6 ms·

Gurgel Itaipu

94 points by rmsaksida 7y ago

gtirloni 7y ago
This is probably posted here because of some similarities with Tesla's Cybertruck (namely, the square angles in an electric car).
- lucideer 7y ago
  On that note, the car Cybertruck has been compared most to after the DeLorean is probably the Comuta/Citicar (with one well-know Comuta-owning youtuber being invited to the Cybertruck launch, to which they brought their Model3 truck conversion). From the Gurgel wiki description: > its specifications were comparable to similar models of the time (see CitiCar). I wonder which came first.
  - masklinn 7y ago
    > I wonder which came first. The citicar was produced from '74 while the gurgel was only presented in '74, and never actually commercialised. I expect the specs they're talking about were mostly bound by battery technology.
  - minxomat 7y ago
    I think this 1978 design was much closer to the current Cybertruck: https://archive.org/details/penthouse-1978-10/page/n139 https://archive.org/details/penthouse-1978-10/page/n139
- masklinn 7y ago
  Wonder if it was for ease of manufacturing (less need to form the metal sheets) or for styllistic reasons. The Citicar / Comuta is similar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicar
  - rmsaksida 7y ago
    In Gurgel's case I think it was both. On the one hand, it was styllistic, because all their cars had that look, from minicars to trucks. Even their logo looked as blocky as their cars. See for example the X15: https://i.imgur.com/vLiH8I1.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vLiH8I1.jpg On the other hand, they were made from fiberglass or "plasteel" (a composite of fiberglass and steel), and I'm not sure how mouldable that material is.
  - Anarch157a 7y ago
    Not metal, all Gurgel vehicles were made of fiberglas.
- Demeisen 7y ago
  Or Cheese Louise
- dang 7y ago
  Looks like you're right: https://twitter.com/skhaz/status/1203692470497873928 https://twitter.com/skhaz/status/1203692470497873928 (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21736419 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21736419)
aflag 7y ago
I'm always saddened to remember the fall of Gurgel. Had they achieved their goals, Brazilian economy could've benefited immensely.
- gtirloni 7y ago
  Didn't they only exist because Brazil was mostly closed to imports at the time?
  - forinti 7y ago
    Gurgel had existed for a long time making small cars, off-roads and dune buggies. Other small manufacturers existed and still do. They wanted to build cheap cars and take advantage of a lower tax rate for small cars. When they were the most successful, a strike of the customs officials broke their supply of parts from Argentina. Then the federal government and the state government of Ceará reneged on their financing deals. This might have been because of lobbying from the big 4 (Fiat, GM, VW, and Ford), but I don't know if this has been proved.
  - aflag 7y ago
    I think that's not entirely true. All city cars were still all made by foreign car makers. I think Gurgel only tried to make city cars around the 80s and they wanted to go electric (given how much energy became available to the country after Itaipu was built). I wouldn't say they didn't benefit on high import taxes, but they were truly trying to make something good and new.
tyingq 7y ago
Looks like you could replicate that with a golf cart, some sheet metal, and a press brake.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Hackbraten 7y ago
In German, “Gurgel” translates to gargle (imperative singular) or throat (used colloquially, as e. g. in “grab them by the throat”). I wonder what other brands translate to ridiculous, non-brand-y words in other languages.
- mainetti 7y ago
  Gurgel was the name of the founder. João Augusto Amaral Gurgel. https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Augusto_Amaral_Gurgel https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Augusto_Amaral_Gurge...
- rmellow 7y ago
  The Chevrolet "Nova" has a different name in Latin countries. In Spanish "No va" means "not going", obviously something you don't want from a car. The Mitsubishi "Pajero" is called "Montero" in Spanish speaking countries. Again in Spanish, "Pajero" means "wanker".
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - edjrage 7y ago
    > in Latin countries If you mean “in Spanish-speaking countries”, alright. In Portuguese “nova” just means “new”, just as French's “nouveau” or Italian's “nuova”.
    - bromuro 7y ago
      The joke still work - maybe not in french tho. In lot of languages variations (like dialects) “nova” can be heard or played as “it does not work”.
      - jcranmer 7y ago
        > In lot of languages variations (like dialects) “nova” can be heard or played as “it does not work”. I'm skeptical of that. "go" isn't really idiomatic for "work" in English, and in Romance languages, you're going to use the local variant of "marcher" (literally "to walk") or "to function" to refer to technology working, so I suspect using the literal translation of "to go" is going to be a very strained idiomatic relationship at best.

