Alcar 400

The Alcar 400 urban car project, characterised by high technical and design standards, was launched in November 1981 by brothers Carlos Antônio and José Cláudio Hansen from São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo. This initiative served as their final project for the fourth class of the Mauá School of Industrial Design.

Cláudio, the elder sibling, brought valuable experience from his years at General Motors, where he worked as a model maker and helped design the bodywork for the Fittipaldi brothers’ Formula One car. This background provided him with the necessary expertise to develop a quality prototype.

The Alcar 400 featured sleek, attractive and functional lines that embodied the principles of European rationalist industrial design. Notable elements included a striking two-tone paint scheme, a generous side window area enhanced by black-painted central and rear pillars, elegantly designed engine air vents and rear lights integrated into the pillars – an aesthetic choice that would become popular years later. It also featured retractable bumpers. The car was highly ergonomic, offering excellent accessibility and interior space within a compact length of just 2.40 m (7 ft 10.488 in).

Although the only prototype was made of fibreglass on a tubular minibuggy chassis and had no mechanical components, the original design featured a rear-mounted 400 CC engine derived from a Honda CB 400 motorcycle. If mass production had gone ahead, the body would have been made using the sheet moulding compound process, using pre-coloured glass fibre reinforced plastic panels.

Ultimately, the project was abandoned due to a lack of funds to develop the prototype further. The brothers went on to successful careers in the GM styling department and kept the prototype until it was dismantled in 2000.