(first posted 5/14/2015) Back in late 50s, the Brazilian domestic auto industry started out on the wrong foot. The first generation of cars produced in Brazil were largely European models, some of which had succeeded very well in their original countries. They were mostly flimsy and prone to breakdown (think Renault Dauphine). This explains the rise and dominance of the unstoppable VW Beetle, thanks to its rugged German engineering.
The American brands in other hand saw the Brazilian market as a good opportunity for trucks and pick-up trucks. Ford and Chevy were right in this approach, but just for a while. After some years of suffering we were eager for better passenger cars, other than the Beetle.
In the late 60s the changes were coming. Ford had released the Galaxie and latter the Corcel; Dodge was still dealing with recently acquired French automaker Simca and all the junk that came with it; and Chevy was just about to make a very smart move when decided to bring the the German Opel Rekord C to Brazil.
The Rekord C was a complete line of medium size cars, with 4 door sedan, 2 door hardtop and fastback , station wagon and even a convertible version (by coachbuilder Deutsch). Was a very well-built automobile, once again thanks to German engineering, and had a vast option of engines. All the good ingredients to make the car a hit here in South America right? Wrong!!!! Let’s take a look at the engine options:
Three different choices of four bangers from 1500cc 60hp to 1900cc 90hp, and the top of the line a straight six 2300cc with 95hp. Certainly not a thrilling list.
If the Brazilian Chevy wanted to make a real “splash” in the market, they would need some help, and this help came from the American cavalry.
They decided to use the bigger engines from the US Chevys: the entry level four cylinder, 2500cc (153 CID) 80hp from the Chevy II/Nova, and the 3800cc (230 CID) 125hp inline six that was the basic engine for many bigger American Chevys, like the Impala. Perhaps that was the inspiration for the name of the new car, a mix of “Opel” and “Impala”, the result: “Opala”
With the engine problem solved, it was time to change a little the design of the car, and the idea was to make the Opala to look as American as possible. When you check the photos of the 1969 model is impossible not to see the cues of the 1968 Chevy Nova.
The car was presented to the public in 1968 and production started in 1969. For the first three years only the 4 door body was offered in two different trims, the basic and “Luxo”, with 4 or 6 cylinders engines and 3 speed transmission, three on the tree.
The Opala was indeed a hit in our market and for the first three years very little had changed. In 1971 Chevy offered the “SS” version with a new 4100cc in line six, the famous 250cid, producing 140 hp and a “four on the floor” trannsmission. For a car design to have a top engine with 95hp, the “sportishy” Opala had now 140hp and much more torque than the little Opel six; well, that’s what I call a factory Hot Rod. An ultra-luxurious version called “Gran Luxo” appeared this year too, and it could be equipped with an automatic transmission.
By the end of this same year Chevy revealed the 2 door coupe version with the gorgeous Fastback design. That is the car the Brazilians would be forever in love.
By this time we could see Opalas performing many different tasks. It was a stylish performance fastback for the younger generation and could be as well a police cruiser in the four door version. Very soon the race teams found how good the car was in the race tracks, and even 23 years after its discontinuation, the Opala is still a familiar sight at the road courses and specially at the dragstrips around Brazil. For 1972 the “SS” version was transferred to the coupe.
For the 1973 and 1974, the car received only cosmetic changes, but 1975 Opala went through deeper changes in design and finally came the station wagon body, called “Caravan”.
The Opala was performing quite well against its competitors; the Ford Maverick was never a good seller and the Dodge Dart family was placed a bit above in the market; in a higher class altogether.
In between 1975 and 1979, very little had changed, The “Gran Luxo” was replaced for the “Comodoro” with a trendy half-vinyl top and the Caravan got it’s “SS” version. Now a days both models are the Holly Grail for the collectors.
During those years, Chevy had accumulated some experience in the race tracks and with some small modifications, the in line six was leaving the assembly line with 170hp and the four cylinder had 90hp.
