Mini Tupy 175
A line of buggies was produced by Studio Duetti Projetos e Veículos Ltda. in São Paulo throughout much of the 1980s. The first version followed the classic buggy style of its predecessors, featuring slightly extended side skirts. Sold as a kit, it came with four seats molded from fiberglass-reinforced plastic, a roll bar, and tubular bumpers.
By the mid-1980s, the company introduced a new version with an integrated roll bar, inspired by the Kadron buggy—one of Brazil’s first and most successful buggies. However, the Tupy set itself apart with a more rounded front end, a redesigned trunk lid that no longer extended over the headlights (eliminating the Kadron’s signature “eyelashes”), rectangular Fiat 147 headlights, larger skirts, and the model name embossed directly on the bodywork.
Like most Brazilian cars of the era, the Tupy was powered by the reliable VW 1300 air-cooled engine and built on a shortened Volkswagen chassis, resulting in a compact length of just 2.63 meters (103.5 inches). Designed as a nimble two-seater, its purpose was to provide a practical solution to São Paulo’s growing traffic congestion.
The Mini Tupy’s design was penned by Denis Duete, one of the company’s founders, drawing inspiration from Brazilian microcars like the Aruanda and Gurgel Itaipu, as well as the Turkish Anadol Böcek.
Unveiled at the 2nd Extra-Series Vehicle Show in 1987, the Mini Tupy showcased innovative features. Its reinforced plastic body was divided into three modules: a monoblock central cabin with a three-passenger bench seat, three dashboard storage pockets, a flat windshield, sunroof, and zippered roll-up side windows; and single-piece front and rear sections that housed the headlights, taillights, and provided easy access to the engine and luggage compartment.
Only ten units were built over the course of a year before high production costs ended the project. Shortly afterward, Studio Duetti ceased operations entirely, having produced roughly 300 buggies and a handful of Type 51 models—fiberglass-bodied replicas of the 1951 Willys Jeep, also based on VW mechanicals.
