Great Images of Brazilian Dodge A-Bodies !

[buzian]

Hi, fellas !!

I was looking through my big archives and found some very interesting pictures that were taken by one of the famous car magazines in Brazil, called "Quatro Rodas" (should be translated "Four Wheels") while they were testing these fantastic Dodge vehicles back in that day !!!
These shots were published with the entire road tests from 1969 till 1980, when the last A-Body Dodge was on the proving grounds...
I decided to share this great stuff with you guys...
Hope you like them !!

Starting with a pre-series 1969 Dodge Dart Sedan

By 1970, the famous race driver Jackie Stewart was invited by the magazine crew to give his opinion about some brazilian-made cars, and here´s a shot on him with the Dart

And in the end of that same year Chrysler of Brazil announced the new two-door hardtop body Dart, so the magazine tested hte car for the 1971 year-model:

In the next month they ran a complete test on the Dart Sedan:

And in December 1970 came the newest sensation from Chrysler: for the upscale local market a sport-based model dubbed "Charger", this one is shown on these great images:

This very same car was even tested by Emerson Fittipaldi & Colin Chapman by the end of the 1971 F-1 season:

Very little was changed for the 1972 models, only some cosmetic details, here we can see some shots on the Darts:

The Chargers received new stripes & lettering, as shown:

But in that year the Dart model that really stood out lots of attention on the crowd was the new SE, created by the local design team and based on the "Plain Jane" Dart Coupé model, this one was very spartan, but with a sporty flavour, and was the cheapest Dart model offered on the line for 1972...
The SE package was offered only for a three-year model run, and nowadays they´re very sought after by our car collectors, since the big majority of them were either extensively modified to look like their more expensive "brothers" or either crushed & destroyed by heavy misuse over the years of neglectness that afflicted our beloved Dodges:

On the next post 1973 was coming and with it the "new" front-end grille Chargers...
Stay tuned, my friends !!!

Mario Buzian

 

[Dartnut]

Thanks for posting this, Mario!
Who said that 4 doors weren't cool cars?
I especially like the one in the very first picture with the rallye wheels on it.

 

[buzian]

Thanks for posting this, Mario!
Who said that 4 doors weren't cool cars?
I especially like the one in the very first picture with the rallye wheels on it.

I totally agree with you, my friend !!!
Four door Darts are still cool to look like, nonetheless to say that they´re so solid and fine rides...We love them, and they were the guys that started our local Mopar craziness, LOL !!!!

 

[dartfastback]

Can you get info on the 1972 charger stripe layout. Was the hood and sides paint or decal? Like that hood layout for a flat hood with no power bulges.

 

[65 Dartman]

You can definitely see the 68-70 Charger influence on the rear window treatment. I like it!

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

Thank you for sharing these with us.

 

[mopardrt]

sweet pics look great

 

[FISHBREATH]

Thanks, Mario. That is a great bit of Mopar history there.

 

[buzian]

Can you get info on the 1972 charger stripe layout. Was the hood and sides paint or decal? Like that hood layout for a flat hood with no power bulges.

Dartfastback, these stripes were painted flat black in the hood and were adhesive in the sides of the car. We have the original mask schemes used by Chrysler and reproduced them for our cars, if someday you may consider to use them just ask and we´ll be glad to help.
See ya, man !!!

 

[V-100]

Glad to see the different 'flavors' that the cars got in various regions/cultures/et cetera; thanks for posting them up!

 

[buzian]

Fellas, good & rare stuff are always great to share with lovers like us !!!
And more is to come, just stay tuned , LOL !!!
See ya !!!

 

[1970Duster]

I can honestly say that when I saw the title to this I was thinking "bring on the girls!!!" but a bunch of picture of these nice cars are just as nice.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Thank you for sharing.

 

[buzian]

Well my friends, thanks for sharing your good positive impressions with us !!!