For the 80s, all the Brazilian cars had the “square headlights” design and the Opala had to have that, so, the whole family got a new face lift.
The Opala was getting its segment all to itself, as the Maverick had died in 1978 and the Dart would do the same in 1981; even the austere Galaxie/Landau gave up in 1982. Suddenly the Brazilian market was without a serious up-scale car and Chevy saw that as an opportunity to make a even more luxurious version of the Opala and called it “Diplomata”.
During the 80s, Opala didn’t change much. In 1981 it got a new dash panel, in 1983 the 4 cylinder got 5 speed manual transmission. (Chevy didn’t have at the time a 5 speed tranny strong enough for the 6 cylinder.)
By the end of the decade, the Brazilian consumers were leaning toward the more practical 4 doors cars and in 1989 the last Opala coupe was built. In 1991 the Diplomata got disc brakes in all four wheels, 5 speed for the 6 cylinders models and another face lift.
Chevy never gave the car a total renovation; the body was still the same as in 1969 and just like an aging rock star the has gone through too many plastic surgeries, there was no more chances to make the Opala look younger.
In April 1992 the last Diplomata rolled out of the factory. After 23 years of production and over a million cars sold, that was the end of a car that became a dream for countless middle class Brazilians.
For the next year model, another Opel took the Opala’s place, the Omega, again based on the Opel Omega. The car stood up the task to replace a legend, and just like the predecessor, Omega had only two options of engine, a four cylinder and an in line six.
Interesting fact, Brazilian Chevy decided it was more practical to import the new 3000cc in line six from Germany than to produce it here. Well, it was a good idea but very soon it would back fire. The Omega was a new car here in Brazil, but in Europe it was a veteran and in 1994 Opel reformulated the whole car and the in line six was dropped in favor a totally new V6. The problem is, the V6 didn’t fit in between the fenders of Brazilian Omega. In order to to keep the 6 cylinder version alive Chevy should start building the 3.0 here. But there was a cheaper solution: they resurrected the old 250cid Opala engine.
So for 1995, the 250 (now called 4.1) was sent to Lotus for a working-over. The result was fuel injection and other modernization, and 168 net hp. The veteran motor got newly design heads, pistons and a multi-point fuel injection and another three years of production.
Opala Legacy:
There were many reasons that made the Opala was and still is so deeply appreciated by the Brazilians; it was the right car in the right time. We were so proud to build the Ford Galaxie here, and then we were proud to build the Opala. The difference between then is the Opala was meant for the “average Joe”. It was always affordable, good looking and had a nice performance.
After the American Classics reached a price that very few could afford to pay here in Brazil, the collectors started to pay attention to the brazilian cars and the Opala was one of the favorites. The car moves a small universe of shops that sells and trade all the parts needed for restoration. There is a very famous annual Opala meeting called “Opalapa”, in a small city in Parana province. Last year they gather over 700 Opalas and Caravans.
Competition:
Is impossible to talk about Opala and not to talk about its racing heritage. From the very beginning the race teams realized the possibilities of the new car, it was light weight, well balanced and with a powerful engine.
During the early years of the 70, there was a category dedicated only for domestic cars called “Division 3”. Due to the fact we didn’t have many options of cars, was normal procedure to mix the big Darts and Opalas with the little VW Beetle with unlimited engine modifications. The Opala was the undisputable king of the Division 3.
In 1973 Ford unveiled the Maverick and in 1974 came the “GT” version equipped with the 302 small block V8. Following the idea “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” Ford poured truck loads of money on the teams that had chosen the Maverick. The performance parts for the 302 were (and still are) plenty in US and Ford was more than happy to bring them to the teams.
Ford had the brute force of the V8 and Chevy had a better balanced car and these two fought memorable battles in the Brazilian race tracks, consolidating a rivalry that would last forever in the minds of the race fans.
