For reasons unrelated to Bike-urious, I again had to go abroad this summer, this time in Brazil. But like when I was in Paris, I figured if I can’t be riding a bike, I might as well check out all the bikes I could. I brought my camera along, so you can enjoy, too.
But there’s one thing I should mention first – vehicles are expensive in Brazil. To protect “domestic” production, the government charges silly taxes on imported cars and motorcycles. But even vehicles made in the country are pricey.
For example, a Chevy Sonic:
In the US, base price starts at $14,170. In Brazil, the number on the dash is equivalent to $21,950.
Heaven forbid you want a car from a company that doesn’t have production in Brazil, like Range Rover. Then the taxes are at a whole different level. Let’s look at the slightly-above-base model HSE, which has a starting MSRP in the US of $68,525. Want one in Brazil? You’re looking at $203,500 USD!
On the motorcycle side, how about a Triumph Daytona 675 ABS? In the US, it starts at just under $13,500. In Brazil, it’s…
…48,690 reals, which is basically $24,345! As you might expect, I didn’t see any of these in the wild, though I did see a BMW F800R, a F800GS, and a few Harleys.
Or even a helmet – here’s an Arai RX-7 Corsair Haga, which was $781.95 in the US. It’s hard to see here, but the non-sale price was $1,240!
I figure you get the point by now, so let’s just get to some of my favorite motorcycles (with a couple of cars sprinkled in for good measure). If you want the entire album, click here.
Honda XRE 300
Police Honda XRE 300
Older Honda CB400
I know it’s just a Chevy Cruse, but I though the hatch version actually looked pretty good, and we can’t get it in the states
One of the very few dirtbikes I saw that was bigger than 350cc – looks like a XR650 to me?
Still no idea what this was
Yamaha Fazer (250cc) in an interesting purple
Mercedes O362 bus
You may remember from my “I’m on Vacation” post that one of my goals was to hopefully see an Amazonas. While that unfortunately did not happen, I somehow stumbled upon something even rarer – the Dacon 828.
Dacon was a Brazilian importer of Porsches, but the country banned importation of cars in 1976. They switched to VW (who were producing cars inside Brazil), but in 1982 they developed this little thing. The name was supposedly based on the year of creation (82) and the fact that it was Dacon’s eight project, but it’s obviously an homage to the Porsche 928 – from the rear this even looks like a baby 928. It used some pieces from Porsche, particularly the rear lights, and was powered by a 1.6 VW engine with a four speed transmission which somehow got this little thing up to 88 miles per hour.
I’m stunned that I was able to see one in the wild because over an 11 year period (’83-’94), just 47 Dacon 828s were sold.
Yamaha Tenere 250, owned by a local insurance company
A Chevy I’ve never seen before with a Land Cruiser
Unfortunately, I don’t know what this is, I just know it looks fantastic
Yamaha dealership
Puma 1600 GTS – a kit car based on the VW Karmann Ghia
Couple of Honda NX350 Saharas
Good ol’ American Muscle
Speaking of American Muscle, here’s a sad drawing of a Ford Mustang
BMW G650GS
A rare sighting of some large-displacement bikes
Honda NX200
And the last interesting thing to note – unlike in the states, where you get a sticker to put on your license plate after it’s passed registration/smog/etc, in Brazil you take your car to an inspector. If you pass, he/she attaches this tag to your plate, which is the sign that your car is legal for the road.
Again, if you want to see the rest of the random photos I took, check out this Flickr album. Quality photos are not guaranteed. =)