Gurgel Carajás was a Brazilian

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

produced by small manufacturer

Gurgel Gurgel Motores () was a Brazilian automobile manufacturer, named after its founder João do Amaral Gurgel. The company was founded in 1969 and first specialised in buggies and off-road vehicles. Early models were fiberglass bodies installed on V ...

between late 1984 and 1994. The name refers to a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in western Brazil as well as to the native tribe living there. All Carajás were

two-wheel drive Two-wheel-drive (2WD) denotes vehicles with a drivetrain that allows two wheels to be driven, and receive power and torque from the engine, simultaneously. Four-wheeled vehicles For four-wheeled vehicles (and by extension, vehicles with six, ...

and were produced with three engine options: gasoline and ethanol of 1800 cc displacement, and as a 1600 cc diesel. It has a front engine and a rear transmission, connecting both by the use of a

transaxle A transaxle is single mechanical device which combines the functions of an automobile's transmission (mechanics), transmission, axle, and differential (mechanics), differential into one integrated assembly. It can be produced in both manual tra ...

system called Tork Tube System, or TTS for short. This layout added weight onto the driving rear wheels, boosting offroad abilities somewhat. Gurgel also installed "Selectraction", a system with two levers which allowed for brakes to be individually applied to either rear wheel, thus transmitting power to the other wheel. The initial range was all two-door models, in either a base or ''luxo'' form. Four body variants were available: the TR (''Teto Rígido'', fixed roof) represented nearly all sales. The other three variants were TL (''Teto de Lona'', canvas top), RL (''Rígido Lona'', canvas with fixed roof and doors in front) and MM (''Modelo Militar'', for military use). The TL and RL models were soon removed from catalogues. In 1988 the equipment levels were renamed LE (basic) and VIP (more luxurious). In 1989 a four-door model sitting on a slightly longer wheelbase was presented; this version uses the same front doors as the ones fitted to the two-door models. Between 1985 and 1990, it was the number one selling vehicle in its class in Brazil. In 1989, the Gurgel Carajás had a 75 percent market share in the category, while the only other locally made option - the very expensive

Toyota Bandeirante The , also sometimes spelt as LandCruiser, is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than 1 ...

- represented the remaining 25 percent. Between 1976 and 1990, new vehicle imports was not permitted in Brazil. This success, however, ended in the second half of 1990, when the

Lada Niva The Lada Niva Legend, formerly called the Lada Niva, VAZ-2121, VAZ-2131, and Lada 4×4 (), is a series of four-wheel drive, small (hatchback), and compact (wagon and pickup) Off-road vehicle, off-road cars designed and produced by AvtoVAZ sinc ...

came to Brazil. Sales of the Gurgel Carajás fell dramatically. For

, this vehicle had been very profitable until 1990; in January 1991, regular production was halted. The Carajás remained available on order until Gurgel's 1994 bankruptcy.

References

Carajas Cars introduced in 1984 Cars discontinued in 1994 Sport utility vehicles 1990s cars {{modern-auto-stub