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StarLight Garage presents a forgotten Brazilian make, the DKW Malzoni. For the classic car collectors a collectors item, this was the really Malzoni with a DKW (3 cylinder engine) before the car would be restyled and presented as the PUMA GT and also known as the DKW PUMA GT. Unfortunately these cars are hard to find even in Brazil.
Puma was a Brazilian specialist car manufacturer which built cars from 1966 until roughly 1995. High import tariffs effectively closed Brazil during much of this period to foreign-built cars. This limited the vehicles available to the average Brazilian to those built locally by foreign manufacturers such as Volkswagen and General Motors (which established Brazilian manufacturing plants), and the products of local companies. Puma also made trucks, from 1978 to 1999.
The origin of what became the Puma was the DKW-Malzoni, built by Rino Malzoni of Matão in São Paulo (state) from around 1964. Malzoni was a keen auto racer, and at the behest of DKW-Vemag he developed a competition car based around a DKW straight-three two-stroke engine. Developed to compete with the Willys Interlagos, a locally built copy of the Alpine A108 which was outpacing DKW's heavier sedans, Malzoni developed a steel-bodied prototype. This proved too heavy, and at the São Paulo Motor Show in the fall of 1964 the light, fiberglass-skinned GT made its first appearance.
It won its first race, at Interlagos in 1964. Malzoni, auto enthusiast but a lawyer by trade, proceeded to found the company Luminari Ltda with a group of other auto enthusiasts in 1964. Competition cars had bigger 1.1 litre engines with as much as 100 PS (74 kW). The cars began to sell in quantities larger than he himself could build, and on 14 September 1966 the company adopted the Puma name and began building cars in earnest.
The Malzoni GT usually had a panoramic rear windshield, although a very few cars were built of a three-box design. The original GT Malzoni body was then modified by designer Anisio Campos, who made the car somewhat longer and mounted the bumpers higher up, while the car (still on DKW-basis) was now named Puma GT. Production of the Malzoni GT (1964-1966, all types) was about 50 cars. Annual production increased to 125 for 1967 and continued briefly into 1968.
All-in-all, about 170 of the DKW-engined cars (Pumas and Malzonis) were built.
The GT is a front wheel drive coupé automobile with a front mounted engine, sold by DKW-Malzoni.
Its 3 cylinder, two stroke naturally aspirated powerplant and a capacity of 1 litres. This unit provides power and torque figures of 67 bhp (68 PS/50 kW) at 5200 rpm and 99 Nm (73 lbft/10.1 kgm) at 3400 rpm respectively.
The engine transmits power to the wheels via a 4 speed manual transmission.
It weighs a claimed 750 kg at the kerb.
Maximum quoted speed is 160 km/h, which equates to 99 mph.
Specifications
Bodywork
Body type: 2+2 seater fixed-head coupé
Number of doors: 2
Dimensions & weights
Wheelbase: 2220 mm / 87.4 inches
Track/tread (front): 1295 mm / 51 inches
Track/tread (rear): 1350 mm / 53.1 inches
Length: 3750 mm / 147.6 inches
Width: 1620 mm / 63.8 inches
Height: 1160 mm / 45.7 inches
Wheelbase ratio: 1.69
Kerb weight: 750 kg / 1653 lb
Fuel tank capacity: 45 litres / 9.9 UK Gal / 11.9 US Gal
Engine
Engine type: Naturally aspirated petrol
Engine manufacturer: DKW
Cylinders: Straight 3
Capacity: 1 litre / 981 cc / (59.864 cu in)
Bore × stroke: 74 × 76 mm / 2.91 × 2.99 in
Bore/stroke ratio: 0.97
Two stroke (TS)
Maximum power output: 68 PS (67 bhp) (50 kW) at 5200 rpm
Specific output: 68.3 bhp/litre / 1.12 bhp/cu in
Maximum torque: 99 Nm (73 ft·lb) (10.1 kgm) at 3400 rpm
Specific torque: 100.92 Nm/litre / 1.22 ft·lb/cu3
Compression ratio: 8.5:1
Fuel system: 1 Brosol 40 CIB carburettor
Brake mean effective pressure: 634.1 kPa (92 psi)
Crankshaft bearings: 4
Engine coolant: Water
Unitary capacity: 327 cc
Aspiration: Normal
Chassis
Engine position front
Engine layout longitudinal
Drive wheels front wheel drive
Gearbox: 4 speed manual
Top gear ratio: 0.91
Final drive ratio: 4.11
Performance
Maximum speed: 160 km/h (99 mph)
Power-to-weight ratio: 90.58 PS/g / 66.62 kW/g 89.33 bhp/ton / 0.04 bhp/lb
Weight-to-power ratio: 15.01 kg/kW / 25.07 lb/bhp
THE OTHER DKW IS HERE:
RELATED CAR (the yellow car in the OP):
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