic...
- which consists on fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
joined together, a system patented by Gurgel. Gurgel also introduced Brazil's first fully domestically designed and manufactured car, the BR-800
Gurgel BR-800
Gurgel BR-800 was a small Brazilian car produced between 1988 and early 1992. The project started under the acronym CENA, meaning "National Economical Car" , designed to be essentially a small car for urban daily use. It received great attention and good reviews from critics, regarding the mechanic...
.
Rise and growth (1969-1987)
The Ipanema was the first car produced by Gurgel, introducing the brand in the market. The next model was the first commercial success of the brand: the Xavante (also named X-10): production started in 1973, being the first car of Gurgel developed using the PlasteelPlasteel
Plasteel may refer to:*Plasteel, composite of fiberglass and steel patented by automobile manufacturer Gurgel and first used in 1973*Plasteel , a durable tough form of steel mentioned by Frank Herbert in his 1965 science fiction novel Dune and its sequels*Plasteel , steel-reinforced plastic...
system, which was proved very resistant under corrosive environments and also very mechanically strong - deforming temporarily but not smashing under pressure or shocks. Xavante also had a feature called Selectraction, a system where two individual hand-brakes were installed next to the driver, for each one of the rear wheels: in a situation of low-traction environment, it could be used to stop a free-spinning wheel and move the power to the other one, allowing the driver to restore traction to the ground and to move along. There was a more sophisticated version of X-10 called X-12, which was the biggest commercial success of the brand.
In 1974, the Itaipu was a pioneer project of an electric vehicle, which was developed to be a strict urban car for short distances. However, due to the limited technology of the batteries in that time - which were too heavy and had low capacity - the project was halted. Still, in 1980 another electric vehicle was conceived, called Itaipu E400: it was a van, still designed for urban travels, but making a better autonomy and still a remarkable mileage. The same body was also listed in brochures as available with a petrol engine, as the "G-800".
In 1979, the X-15 was released, being a van which could carry 7 passengers, or 2 passengers plus 500 kg of load. A derived model, the G-15L, could carry 1 ton of load, having 70L of gasoline capacity - which could be extended to 140L, with an additional tank.
At that time, business where going quite well: Gurgel was the first exporter in special vehicles, and the second in production and amount, in the years of 1977 and 1978.
In 1981, the XEF model was developed, having only three front seats - an unusual solution at the time. The car was an urban model, with small dimensions for the passengers and for the baggage.
In 1984, the Carajás
Gurgel Carajás
Gurgel Carajás was a Brazilian car, a SUV, produced by Gurgel between late 1984 and January, 1991. All Carajás were 4 x 2 drive, but they were produced with motors in three options: gasoline and ethanol with 1800cc, and diesel with 1600cc. It had a front engine and a rear transmission, conecting...
model was introduced: it presented the same Selectraction system as Xavante and X-12, but had some special qualities, such as the TTS (Tork Tubing System), used to transfer the power from the engine - on the front of the vehicle - to the transmission - on the rear. The system gave a good weight balance for the system, but presented some collateral effects - such as the need for a slower shift change, due to the inertia of the TTS.
Urban vehicles (1987-1993)
A small, economic, and totally national car was the goal for João Gurgel for a long time. On September 7 of 1987, a day Gurgel himself called "the day of the brazilian technological independence", the project CENA was presented. The first minicar of the brand was designed to be the cheaper and more economic car offered in the market. For this project, a reduction on the IPI to 5% from the federal government was granted, aiming for the competitiveness of the vehicle in a scenario of big automakers.
From the constructive point of view, the engine was very similar to the VW Beetle boxer engine, even sharing some internal parts with it, but had a lot of improvements - including the sealed water-cooled system, the better compression ratio, the ignition system, and many other improvements. Unlike the VW boxer, it could be taken to near 6000rpm without any valve float.
The first model based on the original project was the BR-800, available only with the 800cc engine option, generating 32cv of power. It was a direct implementation of the project, with minor changes and improvements. As the other vehicles from the brand, the car also had a body made using the established Plasteel system, weighting only 650 kg and measuring 3.19 meters, still being the smallest car ever produced in Brazil.
It was first sold in 1988 in a system where the buyer had to acquire shares from Gurgel in order to buy the car. This system lasted until 1990, when the car was sold independently of the shares. In this same year, the federal government changed the rules to give the same reduction of the IPI to all cars below 1000cc, thus making the sales more difficult for the car.
In 1992, in a response to the market, the Supermini model was created: it had a better finish, more power (36cv), a lot of improvement in the body, including a more rebust suspension, a better system for the windows and a real lid for the trunk.
