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A Rare Air-Cooled 1977 Bianco S

A Rare Air-Cooled 1977 Bianco S

Posted on July 11, 2025 By rehan.rafique No Comments on A Rare Air-Cooled 1977 Bianco S

This is a 1977 Bianco S that was imported into the USA as a project car many years ago, it’s now being offered for sale in the hopes that a new owner will finish it off and get it back on the road.

The Bianco S is a Brazilian sports car that was designed to be lightweight with a low center of gravity, offering sharp handling and good performance without breaking the bank. It was based on VW mechanicals, as were many of Brazil’s low-volume sports cars of the time.

Fast Facts: The Bianco S

  • The Bianco S was a Brazilian-built sports car introduced in the mid-1970s by Ottorino Bianco, who had previously worked on the Puma GT. It used a modified Volkswagen chassis with a fiberglass body and had rear-mounted air-cooled flat-four engines, typically 1.6 liters in displacement producing 50 to 60 bhp.
  • Designed for modest performance on a budget, the Bianco S offered lightweight construction, a low center of gravity, and sleek styling that blended cues from a number of European exotics. Its low-slung headlights and supercar-like silhouette helped it stand out in Brazil’s limited domestic market during a time of strict import restrictions.
  • Fewer than 200 Bianco S units were produced between 1976 and 1979. Most retained factory-standard Volkswagen components, though a number received mild performance upgrades or even some aesthetic changes. The limited production was due to economic and regulatory challenges that affected all of Brazil’s boutique carmakers of the era.
  • The red 1977 Bianco S featured here was imported to the United States as a project and remains largely unfinished. Still fitted with its original 1.6 liter engine and its VW chassis, it’s titled in Washington and offered for sale in Idaho.

History Speedrun: The Bianco S

The Bianco S was an unusual Brazilian sports car designed by Ottorino Bianco, a former racing driver and engineer who helped shape the country’s short-lived, but historically significant, period of low-volume automative manufacturing in the 1970s.

Bianco S Project Car 1

Image DescriptionImage DescriptionThe Bianco S was an unusual Brazilian sports car designed by Ottorino Bianco, a former racing driver and engineer who helped shape the country’s short-lived, but unique, period of low-volume automative manufacturing in the 1970s.

Built on a modified Volkswagen Beetle chassis, the Bianco S combined a lightweight fiberglass body with familiar air-cooled VW mechanicals and suspension, packaged in a sleek, low-slung coupe design that bore hints of both contemporary Italian and European styling while still remaining completely unique – it certainly wasn’t a replica.

Ottorino Bianco wasn’t new to automotive design, before founding his own marque he had worked with Rino Malzoni on the DKW-powered Malzoni GT, a car that evolved into the Puma GT. This was arguably Brazil’s most successful low-volume sports car brand.

After parting ways with Puma, Bianco launched his own company in São Paulo in 1976, aiming to create a lighter, more striking fiberglass-bodied coupe built around the same proven VW underpinnings that supported many other Brazilian specialty cars of the time. In fact it was the base platform of almost all of them.

Bianco S Specifications

The car was marketed simply as the Bianco S. It was designed from scratch with a focus on appearance and drivability, using a steel backbone subframe mated to the central pan of the VW Beetle chassis. Power came from the air-cooled flat-four engine located in the rear, as you would expect of course, with most examples running a 1.6 liter engine mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.

Horsepower figures were modest to say the least, you could expect around 50 to 60 bhp in most factory builds, but the lightweight fiberglass body helped performance feel lively by the Brazilian standards of the time. Some owners did modify their cars to increase power, some even reportedly getting over 70 bhp, but the car was unlikely to ever see much more than this.

Bianco S Project Car 8Bianco S Project Car 8

Image DescriptionImage DescriptionBuilt on a modified Volkswagen Beetle chassis, the Bianco S combined a lightweight fiberglass body with familiar air-cooled VW mechanicals and suspension, packaged in a sleek, low-slung coupe design.

