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Brazilian VW Warehouse Find

We’ve all heard stories of warehouses full of cars in far off locations, but actually coming across one of these mythical finds doesn’t happen very often. Reader Alex recently shared with us a friend’s warehouse in Brazil full of cars. His friend is selling off his collection of Brazilian Volkswagens, which can be found here on the Samba or here on his own website.

There are sixteen complete VW SP2s, seven disassembled SP2s, and a mixture of other makes and models. The SP2 was a Brazil only product and never officially imported into the States, however there are a few floating around in North America. The SP2 was Volkswagen do Brazil’s replacement for the aging Karmann Ghia.

The disassembled SP2s have been stacked on their ends against one of the walls, which is probably not the best for them, but it definitely makes for a dramatic picture. The SP2 was relatively successful, but its 1.7 liter engine only put out 75 hp and didn’t match the car’s sporting looks, which had a negative impact on sales. In the four years of production, only 10,000 were built before production was halted.

Besides the SP2s, the seller also has a 1974 VW 6 door Kombi van, a 1972 Karmann Ghia TC, a Lancia, a Fiat 128, and a Avallone Formula VW. It appears that most of these cars have had parts stripped off, but there are more then enough parts here to easily make more then a few complete cars.

The seller is asking $4,800 for each of the SP2s, but shipping will cost a bit to get one of these up to the States. It would be great if this warehouse had some other rare makes, but it is interesting to see so many SP2s in one location. There aren’t many SP2s on the market, so we aren’t sure what these cars are actually worth in the States. The few we have seen for sale here are going for around $18,000, so we aren’t sure if this is a good deal or not. What do you think?

Comments

  1. Avatar Bryan Cohn

    Every time I see a warehouse or barn or shed full of what were once decent cars all I can think of is: “I hate hoarders.”

    Like 0
    • Avatar Tin Indian guy

      I am not a hoarder but I do have quite a few classic cars in several garages. I am the end of the line in my family so when I am gone someone is going to have the opportunity to find these guys. Until then they will just be preserved in time.

      Why do I have them????? Because I can.

      Like 0
    • Avatar johannesrolf

      Hoarders and collectors have so much in common it’s difficult to tell which is which.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar paul

    SP2, go figure, I consider myself a car guy, but never heard of these,humf.

    Like 0
    • Avatar WareWolf

      Ditto

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  3. Avatar scot c

    ~ it seems better that they were saved from scrap but each one represents a broken dream to me, an unfulfilled need. the urge to rescue them all is not hard to understand but to be consumed by compulsion defies explanation… and professional therapy as well.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar William E. Holt

    Man, I’d kill someone for one of those… Ok, well, maybe not kill, but certainly kick someone petty darn had.

    I’m in the same boat as Paul, though. Even though I’ve been a gear head for more of my than not, I can honestly say that I can’t recall ever seeing an SP2.

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  5. Avatar Dolphin Member

    The Brazil-only VW SP2 was a good looking car. You could mistake it for a high-powered Italian GT car if you didn’t know what it was. The back half was well designed, but the front was a bit odd because, being an air-cooled VW, it has no grille.

    Here’s a link to a photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VW_SP2_Right_Side.JPG

    If anyone is tempted to bring one of these SP2s up North from this Brazilian horde, be sure to get a complete car. You aren’t going to be finding parts for them on Craigslist or eBay.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Bear

    Good looking car!
    Great body lines (almost looks Italian). Very sexy!
    Interesting that it uses an air-cooled boxer engine in the rear (which explains the huge air inlets on the C-pillar.)
    New model to me also… (& I’m assuming that these are fairly rare even in Brazil, as I never saw even one on my business trips down there.)
    More info here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_SP2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVxPR3sjeGA

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Charles Henry Pospisil

    I love it, it’s what we all dream of finding some day. I want the one with the Austin Healeys!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar scottski