Last projects and bankruptcy (1993-1994)
When president Fernando Collor went to office in March, 1990, he soon opened the Brazilian market to foreign products. Even considering the high import taxes, national industry from the time suffered from the new external competition, and things weren't different for Gurgel. The Carajás, which had been Brazil's best selling SUV, was taken out of production in early 1991 as the Lada NivaLada Niva
The Lada Niva or VAZ-2121 is the Russian word for "crop field") is an off-road vehicle built by Soviet/Russian automaker AvtoVAZ. The car is very popular in its home country. It is also popular in Canada , South America, Europe, and other regions where the terrain requires a robust and tough car...
arrived in the Brazilian market.
The president also extended the IPI reduction of Gurgel BR-800
Gurgel BR-800
Gurgel BR-800 was a small Brazilian car produced between 1988 and early 1992. The project started under the acronym CENA, meaning "National Economical Car" , designed to be essentially a small car for urban daily use. It received great attention and good reviews from critics, regarding the mechanic...
to all vehicles below 1,000 cc - Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
quickly responded by launching the Uno Mille
Fiat Uno
The Fiat Uno is a supermini car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat. The Uno was launched in 1983 and built in its homeland until 1995, with production still taking place in other countries.-First series :...
, and other automakers soon followed with their own one-litre cars. This step was considered by many Gurgelistas a kind of betrayal from the government, as the prices of these vehicles was now very similar. In 1991 Gurgel released the Motomachine, a shortened two-seater roadster based on the BR-800. Only 177 of these were built in 1991.
However, Gurgel have gained a lot of experience and feedback from the costumers and investors during the BR-800 sales, and with that input in mind he started a new project called Gurgel Delta
Gurgel Delta
Gurgel Delta was a Brazilian car designed by Gurgel, never sold in commercial market.The project was described by Gurgel himself as the true popular car, citing Supermini as "a small car, economic and easy to park, for who do not set comfort aside" ....
. This project was intended to be cheaper than the BR-800, aimed at the lower economic classes, being produced in a new plant near the target market: the northeast.
Governors of state of Ceará and São Paulo signed a letter of intent in December 1991, where they confirmed interest to fund Gurgel in U$ 30 million and U$ 50 million each. BNDES would also join if both states confirmed the funding, adding U$ 25 million. By that time, Gurgel had already bought the ground of 650000 square meters, needed for the new factory facilities, and negotiated with Citröen
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
the purchase of machinery used for 2CV
Citroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...
production.
However, in the following years of 1992 and 1993, the state of Ceará did not confirmed the funding, leading to the lost of support from São Paulo and BNDES. The schedule for production of the new car was delayed, and in 1993 Gurgel entered in a preventive bankruptcy. Gurgel still tried to contact the federal government, making a presentation for the Delta project to the current president Itamar Franco.
This presentation resulted in a technical note from the (now extinct) MICT saying that that "immediante actions needed to be taken", treating the matter as of "national interest". Still, no funding was conceived, and on March 1, 1994, Gurgel had it first collapse. The administration appealed, but it was already too late, and in the end of 1994 the doors were finally closed and locked.
Current days (2000 and beyond)
The trade mark Gurgel expired, and have been bought from another business, now used by a small Brazilian importer of tricycles. The current Gurgel has nothing in common with original Gurgel company, except the name.The vehicles produced by the original factory are still running on Brazilian roads nowadays. It is not uncommon to see X-12, Tocantins, Supermini or BR-800 models on the streets, despite of the reduced number of specialized workshops and lack of specific parts for replacement.
Gurgel's founder and owner João do Amaral Gurgel
João do Amaral Gurgel
João Augusto Conrado do Amaral Gurgel was a Brazilian businessman. In 1969, he decided to start a very small factory, producing small cars. Early models were fiberglass bodies installed on Volkswagen Beetle chassis and machinery...
was born in 1926. A few years after Gurgel's bankruptcy, João do Amaral Gurgel developed Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He died on January 30, 2009, in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, due to complications from the disease.
Vehicles produced
- Gurgel Moplast: A very small vehicle, with fiberglass body.
- Gurgel Ipanema: A dune buggyDune buggyA dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches. The design is usually a modified vehicle and engine mounted on an open chassis. The modifications usually attempt to increase the power-to-weight ratio by either lightening the...