After a couple of years, Ford shut down it’s competition sponsorship and the teams went back to the more affordable Opala. By 1978 the Chevys were once again racing against each other on the Division 3.
In 1979 it was time for the Chevy to be the sponsor in a new category, the brazilian “Stock Car” allowing only the 2 door fastback coupe Opalas to race in it.
The Stock Car became the most famous category in the brazilian races, attracting the best drivers and the richest teams. The Opala was the sole car for this category until 1994, when was replaced by the Chevy Omega.
Drag Racing:
During the 90s Brazil saw the drag racing became the most important motorsport in the country and the Opala played an import role in it. After decades of “know how” in preparing the old 250 cid, the teams seem to have endless recipes to squeeze more and more power from that engine. Is not an uncommon to see turbocharged Opalas with more than 1,000 hp on the dragstrip.
The video above shows a final race of the 2013 season, with the two fastest naturally aspirated door slammers in Brazil: The white 78 Chevy Caravan of the “Los Hermanos Race Team” and the orange 74 Ford Maverick from the Castañon family.
I was there that day, and when the two cars aligned at starting line, the whole crowd went silent, biting their nails, after all, years of rivalry were represented there. Green lights off, engines at full throttle and at the end, the “Might Six” as the Los Hermanos call the Caravan, was the winner. Well, at least until the next season.
Very interesting info!
My sister’s husband is Brazilian and he knows I like cars. He did talk to me about the Willys Aero but I don’t think he ever talked about the Opala. I’ll certainly ask him more about it!
Wow ~ a good looking car there .
I’m a die hard InLine 6 banger guy and the thought of factory fuel injection for a Chevy 250 C.I.D. engine has me drooling .
I could retrofit it to my 1969 Chevy C/10 Shop Truck .
-Nate
GMH in Aussie did TBI for the last gasp of their inline 6 too, then replaced it with a Nissan motor the following year.
Good point Nate. I always wondered how the 4.1 would do modernized. The American Buick 3.8 was up to 195hp by this point so 168hp was perhaps a little low. It was great that they offered the 4sp on the 4.1 even early on. I guess in America you had to keep it slow so people would pay up for the 350. Interesting car. Thanks for the writeup.
A guy in my old GM Truck Club worked up a three injector F.I. setup for the 235 i6 Stovebolt engine some time ago , it was sweet .
i6 engines are torquey , no need to Rev. the pi$$ out of them for good performance .
I know how to tune ’em sharply so they run strong and get decent fuel economy too .
-Nate
Nate, I was thinking the same thing. Even though my 4 barrel carbureted 250 runs nicely in my ’67 GMC stepside, it would be even more awesome with one of those Lotus tuned sixes!
Captain Obvious:
•Pontiac OHC 6?
•1st car’s grille resembles that of the 1970 AMC Hornet.?
Yeah except those engines were TRASH and all grenaded before 60,000 miles….
-Nate
Such problems might’ve been resolved if interested parties persisted in developing the engine. Or was it immune to improvement?
If I am not mistaken, Brazilian and Argentinian full size Chevy pickups got the fuel-injected 4.1L in the mid-90’s as well.
The fuel-injected 4.1L soldiered on until ’99 when it was decided to keep only the Diesel versions of the Argentinian and Brazilian GMT400.
So nice to see these Opel~Chevrolet mixtures !
Regarding “underpowered” Opel engines and factory Hot Rods. In 1970 Opel introduced this 150 hp Commodore GS/E with a fuel-injected 2.5 liter inline-6. The carbureted 2.8 was still good for 145 hp.
The Commodore was fully based on the Rekord, yet it was only available with inline-6 engines.
Cool look at a cool car. Thanks for sharing!
These are very obscure cars to most North Americans, even if they came from our largest car company. I love these kinds of write-ups. Thanks for a great article.
