GM’s Brazil Subsidiary Is Restoring, Restomodding Classic Chevrolets

What do a 1990 Monza Classic and a 1976 C10 pickup have in common? Both are Brazilian-market Chevrolets, and both are among the first projects for a new restoration and restomod program, founded by General Motors do Brasil and named Chevrolet Vintage. Its purpose: “to further foster the passion” for old cars in Brazil, the third-largest market for Chevrolets in the world.

Since GM do Brasil is celebrating its 100th anniversary, it was only natural that the subsidiary—GM’s largest—show some love to its older models. The program will focus on restorations and restomods of “iconic” models built in the ’60s through the ’90s. The press release specifically mentions the Opal (almost certainly a mispelling of Opala), the Chevette, and the 3100 Brasil pickup, shown in its many variants below. (Last year, this fine yellow example from 1961 sold on Hagerty Marketplace.)

If you know your automotive history, you’ll know that Ford actually beat GM to Brazil, the largest country in South America, with the Fordlândia project (a “company town” idea Henry then tried to replicate in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). GM do Brasil first operated in a rented warehouse in São Caetano do Sul, in the state of São Paulo. It wasn’t the only American brand to try and tap the large market there: In addition to Ford and GM, Jeep, Chrysler, Willys, and heavy equipment company Caterpillar all sold vehicles in Brazil, and some even built factories. Since its founding in 1925, GM Brazil has built 20 million vehicles. Today, the plant at São Caetano do Sul is the odlest continuously operating car manufacturing facility in the country.

In contrast to the U.S. market, Brazil (judging by the top-selling vehicles over time) favors cheap, small cars. A perusal of period advertisements through the ’60s and ’90s, the focus of Chevrolet Vintage in Brazil reveals a parade of utilitarian pickups and compact cars, including some sporty variants, plus a smattering of Jeeps, station wagons, and the odd full-size Ford. As in North America, Chevrolet was the brand you sought out for affordable cars. Marca de valor, GM do Brasil’s slogan translates as “value brand.”

Not that Brazil didn’t have its own need for speed. In 1979, GM helped create a stock-car racing series. It was the only constructor, racing with the Opala for decades. Not until 2005, in fact, did another manufacturer enter the series (Mitsubishi, followed a year later by VW, then Peugeot).

So it’s entirely appropriate that Vintage Chevrolet’s first restoration will be a 1990 Monza Classic EF. Though the Monza is a well-known member of GM’s J-car family from the ’80s, information on the Monza Classic is harder to find. One of Brazil’s first fuel-injected cars, the Monza Classic appears to be a version of the Opel Ascona C tailored to the Brazilian market. The EF may have been a special edition of the Monza Classic built to celebrate the victory of Emerson Fittipaldi, a Brazilian F1 driver, in the 1989 Indy 500.

Chevrolet Vintage’s first restomod build will adopt the role of tire-shredder, a Camaro LT1-engine-swapped 1976 C10 pickup. The news is particularly exciting because the Camaro just went out of production last year.

It’s not yet clear if GM do Brasil plans to support its vintage models by offering reproduction parts, like Nissan and Toyota do. Will owners be able to commision restorations or restomods from the factory, or will Chevrolet Vintage simply pick its own projects? We have lots of questions still, but we’re sure about one thing: It’s great to see new programs showing love to old cars.