Without a doubt, one of our favourite YouTube channels is Donut Media. A bunch of goofs making entertaining, approachable car videos that you don’t need be an engineer to understand. This week, they sent roving reporter Zach Jobe to Brazil to explore the underground racing scene and Brazilian car culture.
The video has a real F&F vibe to it, but also digs into the history of automobile manufacturing in Brazil, how significant VW is to the country, and even takes us for a street race in an old-school Chevy Opala.
After a meet up at a gas station on Thursday night (official car night) and some illegal street racing, Jobe and his new friends hone their drifting skills at a local karting track. The ingenuity and originality these car owners display is just amazing.
Amazing video!!!! It does sum up the car scene in Brazil, even if they didn’t mention drag racing, but that is all right. A little note on the Chevy Opala, the car is the Brazilian version of the German Opel Rekord, a car that was born to be powered by tiny engines, between 1.4 L and 2.2 L. The Brazilian Chevrolet stuffed the car with an American 4.1 L, in-line 6 engine, making it an instant “factory hot rod”. That is why we love Opala soooo much.
The Chevy Opala suddenly makes a lot more sense! In most countries, cars with front wheel drive and small displacement engines were ‘normal’. So I couldn’t figure out why the guy with the station wagon was the fastest car in town!
Stuffing a big American engine into a small, lightweight car is the formula for speed. Just ask Carroll Shelby (Cobra) or Alejandro de Tomaso (Pantera).
Also, those four round taillights are REALLY cool. Makes the Chevy Opala look like a 60’s Chevy Impala…only smaller.
The Opala is a legend in Brazil, because it is lightweight, it can face more powerful Fords and Mopars V8.
You won’t believe how much power they can squeeze out of that 250CID engine.
Take a look at this
https://youtu.be/X6xV_szTOS0
https://youtu.be/X6xV_szTOS0
That is SO COOL!
I tried to send a link to a YouTube video but it didn’t go through. Please look for “Opala Metal” on YouTube. I love that car.