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The Tupy Mini was an idea of a compact car developed by brazilian company Tupy Veículos Especias Ltda., that manufactured buggys and replicas of the Willys Jeep ’51 with VW air cooled mechanics between 1979 and 1983.

Like many brazilian “fora-de-série”, this model uses VW air-cooled mechanics, shortened in a way the car is only 2.63 meters long. The goal was to offer an alternative solution to the already frequent traffic jams from São Paulo, through a extremely small and agile car, with place for only two persons. The design for the Tupi (Transporte Urbano Pessoal Inteligente, roughly translated to Smart Personal Urban Transport) was created by Denis Duete, one of the founders of Tupy, and was influenced by other brazilian microcars like the Aruanda and Gurgel Itaipu, as well the turkish buggy Anadol Böcek.

The little car was presented during the II Salão dos Veículos Fora-de-Série in 1987 (a Motor Show focused only on brazilian “fora-de-série” cars), and has some unique solutions, like doors without external door handles and that are opened through cables (like the Ferrari F40), windows that mix canvas and transparent plastic, sealed with zippers, and the dashboard that has three pockets working as storage compartments, much like has become common in modern cars. A total of ten cars were produced on a one year run, until high manufacturing costs forced the production to cease. Little after that the company went out of business after producing about 300 buggys and a few Jeep ’51 replicas.

Specifications

Model Mini 175 Make Tupy Veículos Especiais Ltda. ENGINE Position Rear Type Petrol, boxer 4 cylinder, air cooled Displacement 1285cm3 Bore x Stroke 77,0mm x 69,0mm Compression Ration 6,6:1 Fuel System Two single barrel carburettors. Max Power 38 cv at 4000 rpm (SAE) Torque 9,1 mkgf a 2600 rpm (SAE) TRANSMISSION Manual, RWD, four speeds. SUSPENSION Front: Info not available. Rear: Info not available. STEERING SYSTEM Info not available BRAKES Info not available WHEELS AND TIRES Info not available BODY AND CHASSIS Glass fiber body, 2 doors, 2 seats. SIZE AND WEIGHT. Lenght 2630 mm Width 1580 mm Wheel base Info not available. Weight Info not available. Trunk Info not avail.able PERFORMANCE Top Speed Info not available/center> 0 to 100 km/h Info not available Fuel Comsumption Info not available Info not available (city) Price Info not available (higjway)

Sources:

Guedes Jr., Luiz. Filho Único. Revista Fusca&Cia., ano 8, número 52.

Guedes, Luiz. Espaço pra que? Revista Trip, ano 23, número 192.

Tupy. Available in: http://www.lexicarbrasil.com.br/tupy/. Acessed in: 09/13/2016.

Gomes, Flávio. TUPY OR NOT TUPY.
Available in : http://flaviogomes.grandepremio.uol.com.br/2009/08/tupy-or-not-tupy/. Acessed in : 09/13/2016.

Pictures:

Author’s Archive.

[1]: Adapted from: Aruanda. Available in : http://www.lexicarbrasil.com.br/aruanda/. Acessed in : 09/13/2016.

[2]: Adapted de: Gurgel Itaipu. Available in : https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurgel_Itaipu. Acessed in : 09/13/2016.

[3]: Adapted de: Anadol bocek. Available in : http://openiso.org/anadol-bocek.html. Acessed in : 09/13/2016.

[4]: Tupy. Available in : http://www.lexicarbrasil.com.br/tupy/. Acessed in :
09/13/2016 .