Phoenix GT/Uirapuru, the 800 hp Brazilian Sports Car

Uirapuru is the name of a very rare Amazonian songbird and its song is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Brazilian native legends state that other songbirds stop singing to listen to the flute-like song of the Uirapuru. This was also the name of a very rare Brazilian sports car (only 76 units until the end of production, in 1967), said to have inspired the Jensen Interceptor’s design, what could be true, since the Uirapuru, also known as Brasinca 4200 GT, was presented in 1964 and the Jensen, only in 1966. About 41 years after it disappeared, the Uirapuru intends to get back to life with modern features and an amazing Judd V10 engine that pumps out up to 800 hp, if not restricted. Even better: it also intends to make an international career.

The first Uirapuru has been created by Rigoberto Soler, but the one that will probably be sold in the next few years is a project of André Soler (incredibly, not related to the original sports car father). When he was a designer student, he decided to propose to establish a link from the college to the work market. The result was the Phoenix GT/Uirapuru and a partnership with GT Racecars, a company that is responsible for the engineering project of the new vehicle.

The car has not reached the prototype stage so far. “We have proposed it to United Arab Emirate investors and negotiations took a whole year, but they ended up with no results because of some divergences. The investors wanted to take the entire project to their country and to change it according to Arab tastes, but we did not agree with that. We have offered to have part of the production and of the project here, but they also did not accept. We currently do not have enough funds to speed the prototype production, so it will take more than we wanted”, said André Soler to World Car Fans. This is the same problem many nice cars are facing, such as the n2a SLR and the new Interlagos.

When it is built, the prototype will be 3,93 m long, 1,90 m wide and 1,17 m high, with a wheelbase of 2,73 m. Alloy wheels will be 18-inch wide, and will use 255/40 ZR18 in the front and 285/40 ZR18 in the rear. With reinforced carbon fiber body and tubular space frame chassis, the car will have conventional doors, independent suspension in all four wheels (double wishbone) and rear wheel drive. Besides the Judd GV5 Sports Racing Engine, that generates over 600 hp when running until 7,800 rpm and more that 800 hp when running at up to 10,000 rpm, the Uirapuru may also have a GM 3.6-liter V6 Alloytec or a V8 engine that is yet to be defined, but should push around 400 hp. Transmition may either be a six-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. In fact, they may be whatever investors and André Soler choose it to be. As long as the car reaches the streets...