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Retro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks as Good as a RUF Porsche

The Volkswagen SP2, not to be confused with last year's Ferrari supercar project, is one of the slowest sports cars ever made, but that's not the reason why nobody has ever heard about it. Still an artist has given it a modern twist.
Retro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF 10 photos
Photo: rob3rtdesign
Retro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF PorscheRetro-Modern Volkswagen SP2 Looks Like as Good as a RUF Porsche
Built between 1973 and 1976, the SP2 is pretty rare, usually restricted to the South American continent and comes with a tiny engine. End of story? Not even close.

Due to political reasons that aren't easily explained, Brazil was closed from imports of any kind. Volkswagen already had local production facilities, but the only interesting coupe they made was the aging Ghia. And so, a small team started working on a derivative of the first-generation Passat.

That's how the SP2 came to be, a re-bodied Passat Variant, powered by one of Volkswagen's 1.7-liter air-cooled engines, which produced only 75 horsepower for a 0 to 100 km/h sprint time of 16 seconds. Maybe that's wy they only sold about 11,000 of these.

While SP was supposed to be short for Sao Paolo, the local car communities dubbed it the "Sem Potencia," which means without power.

This unknown little sports coupe from Brazil was the base for an awesome set of renderings from a fellow named rob3rtdesign. His inspirational 3D model looks like one of those RUF Porsche-derived restorations. It's got similar halo headlights and various parts that look like they took hours to machine out of aluminum. There's also a video below which makes everything feel more real than it is.

Serious mods like flared out fenders, a massive ducktail spoiler and crosshair exhausts make the SP2 look ready to race. Inside, there are yet more hints of Porsche inspiration, including seat cloth patters that are available to this day. Depending on the angle, the modded SP2 looks like a Triumph Stag, a Porsche 928 and everything in between.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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