DoniRosset and the dream of a Brazilian supercar

Posted by John Mellberg September 27, 2020

DoniRosset and the dream of a Brazilian supercar

The DoniRosset - a car that aimed to be Brasil's first supercar.

From the mid 20th century forward, Brazil has been home to a surprising variety of independent car makers. This 'cottage industry' reached a peak in the 1970's and 80's when their automotive market was closed to foreign competition. Much like the current situation in China today, car manufacturers had to produce products locally in order to participate. A number of global players did, in fact set up shop in Brazil. These included Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen. VW was particularly dominant there.

This time period saw the birth of many notable makes such as Miura, Adamo, Bianco, Ventura, Lafer, and the most well known of all, the Puma. During this period of closure in the Brazilian car market, a vibrant industry emerged and produced all manner of local products in every possible segment. It was a great source of pride for the people of Brazil.

However, the Brazilian government eventually gave in to the immense pressure brought to bear by global industry giants and reopened the market. Local makes simply couldn't compete and a once prosperous industry all but died, taking with it the economic fortunes of the entire country. Today, the industry is but a shadow of itself but there are still some specialty car makers that emerge from time to time.

The DoniRosset - concept art

One of the most ambitious of these, in recent years, is the DoniRosset. More than 1,000 hp, a million dollar price tag, three seats (a la McLaren), Carbon fiber, rare metals, gems... Nothing that can be said about DoniRosset that is not superlative.

It all started with a meeting in 2007 between car designer Fernando Morita and businessman William Denis Rosset. William commissioned Morita to design and build a supercar to present his father, also businessman Donino Rosset — "Doni", to his closest friends.

The project began in earnest on a clean sheet of paper in mid-2008. "I would draw, show William, and exchange opinions and suggestions with great freedom. It was like it was done in a factory, with the presentation of the sketches to the style director until we reached the final idea", said Morita.

The DoniRosset - Chassis mock-up

After the ideal design was defined, the designer set out for the modeling of the car in clay in 1/4 scale. After that, Augusto "Clovis" Souza created a 5-axis milling machine to produce the final full size model. "It's a machine that costs millions of dollars, but which he created with only a fraction of that. And it was perfect," Morita said. While the initial plan was to produce a single example, a number of interested parties put deposits down for their own copies when the full scale mock-up was first presented in 2012.

The DoniRosset, at its 2012 debut

The DoniRosset featured an Aluminum spaceframe chassis, extensive use of Carbon fiber parts, a central driving position with a six-point Sabelt belt, an adjustable pushrod suspension system developed by Alexandre Hirata in 2009, a dashboard composed of 3 Touchscreens, and, to round things off, it has details fashioned in tourmaline Paraiba, a rare green stone that only exists in Brazil, more expensive than an emerald. The front emblem is even finished in 24K gold.

The DoniRosset was specified with an ethanol converted 8.4-liter V10 from the Dodge Viper with twin-turbochargers producing an estimated 1007 HP going through a Mendeola six-speed sequential transmission. The car was 4.7 meters long an 2 meters wide. Other design features included LED lights and five centrally positioned exhaust pipes.

The DoniRosset prototype

Development continued into until around 2014 but was eventually abandoned due, in part, to an emerging economic crisis in the region. News of the project has all but ceased in recent years. It was an audacious venture to be sure and it ended as many such efforts do.

Author's Note: The prototype was last seen in Sao Paolo Brazil, in an unfinished state, at the shop of Andre Filipe Caligari in early 2020. It is unclear to this author how he came to possess it or what he intends to do with it. Caligari has produced a number of notable custom cars, replicas, and "one-off" specials in his own right, over the years. If anyone has the talent and the means to finish the car, Caligari does. That said, it seems his own projects have taken priority for now.