The Gurgel Ipanema was the first vehicle produced by Gurgel. It was a buggy-utility built on the platform of the rear-engined Volkswagen sedan, with a body of fibreglass-reinforced plastic, and it was made from 1969 to 1971 in pickup and QT forms.
Gurgel Ipanema at a glance
| Maker | Gurgel, Brazil |
|---|---|
| Production | 1969–1971 |
| Bodies | pickup and QT (Qualquer Terreno, any terrain) |
| Body material | F.R.P., fibreglass-reinforced plastic |
| Platform | Volkswagen sedan with rear engine |
| Predecessor | Macan Gurgel 1200, built 1966–1969 |
| Predecessor’s engine | 1,200 cc air-cooled flat-four, 36 hp |
| Predecessor’s gearbox | Karmann-Ghia mechanics |
Based on one source: the Ipanema is covered by a short entry in the Portuguese Wikipedia with no English article. There are no free photographs of the model on Wikimedia Commons.
History of the Gurgel Ipanema
From the Macan 1200
The Ipanema was an evolution of the Macan Gurgel 1200, a buggy-utility created by João Gurgel while he was a partner in Macan Indústria e Comércio, a Volkswagen dealer that also built small vehicles. The 1200 was shown at the fifth São Paulo motor show in four versions — Ipanema, Enseada, Augusta and Xavante — with Karmann-Ghia mechanics, a 1,200 cc air-cooled flat-four of 36 hp, and was built from 1966 to 1969.
The Ipanema and the QT
The Ipanema itself was assembled on the platform of the Volkswagen sedan, with its engine at the back and a body moulded in fibreglass. It came as a pickup and as the QT, short for Qualquer Terreno, any terrain. Building on a Volkswagen chassis kept the cost and the engineering simple while the plastic body avoided the tooling needed for steel panels.
Why Gurgel changed direction
Gurgel discovered that farmers were using his vehicle as a substitute for a Jeep. He decided to abandon buggies built on Beetle chassis and to make his own utility vehicles instead — the step that led to the X series and, later, to the Carajás. The Ipanema went out of production in 1971, after two years.
Design and features
- Fibreglass body: cheap to shape and free of rust, a material Gurgel kept using for decades.
- Volkswagen platform: rear engine and running gear taken from the Brazilian VW sedan.
- QT version: the any-terrain variant aimed at rural buyers.
- Pickup body: an open load bed for light commercial work.
- The starting point: the model that turned a buggy maker into a car manufacturer.
Gurgel Ipanema versions
- Ipanema pickup: the standard open-bodied version.
- QT (Qualquer Terreno): the any-terrain version.
- Macan Gurgel 1200 (1966–1969): the predecessor, sold as Ipanema, Enseada, Augusta and Xavante.
The Ipanema led to the X-12 jeep and to the Carajás. More cars are in the Gurgel collection.
Sources
- Gurgel Ipanema, Portuguese Wikipedia: production years, bodies, predecessor
