Puma (eBook)

Models - Technology - History

Thomas Braun (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
218 Seiten
Books on Demand (Verlag)
978-3-7562-4930-5 (ISBN)

Infos

The Puma sports car brand is a big success story in Brazil as it was Porsche in Germany or Ferrari in Italy. For eleven years, the Puma GTB was the most expensive car available in Brazil. The sports cars based on Volkswagen technology also benefited from this fact. The successes on the race track in the early years still have an effect today. Today, Puma - cars are driven in historic racing events all over the world - and even today, the Puma is still an exotic car on the roads outside Brazil. However, few people know that Puma did not only build sports cars. Little is known about the Puma camper, the Puma camper van, the Puma buses and also the truck division. Particularly interesting is the Eletron - a truck with e-drive, which was ready for pre-production in 1981. For the first time, the story of this worldwide unique automobile manufacturer is told here. Interesting for collectors of exotic and rare vehicles is the treatment of the model care. Over the years, the vehicles were optimized, adapted to the tastes of the time and to the legal framework. The knowledge about this is far from complete, but is made available to the general public here for the first time.

Thomas Braun, born in 1968 in St. Pölten, studied prehistory and early history, numismatics and business administration. In addition to publications in the humanities and social sciences, he has also collaborated on studies in the IT environment. For more than 20 years, he has been involved with Volkswagen air-cooled vehicles. His publications include "Durchgeboxt" - The first large encyclopedia on the subject of special vehicles based on Volkswagen technology.

Textauszug

Type Plates

Today, we generally speak of the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). In the past, some things were not taken so precisely. For example, over time a kind of standard had to be established according to which a vehicle could be identified. Especially when the chassis is supplied or borrowed from a donor vehicle, it makes a big difference whether you build a classic car on the basis of a body or on the chassis. This can also have legal consequences.

The Malzoni GT and the Puma GT DKW adopt the initial letter „G“, which begins with one-thousand. So the first one was number G-1000. The engine number followed the chassis number.

VEMAG Type Plate from 1967

DKW Puma GT 1000 Type Plate from 1967

The Puma GT (VW), GTE Spyder, GTE and GTS until 1976 were based on a Karmann Ghia chassis. The chassis numbering was done via a plate bearing the numbers and riveted to the chassis directly behind the handbrake under the centre console or under the carpet. The chassis came from Volkswagen rolling, i.e. with all mechanical parts assembled.

Chassis number behind the hand brake lever

Volkswagen numbered the engine, the gearbox and the floor assembly. To complement this, a product number was added to the bonnets, doors and bodywork at the Puma factory. With the delivery of the first Puma GT 1500 produced on the chassis of the Karmann Ghia, a register in book form was started. Today, this register book is in the possession of Rubens Rossatto jr.

Type plate from 1969 with Puma head without whiskers

The product numbers began with 001 at the turn of the year. The chassis number always began with SP 143... as long as the Karmann Ghia supplied the chassis. The engine number followed the nomenclature given by Volkswagen. Each letter of the engine stands for a type, but that‘s another topic.

On the type plate between 1970 and mid-1972, the Puma is shown with moustache hair. The engine number and chassis number were taken from Volkswagen, the product number identifies the body

On the type plate from the end of 1972, the Puma is shown without moustache hair

At the end of 1975, the company form changed. The limited liability company became a private joint-stock company called PUMA VEÍCULOS E MOTORES S.A., which did not list any company shares on the stock exchange. In this year, the old nameplates were still attached to the vehicles until the reorganisation, then the new ones with „Puma Indústria de Veículos S.A. at Avenida Presidente Wilson 4385.

Type plate of the Puma GTS first series of Puma Indústria de Veículos S.A.

With the changeover to the VW Brasilia platform, the chassis number is preceded by the letter combination „SP“. The engine number gets a new acronym. The letter „B“ stands for Brasilia. The letter „A“ stands for the 1.6 litre Boxer engine with two Brosol carburettors (=Bromberger Solex).

Type plate where the chassis number begins with „SP“ (São Paulo)

General Motors supplied the platform and the engine without a number. Thus, the chassis and the engine number could be assigned identically in the Puma factory. The type plate on the GTB is located to the left of the lock for the engine cover. The chassis number begins with „P8“. This acronym stands for the development project number from which the GTB originated. The first Puma GTB was marked P8 - 0001.

Type plate of the Puma GTB from 1976

On the second-generation Puma GTB, the chassis number and engine number start with „P15“, as the Puma GTB S2 is the result of the 15th development project. The first Puma GTB S2 thus received the identifier P15 - 0001.