, bigger than Moplast, based on VW platform with fiberglass body. - Gurgel Xavante X10: With a new chassis made of fiberglass over a steel framework and VW Beetle engine and transmission, this small off-road car showed its dune buggy roots but with a more Jeep-like styling and intended usage. Some thousands produced in 1970 decade. Early models had more rounded, dune buggy-like lines, while later ones are more square and Jeep-like.
- Gurgel Xavante X11: Similar to Xavante X10, but from late 1970 decade. Some thousands produced.
- Gurgel Xavante X12: Also similar to Xavante X10. Some thousands produced in the 1980s.
- Gurgel Itaipu: The first project for an electric car, still the only electric car ever produced in BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian history. First produced in 1975. Only a few of these cars were produced and they were not sold since the car never developed pass the prototype stage. The car was named after a huge hydro power plant in the border of Brazil and Paraguay. - Gurgel Tocantins: An evolution of Xavante X12. Bigger motor, 4 X 2 and also with fiberglass chassis. It was a commercial success, exported for 40 countries.
- Gurgel CarajásGurgel CarajásGurgel Carajás was a Brazilian car, a SUV, produced by Gurgel between late 1984 and January, 1991. All Carajás were 4 x 2 drive, but they were produced with motors in three options: gasoline and ethanol with 1800cc, and diesel with 1600cc. It had a front engine and a rear transmission, conecting...
: A large SUV powered by a 1.8 water-cooled engine from the Volkswagen Santana. The engine was mounted at the front, with rear transmission. The last Gurgel Carajás was produced in January 1991. After the Carajás, no more Gurgel SUVs were made. - Gurgel X15: A pick-up with a number of different body types, few units produced.
- Gurgel X20: Another pick-up, few units produced.
- Gurgel E500Gurgel E500Gurgel E500 was a Brazilian electric vehicle. It was produced between 1981 and 1983. It was produced in two types: van and pickup. Its very limited autonomy and expensive batteries resulted in it being a commercial failure. Around 200 were produced overall, bought by Brazilian government agencies....
: An electric-poweredElectric carAn electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...
pickup/delivery van, with few units produced. - Gurgel G800: An internal combustion engineInternal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
version of the E500, few units produced. - Gurgel XEF: City carCity carA city car is a small car intended for use primarily in an urban area.City cars are sold worldwide and most automotive industry manufacturers have one or two in their line-up. In North-America city cars are often referred to simply as "subcompacts" alongside the superminis. These kind of cars...
shaped like a saloon, powered by Volkswagen's air-cooled 1.6 engine from the original Beetle. Only one hundred Gurgel XEF were made. It had an unusual three-occupant configuration - each occupant sitting side-by-side. - Gurgel BR-800Gurgel BR-800Gurgel BR-800 was a small Brazilian car produced between 1988 and early 1992. The project started under the acronym CENA, meaning "National Economical Car" , designed to be essentially a small car for urban daily use. It received great attention and good reviews from critics, regarding the mechanic...
: City carCity carA city car is a small car intended for use primarily in an urban area.City cars are sold worldwide and most automotive industry manufacturers have one or two in their line-up. In North-America city cars are often referred to simply as "subcompacts" alongside the superminis. These kind of cars...
built from 1988 to 1991. In order to buy one from the first lot, the customer had to acquire shares from the Gurgel brand, as a way to capitalize the factory. After 1990, the shares acquisition was no longer necessary. It sold reasonably well in 1989 and 1990, but sales dwindled in 1990 after IPI reduction of other cars in the segment. - Gurgel SuperminiGurgel SuperminiThe Gurgel Supermini was a small Brazilian car produced between 1992 and 1994.Compared to the Gurgel BR-800, it had better finish, improvements on the body and the engine got larger intake valves, giving more 4cv of power - thus rendering 36cv. The horizontal windows were also replaced by vertical...
: The BR-800 evolution, built from 1991 to 1994. More improved and with better finish that BR-800. - Gurgel Motomachine: A smaller two-seat roadster version of the Supermini, only 177 were produced in 1991.
External links
- Gurgel Brasil
- Gurgel History and cars (in Portuguese)
- Another source for Gurgel History (in Portuguese)
- Gurgel 800 (in Portuguese)
- Os Carros de Rio Claro (in Portuguese)
- Gurgel X15 & family (in Portuguese)
- Jornal do Carro - Gurgel: A Brazilian site (in Portuguese) with all Gurgel's vehicles. Photos are all black & white.
- Quatro Rodas - As Obras do Engenheiro: Brazilian site, in Portuguese, with useful information and photos, about Gurgel.
- Views about Gurgel's history and cars (in English) Beware of the partial tone.