The Volkswagen SP models were from the Brazillian VW factory, and were made for about three years from about 1974 - 1977.
The Volkswagen SP models were from the Brazillian VW factory, and were made for about
three years from about 1974 - 1977.
Available with two engine options. The 1584cc 'SP-1' (producing 65bhp) or the 1678cc 'SP-2' (with 75bhp). The engines were based on the VW Type 3 block, with 88mm big-bore cylinders.
Styling was dramatic, vaguely Italian, aping the look of the Lancia's and small Ferraris
of the time from a side angle. From the front they had the ubiquitious four-headlamp
front design, with a hatch-back coupe style at the rear. It was extenuated by having all
black bumpers, and a rubbing strip the full length of the body, and coloured side stripes.
It was low, very low. A full 6 inches lower than the Karmann Ghia it replaced, and 11
inches lower than the standard type 3.
They did not pretend to be more than simple 2-seaters, but proved quite comfortable for
their time for it's two passengers. Interior trimmings included a leather-trimmed steering
wheel, wooden gear knob, wooden handbrake cover, and even wooden knobs on the heater
controls. Included in the usual instrument cluster were ammeter, rev-counter, clock and
oil temperature gauge. Additional equipment which were luxury items at the time, included
cigarette lighter, delay-wipe device, 2-speed fan, reclining seats and a map-reading
light.
Wheels were 14" 5.5J, fitted with 185 section radials.
Performance, as with a lot of VW Coupes, was not sensational, although, as with all coupes, the lower, more streamlined body gave better top speed and fuel economy than the similarly powered saloons. The SP-1 was capable of 93 mph, giving 34mpg, whilst the bigger engined SP-2 pushed itself to 100 mph, giving a slightly better 35.5 mpg.
The following comes from VW Motoring magazine, March 1993, and is Neil Birkitt's (now editor) own views on the SP-2.
"Brazil, one of the last strongholds of air-cooled VW production during the 80s is well-known for its proliferation of special bodied VWs. Many, like the SP2 seen here, were factory specials; others were glass fibre shells based on VW mechanicals, but built as production cars rather than kit cars.
The SP2, from the early seventies, may well be the best known of the former type - an examples resides in the museum at Wolfsburg - but it is also one of the rarest, especially on foreign shores. Total production is believed to have been around 10,200, of which only about 600 are known to have been exported.
Given that the car was steel bodied, rather than glass fibre, and given that even in Brazil it rains (and when it does it pours!) then it takes little imagination to realise that very few of those built will have survived to this day. During a three-week visit to Rio de Janeiro in November 1990 I only saw two examples, one of which was derelict, whereas the Puma and Brasilia were commonplace (very!).
The SP2 was the result of Rudolf Leiding's term as head of VW do Brasil. Leiding was responsible for updating the Brazilian Type 3 range amongst other work, and when he returned to Europe he was instrumental in a similar restyling of the VW 411 to produce the 412 in 1973.
The SP2 design was the work of Senor Schiemann, having begun life on the drawing board in November 1970. Leiding was so impressed with the design that he commissioned a prototype to be built for the trade exposition in San Paulo in March 1971. The production model following in June 1972; offered in two versions - the SP1 with 1600cc 54bhp engine and the SP2 with the 1700cc 63bhp engine. The former was soon dropped owing to its lack of performance.
The SP2 is based on the Type 3 floorplan, using Beetle front axle with disc brakes
and swing axle rear suspension with the Z bar load compensating spring. The Type 3
'pancake' engine was enlarged to 1679cc by the use of 88mm pistons and barrels, with a
compression ration of 7.5:1, and was fuelled by twin 34 PDSIT Solex carbs. The resulting
63bhp at 5,000 rpm was sufficient to push the car to a top speed of 100mph and from 0 to
60mph in around 15 seconds - not exactly earth shattering, but pretty respectable
performance for a VW at that time. An unusual feature of the Brazilian Type 3 engine was a
35 amp alternator, which European models used a 30 amp dynamo. 
The car has the same gearing as a late model GT Beetle of 1303S, with a final drive ratio of 3.875:1 and had 185 section radial tyres (Pirelli Cinturato) fitted to 5½J x 14 steel wheels.
The all steel bodywork is a credit to the stylists in the Brazilian design
department and still looks modern and attractive even today. A 2 seater coupe, with space
for luggage in the rear seat area, the car is actually a hatchback - the rear window lifts
up to gain access to a shallow loading area with a 7.3 cu ft capacity. The front 'boot' is
largely taken up by the spare wheel, but retains an additional 5 cu ft capacity. The
headlights are remarkably similar to those of the Brasilia and European 412 - that man
Leidling again. 
The car stands only 1158mm high, less than Karmann Ghia or Porsche 914, with a ground clearance of 149mm. Length is 4212mm, width 1610mm and net weight is quoted at 890kg.
The car features wraparound rubber bumpers, and tail lights which align with a pattern of four red stripes which run down the sides of the car. A louvred rear panel covers the exhaust system, and vents behind the opening rear windows supply cooling air to the engine.
Inside, the floor-mounted vinyl-trimmed reclining bucket seats sit in front of a wraparound dash panel which houses a 200kph (120mph) speedo and 6000rpm tacho, with fuel gauge, ammeter, oil temperature gauge and clock arranged in a square above the centre console. Below these are the radio and a switch panel, while a removable panel in front of the wooden handled gear lever houses the fuse board. There are tunnelled fresh air vents at each side of the dash and a two-speed fan.
A deep dish three spoke steering wheel is fitted, with column controls for the indicators, headlamp flashers and two-speed wipers with intermittent facility. The wiper arms use an unusual pantograph arrangement to maximise the swept area."
When photographed here, the car featured was for sale, having covered only 23k km with offers invited around 15,000 ukp. Recently however, a similar car was for sale in the UK for 6,000 ukp. More on that one later....
If anybody else knows of any more details on the SP series VWs, please let me know by
E-Mail jbromley@enterprise.net
INFORMATION:I've just got an E-Mail from somebody called REN, who is Brazilian and who knows a little more about the SP2s. He gives the following little snippet of info about a further development, that never quite made it...
All further information I have on the car is that VW do Brasil was designing a SP-3 with a Water Cooled 1.8 engine, but big guys i Wolfsburg told them to stop the project because VAG was gonna start making the Scirocco in Brazil, an it was supposed to replace the SP-2 in Brazil. What happened then? The project was shelved and the Scirocco never made it to Brazil. Unfortunately the SP-3 was never made. It would have been a great sports car.
Sounds like that would have stifled the GTi a bit, wouldn't it?
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