Type plate of the Puma GTB S2 from 1979

The type plate of the Puma P-018 continues the tradition of the GTE or GTS. The engine code letters are taken from Volkswagen. The chassis number is preceded by the letter combination „SP“. The project number „P018“ is used in the model designation.

Type plate of the Puma P018 from 1983

The Puma GTB S3 and the Puma GTB S4 received the P15 designation for engine and chassis. Product numbers 940 to 942 are assigned to the S4.

Type plate of the Puma GTB S4 from 1984

After the closure of the Puma factory in 1984, some P-018s were completed by a factory manager in Lapa‘s shed in São Paulo in 1985 and even in 1986. More P018s were assembled in Capivari-SP, where Puma planned to build a factory. On these cars the chassis number starts with „W“ and some may have a different nomenclature as they are special editions. But they can never have the nomenclature „SP“, only the first 25 units assembled at President Wilson received this nomenclature. 51 to 55 Puma P-018s were produced. From the twenty-sixth onwards there is no entry in the factory book.

Type plate of the Puma GTB S4 of 1984 with production number 942

Some Puma sportscars were produced after the factory closed. Until 1986, for example, some Puma GTIs and GTCs were still produced or sold on the premises of Puma Veiculos in Capivari.

Type plate of one of the last Puma GTC from Capivari

After Alfa Metais had bought up the bankruptcy estate of Puma, the Puma P018 became the AM-1 (coupé) or the AM-2 (convertible). The vehicles were delivered with the „old“ nameplates and the original designation of the predecessor model P-018.

Type plate of the Puma AM-1 of 1988

The Puma AMV 4.1 already received the nameplates from Araucaria.

Type plate of Araucaria from 1988

Puma vehicles intended for export were equipped with additional type plates, whether mounted on the C-pillar, in accordance with the legal situation prevailing in the country of destination.

Supplementary plate for cars that were intended for export from 1981

It is not until 1980 that a relatively important sticker is placed on the inside of the door. The indication of the optimum tyre pressure is especially important for sporty driving. The sticker was given to vehicles that were produced for the Brazilian market as well as to vehicles that were exported. The sticker is available in Portuguese and English. The Puma head is designed in the style of Alfa Metais.

Sticker indicating the recommended tyre pressure

Puma owners who were hungry for more performance could order a performance upgrade from the Puma dealer Comercial MM in Sao Paulo. For this, mainly components of the PumaKit were used. This resulted in sports cars for the competition and so-called S-models, which were not recognisable as such from the outside. Pumas that had already been equipped with PumaKit components at the factory before delivery were given an „S“ in front of the engine capacity on the engine cover.

Plate of Comercial MM

In South Africa, Bromer Motor Assemblies initially assembled components supplied from Brazil with locally produced body parts. Later, at the insistence of the government, they switched largely to components from local producers.

Type plate of Bromer Motor Assemblies from 1974

After the bankruptcy of Bromer, Jack Wijker bought up the bankruptcy estate and founded Puma Marketing in 1976. The nameplates of the second generation Puma GTs started with body number 001.The chassis number was given the letters „PUM“ before the chassis number. Since second hand VW Beetle chassis were used for the South African Puma, the body number and chassis number are not identical.

Type plate from Puma Marketing Pty Ltd. from 1976

In 2010 Jack Wijker founded Puma Sports Cars pty ltd in Babeleghi /Waterkloof. Vehicles built between 2010 and 2019 were given a yellow nameplate. Body number and chassis number are identical on these vehicles. Most of the vehicles also received a so-called AAP number, which the police in South Africa could insist on.

Type plate of Puma Marketing C.C.

In the United States of America, the Puma vehicles exported as Puma kits received a special licence. An additional plate contains the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number).

Type plate of US authorities

Part Numbering

If you want to produce 30 or more vehicles per month, you must also have a number of moulds available to do so. None of these moulds can be an identical copy of another mould. As a result, a vehicle has to consist of components that only make sense to each other. Since there was also an obligation to make spare parts available to the market, a system of part numbers was developed.

In order to ensure that a bonnet, doors or front and rear panels would fit when needed, the part number attached to the vehicle in several places also had to be specified when ordering. In this way, it was always possible to ensure that only parts from the same mould family were used on a vehicle.

It seemed...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 21.3.2022
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
• ISBN-10: 3-7562-4930-1 / 3756249301
• ISBN-13: 978-3-7562-4930-5 / 9783756249305