94 points by rmsaksida 7y ago

This is probably posted here because of some similarities with Tesla's Cybertruck (namely, the square angles in an electric car).

lucideer 7y ago
On that note, the car Cybertruck has been compared most to after the DeLorean is probably the Comuta/Citicar (with one well-know Comuta-owning youtuber being invited to the Cybertruck launch, to which they brought their Model3 truck conversion). From the Gurgel wiki description: > its specifications were comparable to similar models of the time (see CitiCar). I wonder which came first.
- masklinn 7y ago
  > I wonder which came first. The citicar was produced from '74 while the gurgel was only presented in '74, and never actually commercialised. I expect the specs they're talking about were mostly bound by battery technology.
- minxomat 7y ago
  I think this 1978 design was much closer to the current Cybertruck: https://archive.org/details/penthouse-1978-10/page/n139 https://archive.org/details/penthouse-1978-10/page/n139
masklinn 7y ago
Wonder if it was for ease of manufacturing (less need to form the metal sheets) or for styllistic reasons. The Citicar / Comuta is similar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicar
- rmsaksida 7y ago
  In Gurgel's case I think it was both. On the one hand, it was styllistic, because all their cars had that look, from minicars to trucks. Even their logo looked as blocky as their cars. See for example the X15: https://i.imgur.com/vLiH8I1.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vLiH8I1.jpg On the other hand, they were made from fiberglass or "plasteel" (a composite of fiberglass and steel), and I'm not sure how mouldable that material is.
- Anarch157a 7y ago
  Not metal, all Gurgel vehicles were made of fiberglas.
Demeisen 7y ago
Or Cheese Louise
dang 7y ago
Looks like you're right: https://twitter.com/skhaz/status/1203692470497873928 https://twitter.com/skhaz/status/1203692470497873928 (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21736419 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21736419)

aflag 7y ago

I'm always saddened to remember the fall of Gurgel. Had they achieved their goals, Brazilian economy could've benefited immensely.

gtirloni 7y ago
Didn't they only exist because Brazil was mostly closed to imports at the time?
- forinti 7y ago
  Gurgel had existed for a long time making small cars, off-roads and dune buggies. Other small manufacturers existed and still do. They wanted to build cheap cars and take advantage of a lower tax rate for small cars. When they were the most successful, a strike of the customs officials broke their supply of parts from Argentina. Then the federal government and the state government of Ceará reneged on their financing deals. This might have been because of lobbying from the big 4 (Fiat, GM, VW, and Ford), but I don't know if this has been proved.
- aflag 7y ago
  I think that's not entirely true. All city cars were still all made by foreign car makers. I think Gurgel only tried to make city cars around the 80s and they wanted to go electric (given how much energy became available to the country after Itaipu was built). I wouldn't say they didn't benefit on high import taxes, but they were truly trying to make something good and new.

tyingq 7y ago

Looks like you could replicate that with a golf cart, some sheet metal, and a press brake.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Hackbraten 7y ago

In German, “Gurgel” translates to gargle (imperative singular) or throat (used colloquially, as e. g. in “grab them by the throat”). I wonder what other brands translate to ridiculous, non-brand-y words in other languages.

mainetti 7y ago
Gurgel was the name of the founder. João Augusto Amaral Gurgel. https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Augusto_Amaral_Gurgel https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Augusto_Amaral_Gurge...
rmellow 7y ago
The Chevrolet "Nova" has a different name in Latin countries. In Spanish "No va" means "not going", obviously something you don't want from a car. The Mitsubishi "Pajero" is called "Montero" in Spanish speaking countries. Again in Spanish, "Pajero" means "wanker".
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- edjrage 7y ago
  > in Latin countries If you mean “in Spanish-speaking countries”, alright. In Portuguese “nova” just means “new”, just as French's “nouveau” or Italian's “nuova”.
  - bromuro 7y ago
    The joke still work - maybe not in french tho. In lot of languages variations (like dialects) “nova” can be heard or played as “it does not work”.
    - jcranmer 7y ago
      > In lot of languages variations (like dialects) “nova” can be heard or played as “it does not work”. I'm skeptical of that. "go" isn't really idiomatic for "work" in English, and in Romance languages, you're going to use the local variant of "marcher" (literally "to walk") or "to function" to refer to technology working, so I suspect using the literal translation of "to go" is going to be a very strained idiomatic relationship at best.