Gurgel BR-800 was a small Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian car produced between 1988 and early 1992. The project started under the acronym CENA, meaning "National Economical Car" ("Carro Econômico NAcional", in Portuguese), designed to be essentially a small car for urban daily use. It received great attention and good reviews from critics, regarding the mechanic solutions, comfort, drivability and stability.. Later, the project was renamed 280 and finally BR-800.

The engine was made by Gurgel itself, called Gurgel Enertron, an water-cooled gasoline engine which had two opposed piston cylinders, available in 800cm3 and 650cm3 displacements, generating 26cv and 36cv respectivelly. It had a very simple and robust design, eliminating totally the V-belt by using the crankshaft for activating the alternator, and the camshaft for water and oil pump. In a later stage of development, the V-belt was reintroduced for the alternator, so the battery would be charged even at low rpm conditions.

The body was made using Plasteel

Plasteel

Plasteel may refer to:*Plasteel, composite of fiberglass and steel patented by automobile manufacturer Gurgel and first used in 1973*Plasteel , a durable tough form of steel mentioned by Frank Herbert in his 1965 science fiction novel Dune and its sequels*Plasteel , steel-reinforced plastic...

, designed for four passengers, and considered to have a good level of space for passengers and the driver, despite being only 3.19 meters long . During development, the 650cm3 engine was set aside, and only the 800cm3 engine was produced.

Between 1988 and July 1990, Gurgel BR-800 had the IPI tax reduced to 7%, thus giving a great advantage for Gurgel. In July 1990, the Brazilian president Fernando Collor decided to give that tax to other cars with engines smaller than 1000cc, thus equating the prices for BR-800 and cars of different categorie, reducing the BR-800 sales.

By the end of 1991, the BR-800 received some restyling and was sold by the name BR-SL, which received some general improvements and more restyling, and evolved into the Gurgel Supermini

Gurgel Supermini

The Gurgel Supermini was a small Brazilian car produced between 1992 and 1994.Compared to the Gurgel BR-800, it had better finish, improvements on the body and the engine got larger intake valves, giving more 4cv of power - thus rendering 36cv. The horizontal windows were also replaced by vertical...

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External links

• Gurgel 800 General information and forums about Gurgel cars
• Red BR-800 Photo of the BR-800.