I’m curious what logo is on the badge above the grille on the ’69 model. It doesn’t look like a bowtie. Does/did Chevrolet have a different logo in Brazil?
that’s not an original part, Chevrolet do Brasil has the same bowtie logo; the phony whitewall looks silly too, unfortunately they’ve become all too common in Brazil among the vintage car scene.
I love these GM world car mash ups in another country Opels were labeled Holdens and shared very similar imported styling and even some parts with the Opalas the early Opala coupe wears HK Holden Belmont tail lamps, crying shame we never got the proper Chev engines though, South Africa mixed the Australian bodies with NA Chevrolet powertrains for their “local Chevys” Brazil did it differently again.
Had to share this Holden Monaro picture.
And the Mexican cousin that was kept closer to its Euro origins: Opel Fiera.
They aren’t HK Belmont tail lights. They look similar, but the HK had an amber indicator section inboard of the red section.
The ratio between height & width differs too.
I can see Mk 4 Zepher/Zodiac influences in grille/head light treatment in the 4th pic- the green ’69 sedan.
And Grenada/Cortina in the rectangular headlamps of the ’80s version.
Thanks for the article,Rubens. More, please.
Buddy you keep spreading these Australian bashing comments. I really don’t understand your issue with Australian design and manufacturing. Sure there are some design similarities with all GM products, Leo Pruneau and other American stylists worked at GMH as well as Opel and Vauxhall and there was a time when some of these products were sold simultaneously so it would make sense that there are visual similarities from a marketing stand point. Maybe being a Kiwi you’re just bitter that your country never did more than bolt together products from Australia, I don’t know, but by posting these comments you only add to the confusion our American cousins have for some of the truly unique and awesome products Australians produced through the 60’s and 70’s.
Nice I can see a lot of Opel/Chevy/Vauxhall in these cars.I really like the parallel universe cars,I’m also a 6 cylinder fan.My 1970 Vauxhall PC Cresta was my favourite car that I owned.
Always wondered what ‘Opala’ meant!
It’s also Portuguese for opal, as in the gemstone. But the opel/impala urban legend still rings true. 🙂
Checked Wiki and Opala does refer to gem stone, and GM never said it means “Opel and Impala”. Oops!
Like many car names, it’s difficult or impossible to know what factors actually led to the decision. But I will say this: I seriously doubt GM Brazil would have used “Opala” if the car wasn’t based on an Opel. And Ford most likely would not have tused the name “Opala”. Get my point?
And I suspect the name “Impala” may have been hard to remove from GM execs brains.
My point being: wikipedia is written by various volunteers, and is not to be always taken at face value. It may be right; or not.
It has to be a pun of opal, Opel and Impala. And I’m GMB used it!
You`re right, `Opala` is the portuguese word for Opal gemstone.
Top photo is like a Nova/Hornet cross.
I saw the Hornet look too.
the AMC Cavalier concept from 1966/7 certainly played a role.
I’m really enjoying the recent articles about the Brazilian and Australian market cars. Please keep them coming!
I agree. Very unusual and interesting stuff to my North American eyes.
The Opel Rekord C 1900 from the article (license plate AE-68-54) is still very alive and kicking. The first / original date of registration is October 1, 1969. Its weight is a healthy 2,390 lbs.
I love articles like this. Seeing how automakers tailored product for the differing markets gives a terrific indication of the unique conditions for the area, be it environment, infrastructure, or demographics. It also makes me wonder if the “one size fits all approach” that is currently so prevalent is truly the best approach for the customer.
The Opala is a looker. I see late ’60s Nova, a splash of Corvair on the coupes, and hints of other, larger GM cars. It’s easy to see why it was so popular in Brazil.
+1
Yes; definite Corvair influence around the taillights on at least some models.
I saw an Opala on Wheeler Dealers, the one where Mike trades his way around the world and thought it was an attractive car. Thanks for posting their story!
A fascinating look at a market segment I know little about. The fastback is a very attractive little coupé! Thanx, Rubens!