From a styling perspective, the Bianco S had a great looking body with low-slung headlights, a curved glass windscreen, and a low nose – some even said it looked like the South American love child of a Ferrari Dino 246GT and a Lotus Europa.

The car’s shape looked far more exotic than its underlying mechanical simplicity. The interior was minimal but admittedly well-laid-out, with seating for two, a relatively low seating position, and some space in the rear for luggage.

Although based on decidedly German economy-car roots, it was marketed as a fashionable sports coupe for enthusiasts in Brazil’s middle class – this was particularly appealing during a time when foreign imports were heavily restricted and local automakers dominated the market.

Production Numbers And The End

Production remained very limited, even by the standards of the small Brazilian sports car scene of the day. Estimates suggest fewer than 200 were built between 1976 and 1979, with some sources placing the figure closer to 180 cars.

Part of the problem was scale – like many small manufacturers in Brazil during this era, Bianco relied heavily on hand-built parts and low-volume sourcing. This, combined with economic challenges, growing regulatory pressures, and a limited market to sell to made the project difficult to sustain.

There were also minor variants of the Bianco S produced during its short run. Some received upgrades like front disc brakes, alloy wheels, or different dash layouts. A handful of later cars may have come with modified engines or tuning packages, though no turbocharged or significantly altered drivetrains were offered from the factory according to available records.

Bianco S Project Car 5Bianco S Project Car 5

Image DescriptionImage DescriptionProduction remained very limited, even by the standards of the small Brazilian sports car scene of the day. Estimates suggest fewer than 200 units were built between 1976 and 1979, with some sources placing the figure closer to 180 cars.

Despite its short lifespan, the Bianco S left a distinct impression in its native Brazil and across the South American continent. Today, it’s recognized as part of a broader chapter in Brazilian automotive history, from a time when restrictions on imports gave rise to a cottage industry of fiberglass-bodied coupes and sports cars. Alongside Puma, Santa Matilde, and others, Bianco filled a niche that wouldn’t have existed in more open markets.

Ottorino Bianco himself later attempted a return to car manufacturing in the early 1980s with the Bianco Tarpan, a wedge-shaped, mid-engined prototype that never saw full-scale production. That project, while technically ambitious, sadly didn’t progress beyond a few prototype examples.

Surviving Bianco S cars are rare but highly valued in South American collector circles – their simplicity makes them relatively easy to maintain, and their styling gives them a road presence well beyond what their horsepower rating might otherwise suggest.

The Barn Find 1977 Bianco S Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1977 Bianco S that was imported into the USA by its owner, and now seller, who had plans to restore it and return it to the road. Sadly, as is often the case, life got in the way and the car has been languishing now for a number of years in storage.

It’s finished in red with a black interior (and interior that’s largely missing at the moment), and it’s powered by the 1.6 liter version of the air-cooled VW flat-four engine mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.

Bianco S Project Car 2Bianco S Project Car 2

Image DescriptionImage DescriptionThis Bianco S is finished in red with a black interior (and interior that’s largely missing at the moment), and it’s powered by the 1.6 liter version of the air-cooled VW flat-four engine mated to a 4-speed manual transmission.

It has drum brakes and independent suspension front and back, all sourced from Volkswagen of course, and the seller has the original Brazilian title with chassis and matching engine numbers to confirm they are original.

The car is titled and registered in Washington State with an antique/collector plate as a Bianco S Furia, and it’s now being sold out of Idaho Falls, Idaho on eBay here.

Bianco S Project Car 10Bianco S Project Car 10
Bianco S Project Car 9Bianco S Project Car 9
Bianco S Project Car 7Bianco S Project Car 7
Bianco S Project Car 6Bianco S Project Car 6
Bianco S Project Car 4Bianco S Project Car 4
Bianco S Project Car 3Bianco S Project Car 3

Images courtesy of eBay Seller

Ben Branch - SilodromeBen Branch - Silodrome

Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.

Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

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