Brazilian Chevrolet Alvorada

Brazilian car manufacturing history had its fair share of country-specific models, often dictated by some local content regulations when production volumes and the overall economy didn't seem to justify much investment to keep up with the same standards of other markets which were either more mature or less strict to a higher foreign content. A good example of such was the Chevrolet Alvorada (Sunrise), which was a double-cab derivative of the Chevrolet 3100 Brasil. Applying some styling cues of the Task Force series to the same cabin of the previous Advance Design series, the Chevrolet Brasil series ran from '58 until '64 when it was replaced by the first local variant of the C-Series, and the Alvorada ran from '61 to '63. It was only factory-fitted with the 4-bearing 261cu.in. straight-6 gasoline engine and a 3-speed manual transmission, but this '63 Chevrolet Alvorada that I spotted at the parking lot of Fenac in Novo Hamburgo at the Expoclassic 2024 had been converted to Diesel, most likely with a Perkins engine such as the 4-236 or Q20B which were offered in Brazilian versions of the C-Series through the '80s until mid-'90s.