I really like the eightiesified dark blue one.
I kinda wonder if the “Average Joe” at the time in Brazil could really afford one of these, ie how much did they cost and what income percentile would you have to be in to buy one.
I’m sure these were not for “Average Joe”, but more like an executive or near luxury buy. I guess most Brazilians would have to settle for a Chevette, if not a Fusca (or the bus…)
Perhaps that was a wrong choice of words. The Opala was a car for the middle class buyers.
There’s a difference between “affordable” and “attainable”. Though these cars could have been affordable cars bigger than the Opala wasn’t really practically attainable for the large masses. Compared to the Galaxie and Dart, which would have been mere dream cars to most, the Opala was actually an attainable goal, especially as a used car. It’s the difference between aspiring to own a Porsche or Ferrari, but having to settle for a Mustang or Corvette or Camaro. Where most would just dream of owning a Porsche, owning a Corvette isn’t actually an unobtainable goal. In the same sense, an Opala was actually within reach for a large part of the population. And that’s why it was so loved, it was a dream car that could actually be had.
There’s a ‘Wheeler Dealers’ episode about the Opala. Found this teaser:
Some guys on Deviantart imagined a modern Opala 🙂
http://fav.me/d1wfmwu
http://fav.me/d2zrpne
http://fav.me/d21krp8
http://fav.me/dxxr9a
Fantastic piece Rubens. I wonder of the Comodoro was optioned with Cromodoras.
Best article I read in a foreign site about the Opala.
The CC is for sure a site for the “original car” bunch. The racing part of the article didn’t move the readers to write a single comment.
You cant imagine how ubiquitous and beloved the Opel Rekord C once was in Germany in the 60s and 70s.
Always intrigued by these Brazilian cars. They are the “what if” cars that were actually built! Great read.
Its interesting to know that our Holden Commodore based 2015 Chevrolet SS/Chevrolet Omega in South America and YES the RWD Chevrolet Lumina in the Middle East were the current “spiritual successors” to the Chevrolet Opala, Holden Monaro which was also marketed as the Chevrolet SS in South Africa and the Holden Kingswood which were also marketed as the Chevrolet Kommando in South Africa as well for the 4 Door Sedan. I have created a photo montage compilation for the similar sized Chevrolets made between 1968-71 which also showed their design element similarities as well. First showing the Chevrolet Corvair, then the Nova, the 1G Kommando, the Opala and then the 2G Commando. I also intended to show them in various shades of Greens as well to enable their kinship to be compared easily.
Here is another photo montage compilations of those same cars as well. This time showing their sides bumper to bumper.
For their differences the Opel Rekord C based 1974 Chevrolet Opala 2 Door Coupe (on the left) and the 1G Holden Monaro based 1976 Chevrolet SS 2 Door Coupe (on the right) may appear both totally different cars for the Markets each represented and origins which lead to their designs, but both were totally the same cars INMHO unless somebody can provide photographs of both the cars chassis then that would be easier to judge and make the determination of.
Hi Pedro! Opala is an Opel Rekord C with little differences in frontal and rear design.
They look pretty similar each other, but Monaro looks a little bit inflated, it’s design is more sleek and soft than the Opala/ Rekord C, the C pillar in the Monaro is less concave than the Opala, so they don’t share the same external hoods.
However if this Monaro shares the same body structure and chassis with Opel Rekord C coupe they can be very close relatives, if not, that’s another one of numerous redundancies from GM.
Great article Rubens and I’m sure you’re aware of Game Stock Car-if not:
http://game-stockcar.com.br/?lang=en
After a rare 16 hour workday today, I needed a good CC read. You have provided one and for that I thank you. I love these looks into the past intricacies of international automobile production. As we have all seen, sometimes they work, sometimes they do not, but sometimes they hit a home run.
Great article Rubens.
Brings back good old memories. I used to ride (and drive!) a friend’s 1988 2.5l 4 door, 4 on the floor “Opala Commodoro”. What a class, smooth as anything else (not fast as the 250, but had loads of low end torque).
I’d like to share some ideas on few of the questions above:
1) Chevy bolt tie: As far as I remember, it wasn’t used in the Opala first years (until the 74 facelift?). Also the Chevette and pick-up trucks didn’t have the logo, but the word “Chevrolet” beautifully written on the grille or maybe the hood. Then around mid 70’s they started with the blue bolt tie.
2) pick-up truck’s engines: yes, they used the 250 (4.1l) on full size trucks (C20 and latter the Silverado). Acttually it was the only gas engine option – the bulk of then came with diesels. Unfortunatelly, latter GM pulled the plug for full size trucks in the Brazilian market (and was followed by Ford), but that’s a (sad) story for another article.
3) Omega engines:
a) before bringing back the 250 in line 6, they did use the imported (German?) 3.0, but that was a V6, and not an in line 6.
b) until the end of the Brazilian Omega, it had also a base engine option, the OHC 2.2l in line 4.
The imported CIH 3.0 engine used in the Omega was a straight-6. But since it would not fit into the 2nd-gen European Omega it was pulled out of production in Germany.
This is my 1978 Opala. My parents bought it in 1980, when I was 13, and I fell absolutely in love with it. Sadly, they needed to sell it a year and a half later. What did I do? I made a sketch of it as a souvenir… and wrote its VIN on the back of the paper sheet.
Thanks to this, I was fortunate enough to find the car in 2009, bought it back and restored it from top to bottom.
Nice car , _GREAT_ story ! .
.
-Nate
Wow – such clean and classic lines for both the Chevrolet and Ford products. We got stuck with that bloated Maverick when we could have had the Taunus and that Opala is so classically simple in design – love the station wagon model and the 2 door is tight.
The Opel engines were much better than stated; starting in 1967 the Rekord was available with two optional 1.9 liter 4-bangers; the mentioned 1.9S with 90 hp, or the 1.9H with higher compression and twin 2-barrel weber carbs, good for 106 hp. The 2.2 liter 6 was dropped soon after the 1.9H came out.
As mentioned elsewhere, the Opel Commodore A (same body, different nameplate and options) was available with 2.5 or 2.8 straight sixes, good for up to 150 hp.
These were all bulletproof, cam-in-head (CIH) engines that were much more refined, efficient, reliable and durable than the 80 hp, 2.5 liter rock-tumblers Chevy built.
1970 Opel Rekord Sedan
Great article man, as an Australian I can’t help but be proud that our little country was allowed to design and develop vehicles with so much local input.
I’m intrigued by that MPFI 4.1 motor!
My mom bought a Hornet over a Nova here in the U.S. in 1970. Thought the Nova appeared dumpy. Too bad she couldn’t have an Opala instead. Much nicer looking!
…aaaaand there is an Opala Wagon over at BaT.
LOTUS developed the “Chevy” 250 inline six-popper for the Brazilian market?
I bet there was a lot of head-shaking, and wondering how US industry could design something like that.
Something like…what, exactly? What do you reckon the Lotus people were shaking their heads about?
Lotus are an engineering company. They develop what they’re paid to develop. They also developed the Chrysler 2.2 motor for the Spirit R/T, IROC R/T, and Phantom R/T.
“What do you reckon the Lotus people were shaking their heads about?”
GM in 1990-something, handing them an engine to be “developed” that was still using intake and exhaust manifolding; and cylinder head porting that would be right at home on an inline six-popper in 1935. The “brand-new” Chevy 230 six-cylinder of the early ’60s was born obsolete. The fact that it’s competition from Ford, especially (and Chrysler, to a lesser extent) were also obsolete does not mean Chevy couldn’t or shouldn’t have set their sights higher.
