2. Chevrolet Opala SS
The Chevrolet Opala SS is the typical example of a Brazilian muscle car at the height of the muscle car craze. Chevy presented this handsome fastback coupe in 1969 in a wide range of styles as their main mid-size model there. The name, Opala, was controversial since customers thought it was a mix between Opel and Impala.
Germany’s Opel was a part of GM and produced the Rekor, which was visually the same. However, the U.S.-made Chevrolet had the Impala with the 250 CID (4.1-liter) straight six, just like Brazil’s Opalas. Chevrolet introduced the performance version of the Opala with the same 4.1-liter straight six they tuned to produce 169 HP. Although not much by today’s standards, it was enough to give the Opala SS decent performance figures.
This attracted many customers. The Opala SS was successful on the race tracks, winning many events in Brazil during the 70’s. The Opala SS had a distinctive appearance package including a vinyl roof and racing stripes. It also had hot graphics and sporty wheels to differentiate itself from its lesser cousins.