Now continuing with the Brazilian Dodges Saga, we are back in 1973 when Chrysler of Brazil designers created one of the most beautiful front end grilles ever made for our beloved Dodge A-Bodies, and this real piece of art was mainly inspired on the original 1969 Charger theme...
Here we can see the great result on the car that became more aggressive and stunningly charming & beautiful:

And in this very same year we had two brand new models added through the line: The Gran Coupé & Gran Sedan, based on the two and four-door Darts with some more luxury accent, along with the base SE, Dart de Luxo & Charger:

In 1975 our famous F-1 world championship driver, Emerson Fittipaldi, made a very special test on our brazilian best cars, and here are some great shots of him driving the Charger very fast at Interlagos racetrack:

And now some more pics on the 76, 77 & 78 Brazilian Chargers being tested by the magazine:

On the next chapter the last "good ol´Dodge boys", the 1979 - 1981 cars, just before someone pulled off the plug...
Stay tuned on this special time tunnel, my friends !!

Mário Buzian - Ivoti - RS

 

[ocdart]

Thanks for sharing! Always nice to see a reminder that not all Mopar history happened here in the USA.

 

[buzian]

Thanks, ocdart !!!

And here are the last A-body Dodges tested by the magazine, the brand-new 1979 till 1981 lineup, including the two and four door Dart de Luxo, the sport-luxury Magnum & Charger R/T coupés, and the flashy Le Baron sedan:

These were our "last of the mohicans" A-body Mopars, the assembly line was dismantled in 1981 because Volkswagenwerk bought the entire company and decided to discontinue the cars in favour of building their first VW-badged truck in the world, and using the Chrysler's expertise on that matter...
The rest is history, and now we're the guys that keep up with these few A-body survivors, struggling to keep them running as good as they were brand-new...
Thanks for sharing so good comments and keep the A-body flame alive, guys !!!

 

[64dart170]

Hi, fellas !!

I was looking through my big archives and found some very interesting pictures that were taken by one of the famous car magazines in Brazil, called "Quatro Rodas" (should be translated "Four Wheels") while they were testing these fantastic Dodge vehicles back in that day !!!
These shots were published with the entire road tests from 1969 till 1980, when the last A-Body Dodge was on the proving grounds...
I decided to share this great stuff with you guys...
Hope you like them !!Stay tuned, my friends !!!

Mario Buzian

WOW!
Thanks Mario!!
I can't get enough of the 4 doors!

LOL, I can't pass this up and I have a wierd sense of humor so here goes, please do not take offense, none intended....

I had to laugh at myself, I love play on words, I assume the "TESTE" tags on all the cars probibly translate to our english as Test like in "Test Car" but, I can't help but laugh a little due to the A Body sleeper muscle the 4 doors were, it's like a sleeper car warning tag that this car has balls! LOL!!!

Thanks for being here on FABO with us Mario. I will never tire of getting to see Abodies from other countries. You rock Mario!!!!:cheers:

John

 

[buzian]

WOW!
Thanks Mario!!
I can't get enough of the 4 doors!

LOL, I can't pass this up and I have a wierd sense of humor so here goes, please do not take offense, none intended....

I had to laugh at myself, I love play on words, I assume the "TESTE" tags on all the cars probibly translate to our english as Test like in "Test Car" but, I can't help but laugh a little due to the A Body sleeper muscle the 4 doors were, it's like a sleeper car warning tag that this car has balls! LOL!!!

Thanks for being here on FABO with us Mario. I will never tire of getting to see Abodies from other countries. You rock Mario!!!!:cheers:

John

John,

Surely I'll never take your comments as offensive, as you stated here the portuguese word "TESTE" is exactly "test" in english, and this magazine is very famous here because it was the first car test specialized publication in Brazil, so they had a kind of "preference" from the factories when a new model was launched in our market...Their opinion was very important at that time too !
And yes, here the Dodges were never meant as "sleepers", because we just couldn't have many big powered engine cars, the vast majority of the brazilian fleet at that time was composed by VW's, mostly Beetles...And another important thing to remember is that all brazilian A-body Dodges used the 318 V8 engine instead of the slant six that was vastly offered in your country too...
And on the other hand, our Mopars were very few and scarce (just realize that less than a hundred thousand cars were made in a 11-year production run !), and sure they were very distinctive from the "car mass crowd" that used to run in our roads & streets...
I'm very proud to collaborate with pix & info about our local cars because what we have today is the very little material that only Mopar big fans could go after, and as soon as I can get new stuff I'll post here, for sure !!
Many thanks for your kindly words, and let's keep our A-bodies ROCKIN' !!!!