I bet that was the easiest “development” Lotus ever did. (Except for the GM-mandated cost-cutting, I suppose.)
State-of-the-art technology does not self-justify any more than obsolete technology self-disqualifies. Any given market (in both place and time) has its own needs, wants, constraints, and priorities for vehicles and all their components. What’s the point of your laffing like this at an engine that met the criteria? What do you imagine GM should have put out in America instead of the Chev 230? Why? And what do you imagine GM of Brazil should have used instead of the 250? Why?
Me, I’ll bet this development project was not as easy as you seem to think; it probably posed a fair number of tricky challenges—that’s how these kinds of projects usually go.
What did you mean by putting sneer-quotes around development? Do you have a better term for the upgrade work Lotus did on the engine in question…?
“What do you imagine GM should have put out in America instead of the Chev 230?”
Far as I know, that series of six-poppers had the same bore spacing as the Small-Block Chevy.
“I” would have used a 6-cylinder version of the SBC cylinder head. We know the SBC head was suitable for making power. The 230 had the same bore and stroke as the later SBC 307; 3 7/8 (283) bore, 3.25 (327) stroke so a version of the typical 283/307 head (small ports and valves) would have made suitable 6-cylinder power while having substantially more potential for “development”.
The single difficulty would be exhaust-heating the intake charge for fast warm-up and cold-weather use. Which is why the SBC had an exhaust crossover passage in the head and intake manifold–to warm the intake manifold (it also provided for the eventual use of EGR.) In this case, we’d need to add an exhaust tube from the intake manifold heat passage, back to the exhaust system, below the heat-riser valve. From a certain cynical perspective, the crappy, non-crossflow head was hung around the neck of the 230 in order to save the cost of this exhaust tube.
Build an intake manifold like Chrysler did a couple years before–not some dumbass restrictive log, or integrated, crack-prone disaster like the later versions of this engine. Then pay attention to flow on the exhaust side, (3 into 2 into 1?) which would have been wide-open real estate. Sure, you’d use small (but streamlined) runners in the intake and exhaust manifolds, biased for low-rpm power.
Cam appropriately for the intended usage. This may or may not mean the existing 6-popper cam needed changes.
Instead, Chevy cut every corner, crippled the engine’s potential, and sold America–and the world–low-power turds (perhaps to encourage V-8 sales.) Without V-8 competition in Brazil, GM had more incentive to allow proper reworking of the archaic top-end.
[Slightly off-topic: The 153 “Chevy II” four-popper could have used a single small-port, small-valve V-8 cylinder head, with similar streamlined manifolding to my proposed I-6]
God bless the (deep-breathing, crossflow head, with streamlined manifolding) GM “Atlas” inline six-cylinder of the ’90s.
P.S., how are you getting italics to show up in your posts?
Ooops. Correction–the Atlas I-6 was produced for model years 2002–2009 for the US market.
Instead, Chevy cut every corner, crippled the engine’s potential, and sold America–and the world–low-power turds (perhaps to encourage V-8 sales.)
Of course; that was the logical thing to do. Nobody in the US wanted high-output sixes. Look at the failure of the Pontiac OHC six. It was a waste of development money. V8s were dirt cheap, so if you wanted power, you got one.
American sixes were designed exactly according to their mission: low cost, efficient, high-torque engines for low end cars and trucks. And they acquitted themselves very well in that mission. Keep in mind that trucks were a major part of their brief.
I’m kind of curious. In the drag racing video there is a track truck partially in the foreground. It looks to me like a Ute or some Brazilian El Camino or Ranchero. Anybody know what that on could be?
The UTE is a VW Saveiro, it’s kinda like a El Camino, but it is more simple, it shares its platform with another VW Brazil classic, the Gol, both of these cars are sold in Mexico too, but the Gol was sold as pointer at some point. The one that you see in the video is the G5 or generation 5.
Sorry for bad english
Where did the Willys Itamaraty fit into the Brazilian market?