Brazilian '76 Ford F-100 Bumpside factory-fitted with the 2.3L OHC 4-cylinder engine

It's already well reported the Brazilian production run of the full-size Ford trucks/utes/bakkies usually were one or two generations behind their international counterparts, so the Bumpside arrived only after its phaseout in the United States, and actually soldiering on for a timeframe of three generations until it was replaced by the Bricknose, which on its turn had already been superseded by the Aeronose which had a much shorter production run in Brazil. Among some features exclusive to Brazil, both in order to keep up with local content regulations and to save on expensive retoolings of its Ipiranga factory which was located in the Ipiranga borough of São Paulo city, there was a 4-cylinder version of the F-100 with the 2.3L OHC engine made in Taubaté from '76 to '85. The oil crisis was hitting hard in Brazil, where the F-100 used to be fitted only with Y-Block V8 engines prior to a local introduction of the 2.3L OHC, and a Diesel derivative named F-1000 which in fact was basically some sort of short-body equivalent to the American F-250 featuring an outsourced 4-cylinder engine meant for agricultural machinery quickly tuned for truck usage to address an urgent need for increased fuel efficiency back in '79.

Most Americans often think I'm saying in jest whenever I mention the 4-cyl version of the F-100, which also had the option for gasoline or ethanol-powered trims of the OHC engine, while it's much easier (or less difficult) to spot the gasser. That's precisely the case of this '76 F-100, which I quickly recognised as the 4-cylinder version due to the badge on both sides of the bonnet. Odd enough, no 6-cylinder was available for the Bumpside Ford in Brazil until a 221cu.in. (3.6L) Thriftpower Six made in Argentina started being imported from Argentina to Brazil in the early '80s for an ethanol-powered version of the F-1000 which in fact never outsold its Diesel-powered counterpart. And even the F-100 started to have a lower sales volume at that moment due to competition with the Diesel-powered F-1000 in a Brazil, so the limited availability of the 4-cylinder F-100 through an entire 20-year Brazilian production run of the Bumpside Ford from '72 to '92 already makes it quite rare, not to mention some conversions to either V8 (usually the 302 Windsor) or Diesel which also had their peaks of popularity. 

The owner of this '76 F-100 told me the truck has been with his family since new, bought by his father who also owned a Maverick with this same engine (also in a Brazilian specific version). He also told me the truck was never restored, which is even more impressive for a nearly 50-years old truck. And one thing I'm sure, such a rare Brazil-specific trim of the Bumpside Ford will definitely catch attention even from a Chevrolet-loving redneck, such as myself...

The 2nd-generation Chevrolet Trailblazer is an example of why it was a bad move from GM to retreat from most right-hand drive markets

Initially released in 2012, made initially in Thailand and Brazil with additional production in India and Russia added at a later stage, the 2nd-generation Chevrolet Trailblazer has been made since 2020 only in Brazil, and received another refresh for the 2025 model-year, including independent rear suspension which improved the riding comfort compared to previous model-years which still had a rear solid axle just like the Chevrolet Colorado truck it derived from. Having been fitted with 2.5L and 2.8L 4-cylinder turbodiesel engines in Thai and Indian versions, with a 3.6L gasoline-powered V6 available in the Thai model as an export-only option which had also been offered in Brazilian and Russian trims, since 2020 it has been made only in Brazil, and at least since 2022 with the 2.8L turbodiesel exclusively, after GM retreated from most right-hand drive markets including Thailand and Australia. It might be perceived by some folks as "outdated", but it's still among the best of its class, and now with independent suspension all-around it would be still desirable in some markets where GM unfortunately retreated, not limited to Australia or Thailand where the Chevrolet Colorado was also available (rebadged as a Holden for the Australian market as usual) but also in South Africa and India where GM retreated earlier in late-2017 while Isuzu kept making its badge-engineered versions of the Chevrolet Colorado and Trailblazer. All while Chinese companies such as SAIC and Liuzhou Wuling which already had some affiliation with GM took over some of its former branches in countries such as India...