Hofstetter
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Hofstetter was founded by Mario Richard Hofstetter, a Swiss-born, living in Sao
Paulo.
The first car was completed in 1980, and it was inspired by the Maserati
Boomerang (an Italdesign dream car). It used 2.0 Hart engine with fuel
injection, gearbox from Hewland, 4-wheel disc-brakes and right-hand
drive, although Brazil is a left-hand drive country.
This car remained a one-off. By the time this was completed and already
improved version was under construction.
This was the Hofstetter Turbo, launched in 1984. The left-hand drive was adopted, the side windows were shrunked, the front received a new treatment, and the engine was swapped to VW 1.8. The displacement was changed to 2.1, and a turbocharger was added. The power was 173 hp. The car had gull-wing, a/c and analogic instruments.
The first changes in the car were in 1985, with the addition of huge rear aerofoils (like the Countach's) and digital instruments. In 1988, VW launched a 2.0 engine, and Hofstetter used a 2.0 with turbocharger and interccooler, 210 hp, 236 km/h and all electric gadgets. One model was made with automatic gearbox, called Turbo-Matic. In the '90s, a new model appeared the Cortada, after the name of the new owner of the company. Cortada sported more rounded design but it was too late and soon production ended. Total production was between 16-19 units.