1974 Puma GTB S2

Puma was a Brazilian specialist car manufacturer which built cars from 1967 until roughly 1997. The origin of what became the Puma was the DKW-Malzoni, built by Rino Malzoni of Matão in São Paulo around 1964. Malzoni was an auto racer who began building his own competition cars based on the DKW two-stroke straight-3 engine and enclosed it in a lightweight fiberglass body. The cars were successful and soon his business had taken off. Production was about 35 cars a year but soon increased to more than a hundred over the next few years.

Volkswagen purchased DKW in 1967 which brought an end to the supply of DKWs to Brazil. A new car was designed and based around the rear-engined, air-cooled Volkswagen Karmann Ghia sold in Brazil. This new car was dubbed the Puma and sold rather well. The company's name was later changed to Puma.

In 1971, the company introduced a prototype named the Puma GTO. Production of this front-engined, rear-wheel drive touring car began a short time later, in 1973. Between 1973 to 1984, this was Brazil's most expensive car. It was powered by a 4093cc Chevrolet six-cylinder engine that delivered nearly 170 horsepower. It had a fiberglass body, a four-speed manual gearbox, and a top speed of 120 mph. The interior of the car was luxurious, with leather seats, power windows, and air conditioning.

Puma vehicles fell into bankruptcy in 1985. Alfa Metais assumed production of the Puma cars and in 1987, the GTB was given a facelift, resulting in the AMV.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2010