A prototype designated the Puma GTO appeared in 1971, establishing the basic concept of marrying a lightweight fiberglass body to proven Brazilian-market GM mechanicals. The production model was renamed the GTB — standing for Gran Turismo Brazil — and reached customers in 1973. The choice of fiberglass construction was not merely a cost measure; it allowed the manufacturer to execute and revise body styling with relatively modest tooling investment compared with steel stampings, enabling periodic visual updates without fundamental retooling.
The GTB was mechanically distinct from the smaller, Volkswagen-based Puma models that shared the brand name. While the VW-derived cars used rear-engine layouts inherited from the Beetle platform, the GTB adopted the front-engine, rear-drive architecture of the Chevrolet Opala, a Brazilian-assembled adaptation of the American Chevrolet. The Opala's 4,100 cc inline six-cylinder engine — derived from the U.S. Chevrolet six and produced in Brazil — provided substantial displacement well suited to tuning, and it was common practice for GTB owners and aftermarket specialists to modify these engines for considerably higher output than the factory specification.
For its era and market, the Puma GTB was lavishly appointed. Standard features included leather seating, power windows, and air conditioning — a combination that reinforced its positioning as the country's leading prestige automobile. The pairing of luxury fittings with a sports car silhouette made the GTB unusual in the Brazilian market, which was otherwise dominated by utilitarian offerings based on mass-market European and American platforms.
Several aftermarket companies supported the GTB's popularity among enthusiasts. Pumakit and Superclar were among those producing custom body components for the car, with the Daytona-specification body parts becoming particularly associated with the model in modified form.
Total production of the Puma GTB reached 1,589 units across two primary series, lower than output of the VW-based Puma models. The S1, or First Series, accounted for 701 cars, while the S2, or Second Series, contributed the remaining 888. The GTB was never exported to North America or Europe in meaningful quantities, keeping it effectively unknown outside Brazil; at least one S2 example is documented to have reached the United States.
Two further variants appeared in the model's final years. The S3, arriving in late 1983, was configured to run on Brazilian sugarcane alcohol fuel — a response to the national Proálcool ethanol programme following the oil crises of the 1970s — while retaining the Chevrolet 4.1-litre engine. The S4 followed in 1984 with a turbocharged engine, the most performance-oriented iteration of the GTB. Neither variant achieved strong sales. By this point the design was considerably dated, and Brazil's relaxing of import restrictions introduced competitive pressures from international manufacturers that the GTB could not effectively counter.
Puma Vehicles fell into bankruptcy in 1985, ending original production. The brand did not disappear entirely: in 1987, Alfa Metais — trading under the AMV name — assumed the rights to the Puma line and resumed production of a facelifted GTB in very small numbers. This continuation effort lasted until 1993, when production ceased permanently.
The Puma GTB occupies a notable position in Brazilian automotive history as the country's most sustained attempt during the 1970s and early 1980s to produce a domestic grand touring car competitive with international rivals on luxury and performance grounds. Its fiberglass construction, large-displacement Opala powertrain, and high specification made it an outlier in the Brazilian market. Although total production was modest and the car never reached international markets in significant numbers, surviving examples — particularly S1 and S2 cars — are sought after by Brazilian collectors. The GTB demonstrated both the ambitions and the structural constraints of Brazil's independent automotive industry during the era of import substitution, ultimately unable to survive the dual pressures of financial difficulty and increased foreign competition.
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