Gurgel

Gurgel

 Gurgel Motores (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡuʁˈʒew]) was a Brazilian automobile manufacturer, named after its founder João do Amaral Gurgel. The company was founded in 1969 and first specialized in buggies and off-road vehicles. Early models were fiberglass bodies installed on Volkswagen Beetle chassis and machinery, but VW bodies and chassis were later replaced by a unique solution made of Plasteel - which consists on fiberglass and steel joined together, a system patented by Gurgel. Gurgel also introduced Brazil's first fully domestically designed and manufactured car, the BR-800.

History

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 Plasteel 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 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.

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