Companhia Industrial Santa Matilde

Conselheiro Lafaiete, Brazil

Companhia Industrial Santa Matilde was a Brazilian company and manufacturer of Commercial vehicles and from the 1970s also sports automobiles. The brand name was Santa Matilde. 

History 

The company was founded in 1916 in Conselheiro Lafaiete as a mining company. Later railway wagons have been repaired and manufactured. 1959 came the production of agriculture tractors and combine harvesters by the 1980s also Buses. The Brazilian imposed government high import tariffs for foreign sports cars ao Later a department of the company began in 1977 in Rio de Janeiro with the production of automobiles The Sta Matilde was first shown at the Brazilian Motor Show of 1976.

The first sports car model was the SM 4.1. The sports car had a chassis made of steel, the coupe body with hatchback and large tailgate is made of glass fibre reinforced polyester and is designed 2 + 2-seater. The coupe hatchback offered space for 2 + 2 persons. A 4.1 litre inline six-cylinder engine from the Chevrolet Opala with 4093 cc displacement and 171 gross horsepower performance was fitted The Sta Matilde had front mounted longitudinal Chevrolet engines at the front in the vehicle and drive to the rear wheels. 1980 and 1983 there were minor revisions. Now a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine (210 hp), The normal six-cylinder could also be combined with an automatic transmission. From 1981 larger 15-inch wheels were installed on wide tires of size 215/60.

In 1983, the technically and visually revised version Mk 2 appeared. At the same time, a convertible was available. Features include all around disc brakes, power windows, cassette radio, automatic seat belts, leather seats and air conditioning.  

In 1986, the Mk 3 replaced the Mk 2 with modified front bumper, new rims and the coupe a modified roofline; the Sta Matilde was now a notchback coupe. The Mk 3 coupe was only built until 1987, the convertible until 1990.In 1987, the Mk 3 coupe was replaced by the Mk IV with broadband instead of dual headlights. The former is from the VW Santana. The Mk 4 was produced until 1990 in small series, then until 1995 only on order. In 1997, the factory launched a heavily revised Mk 5. In addition to a new front, a rear spoiler lip and a digital dashboard, the Mk 5 had the differential gear and the rear axle of the Chevrolet Omega A.

or the first two years, 238 vehicles have been built .1980, 147 vehicles and the following year 57.  During the next four years, there were also annually around 50 vehicles.1986 By 1987, the number went down to 25. A total of 937 vehicles, including 76 convertibles built in the production. A total of 937 copies were made by Sta Matilde, including 490 hatchback, 371 with notchback and 76 Cabriolet. Individual pieces, there was until 1997. 

In the 1980s, the production of buses was a main line of business. But bankruptcy still followed in October 2005.