Cars no one knows about: Tupy Mini 175

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.

A bit larger than a bike and equiped with a VW air-cooled 1300cc engine, the Tupy must have enviable aglity on city traffic. Source: Author’s Archive.

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.

Many models influenced the Mini’s design. Clockwise we have: Aruanda, Gurgel Itaipu, Anadol Böcek and the Mini Tup itself. Souces: Respectively, Lexicar Brasil [1], Wikipedia [2], OpenISO [3] and Author’s Archive.

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.

Source: Author’s Archive.
The Tupi’s rear end sure carry a lot from the Anadol Bocëk design. Source: Lexicar Brasil [4].

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 .

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