Urban vehicles (1987–1993)
A small, economic, and totally national car was the goal for João Gurgel for a long time. On September 7 of 1987, a day Gurgel himself called "the day of the Brazilian technological independence", the project CENA[1] was presented. The first minicar of the brand was designed to be the cheaper and more economic car offered in the market. For this project, a tax benefit was granted, reducing the IPI[2] to 5%, aiming at increasing competitiveness with big automakers.
The car presented a big step in the national technology development: the engine, named Gurgel Enertron, was entirely designed and developed by Gurgel, low cost : it was a bi-cylindrical engine, originally with 650 cc and 800 cc options, equipped with totally electronic ignition control, using a system with two coils and no distributor. It had a good mileage, making 14 km/L on urban traffic, and could achieve 19 km/L on the road, on constant speed, even without any electronic fuel injection.
The engine was very similar to the VW Beetle boxer engine, even sharing some internal parts with it, but had many improvements: a sealed water-cooled system, better compression ratio and a different ignition system. Unlike the VW boxer, it could be taken to near 6000 rpm without any valve float.
The first model based on the original project was the BR-800, available only with the 800 cc engine option, generating 32 PS of power. It was a direct implementation of the project, with minor changes and improvements. Like other vehicles from the brand, the car had a body made using the Plasteel system, weighing only 650 kg and measuring 3.19 meters, still being the smallest car ever produced in Brazil.
It was first sold in 1988 in a system where the buyer had to acquire shares from Gurgel in order to buy the car. The car cost about US$5,000, but the buyer had to buy 750 shares for another US$5,000 in order to get a car, making it considerably more expensive than a US$7,000 Chevrolet Chevette, the then cheapest car in the Brazilian market.[3] This system lasted until 1990, when the car was sold independently of the shares. In this same year, the federal government changed the rules to give the same reduction of the IPI to all cars below 1000 cc, thus enabling Gurgel's competitors to develop one-litre models of existing cars.
In 1992, in a response to the market, the Supermini model was created: it had a better finish, more power (36 PS), a lot of improvement in the body, including a more robust suspension, a better system for the windows and a real lid for the trunk.