    Good ol’ Wikipedia. I had no idea what one looked like intact, either.
    Kinda reminiscent of a less angular Lamborghini Urraco. A pretty little car.
    With Porsche upgrades… that could have been a blast.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar gibbs connors

    i’m a VW guy and have seen them. mi think they are pretty cool and with some upgrading to the motor i’m sure you could have a screamer where the performance matches the looks. i’m guessing it’s a type 4 mtor in there which is in found in 72-79 bay window buses as well as ’76 porsche 912Es.

    as ofr hating hoarders, it’s frustrating to see but what’s more frustrating is people that have an interest and can’t get it together to see a find like this and not make a move. as i see it, hoarders provide a service: the keep all items of similarity in proximity for long periods of time. their concentration on that subject matter is immense. “non-hoarders” can only begin to winder about the amount of work it took to accumulate all that stuff before becoming overwhelmed. now “hoarder-destroyer” is what i am really troubled by. they have great stuff, do nothing with it, are really knowledgeable and let the stuff sit outside in three sided sheds, under torn blue tarps or just plain old exposed to the weather. they take stuff apart, never put anything on the road, everything is in old tobacco cans and boxes full of dirt with torn bottoms….and they never sell anything, even to a fiend who needs a piece or two.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Chris H.

    SP2’s are neat cars, but the interiors always reminded me of a 70’s kit car, and that’s not a good thing in my book.

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  11. Avatar Brent

    Looking at the pictures here I am left to wonder, Would they not have at least rolled up some windows? With the layer of dirt on the outside, I can only imagine that the entire dash and interior will have to be completely removed to clean the layer of filth in the vents and on pretty much everything inside. Its great to store them and want to restore them later but at least try to store them properly. These look like they were stored in a building with half the roof missing.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Rancho Bella

    gibbs connors…………..spot on. I know exactly what you mean. I know them as well.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar gibbs connors

    i apologize for the misspellings. my shop is 42*…i’d also like to add that i wouldn’t mind having an SP2, it would be fun but i’d sell it before anything broke, which would be in less than 6 months. i hate working on unfamiliar stuff and hate even more tracking the sources of the replacement parts. and to follow up with my upgarded motor comment, there is a guy in georgia (jake raby) that builds out type 4 motors. the sky is the limit but you can plan on $11-12K (yes, real cost) so you’d really have to be into these, which i can’t see a whole lotta people being. a nice, original and stock condition SP2 would be cool but again, i don’t have the room for stuff where my interest is limited.

    Like 0
    • Avatar paul

      It’s always interesting to hear how folks want to upgrade motors in this, or that, but that is only half the story, because they seem to forget that everything must be upgraded as well. Triumph ( the car ), tried to do this on their Spitfire years ago, they put a 6 cyl. in a 4 cyl. car & then added a fastback roof, the car was quite quick but the u joints as well as the chassis & mounting points took a beating.

      Like 0
      • Avatar gibbs connors

        agreed. but it’s about love, not money. anything that is performance based is a whole different story. i have a ’53 VW bus. it’s lowered, built trans, 2 liter motor, bigger brakes, wheels and so on. i spent 150% more on that stuff than i did on the bus. it’s in “airmighty” magazine this month, issue 10. i also have a ’54, 36 horse, basically stock. still fun but i spend as much time watching my rear view mirror as i do watching the road.

        Like 0
  14. Avatar Alex Tye

    The SP2 was based on the humble VW Type III underpinnings. Known here in the USA as the Squareback or Fastback, the performance was lacking to say the least. The Type III VW engine was basically a Type I (Beetle) motor with a flat fan shroud arrangement so that it could be mounted under a flat parcel shelf. Easy enough to modify for serious HP numbers, but that wasn’t enough.
    All in all a rare car and hopefully some of these will make it back on the road one day in the future.

    PS: Here is the correct link for the seller’s website:
    http://home.pipeline.com/~eramos/vwsp2barnfinde/index.html

    Like 0

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