 

[95teetee]

it's like a sleeper car warning tag that this car has balls! LOL!!!

i was wondering when someone would point out the 'teste' part lol'

Thanks for the scans- awesome stuff there:thumrigh:

 

[340wedge1971]

I wonder if they ever slipped a 340 in any of those?.....

 

[dartfastback]

Has your club research ever come up with a reason why Dodge of Brazil never went with the /6 as an option or even the base model engine?
Love the Brazilian styling of A-bodies. Would like to have an Aussie UTE also.

 

[buzian]

Has your club research ever come up with a reason why Dodge of Brazil never went with the /6 as an option or even the base model engine?
Love the Brazilian styling of A-bodies. Would like to have an Aussie UTE also.

Well, as far as I know, the Chrysler of Brazil's history started here back in 1966, when Chrysler Corp. bought Simca in France and they already had an assembly line here...These cars made locally used V-8 engines and were some of the most expensive vehicles at that time, so at first glimpse Chrysler decided to make a reorganization on the existing lineup to introduce their own brand...
The company's forgery was using smaller V-8 casts for the Simcas, and as Argentina was producing the Slant Six engines, as Chrysler Corp. noticed, they needed to have a "real" Chrysler car in the market that could fit the local luxury market, and while they were making the Simca-based cars with the Chrysler badge, the D-pickup & truck series started production with the 318 V-8 produced here. The already chosen car for our market was the A-body Dart, a modern yet simple product, but with some real good possibilities...
Just to illustrate this story I'm sending some pics of the early Simca cars and pre-production Chrysler models tested by Quatro Rodas magazine for you guys...

The first one started life here back in 1959 and was called "Chambord", we had it on the market until 1967, here are some shots of this one:

It's very interesting to notice that the original Simca V-8 engine was based on a "fail" Ford's small block project that was sold to Simca in the early fifties, so they used this one here in Brazil too! And believe it or not, the first-gen Simca V-8 carried not more than 80 HP. on it...As they had lack of power and continuosly hot temperature idles, the local Simca engineering had in their hands the famed "Ardun" kit made by Zora Arkus-Duntov to equip these old engines, and they adapted the original idea with the existing tools to create the "Emi-Sul" V-8, the first hemispherical-chamber V-8 casted in South America ! This one boasted around 140 HP's, so they were acclaimed as the final solution for the slower cars...Here's a shot on the Chambord engine bay sporting that Emi-Sul V-8:

At the end of 1966 Chrysler assumed the local Simca production, took off the Chambord line and as they didn't had the time to develop a newer product, they just "modernized" the existing one, restyling the front and end cips, some minor interior cosmetics, and dropped the "new" Chrysler Esplanada, here are some shots:

This one was taken in front of Chrysler Proving Grounds in USA, 1967:

A year later our testing magazine promoted an encounter with some famous drivers, and Stirling Moss was asked to take a ride on the "new" Esplanada, here's a picture of him with the car:

And Chrysler of Brazil decided to create a cheaper version of the luxurious Esplanada, calling it "Regente":

One of the most interesting (and yet curious) car made here was the sporty "GTX" package that started its short life with the 1968 model lineup, it carried the base Emi-Sul V8 engine coupled with a 4-speed floor-shifted manual transmission. It carried special stripes, bucket seats, a big console and even a tachometer in the dash !
The images of this one:

Guys' can you imagine a Ford-based engine stroked with a HEMI chamber designed by a GM engineer and GTX badges, all in the very same car ???
Yes, that happened...Only in Brazil, LOL !!!!!
If you may have the curiosity to know more about this subject, I'll be glad to explain...
Just for the record, these Esplanadas, Regentes & GTX's were brutally disencouraged by our market when the Dart line finally started production back in 1969...They were simply dismantled and the original parts were nearly impossible to obtain , in a very short period of time...So these cars are extremely rare nowadays, more than our beloved A-body Darts, and they're still very difficult to restore...Our friend Alexandre Badolato, from "Museu do Dodge", have in his private collection all the three cars that carried the Chrysler badges: the Regente, the Esplanada and the rare GTX. He even's got FOUR GTX's, from different colors available: red, metallic green, blue and copper, all cars are being restored right now just to ensure that our local Mopar history will be very well represented...