We’ve always had a penchant for oddball VW-powered specials and this miniature rear engined Brazilian creation certainly ticks all the right ‘what the hell is it?’ boxes…

To answer that question, it’s a Dacon 828 and it’s the product of a Brazilian outfit – Dacon – who were originally official Porsche importers before turning their hand to modifying and generally messing about with VWs.

The ‘82’ refers to the year the car was first developed (1982) and the ‘8’ confirms that it was Dacon’s eighth project. The fact that it looks oddly like a Porsche 928 that’s been shrunk in the wash must, we assume, be some kind of weird coincidence. It was designed by Brazilian racing legend cum car designer Anisio Campos who was also responsible for the Puma, a svelte looking GT based on the Karmann Ghia chassis. Indeed, the first 11 cars were built at the Puma factory.

No doubt you’ll have already had a shot at identifying the various likely donors for this parts bin special. The rear lights look to be late Bay bus (angled to look like a Porsche 928), as do the front indicators. Those square headlights look very VW as well – could they be from a Mk2 Scirocco we wonder? We’re struggling to figure out where the steering wheel (below) comes from. It seems to feature a Wolfsburg crest in the centre, though – so if you have any ideas, let us know!

The diminutive rear-engined Dacon was sold from 1983 until 1994, but only 47 cars were sold apparently. The seating arrangement is rather bizarre; it was meant to seat two, but because it’s actually quite wide a three abreast setup is possible. At just 2.5m long, we imagine parking one must be a doddle, although because the first few had tiny 10in wheels, we expect the steering was a tad heavy. Subsequent cars had more conventional 13in alloys, similar in design to the Porsche 944 but again, much smaller obviously. Power came from a 1600cc Beetle engine which we imagine, given the car’s size, would have given it a fairly decent lick of speed.

Intriguingly, the midget Dub-engined 828 wasn’t Dacon’s only automotive effort from that era. The firm is also thought to have created a targa version of the Passat as well as being responsible for a Porsche tuned Brasilia and a water cooled version of the Brazilian SP2 – aptly named the SP3.

Ian

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage