When you think of celebrities and cars, who comes to mind? Some people might think of Matthew McConaughey and his Lincoln commercials, Brie Larson and her Nissan commercials or Mike Wazowski and his sick new ride. Wheels screeching. But I have a different name for you, Muhammad Ali. Yeah, that Muhammad Ali. The boxing legend, the civil rights activist. Every college freshmen dorm had that photo of him standing over Sonny Liston but did you know that he had a car company based out of Brazil?

Tape up your hands and buckle up because this story is going to float like a butterfly and sting like a... I'm not gonna finish that sentence. Big thank you to Off the Record for sponsoring this video. Did someone have a little bit too much fun over the long weekend and ended up with the ticket? Couldn't be me but luckily Off the Record is here to help. They've got a network of attorneys and they offer a full refund if they're not able to either reduce or keep the ticket off your record.

So what are you waiting for? Save your money. Register now and use code Donutto get 10% off your first ticket at offtherecord.com/donut, baby your future is looking bright. Looking right into the sun. These are not safety glasses.

First off, how does someone like Muhammad Ali and a small Brazilian car company like Puma meet? In order to find out, we need to do a little bit of backtracking to answer questions like, what is Puma? And what kinda car was it? Or how did Muhammad Ali get involved?

Before we get onto that, we'll first need to take a brief look at the history of the car industry in Brazil. Pre 1950s, Brazil was mostly an agricultural nation whose main export was coffee. The only notable thing related to the car industry was that Ford had been there since 1919 assembling Model T's in Sao Paulo.

However during the 1950s, the Brazilian government made efforts to industrialize the country and one of the big steps they took to achieve that was to encourage domestic car production. Brazil applied heavy import taxes on vehicles that weren't produced in the country and for a long period of time, banned imports altogether and to be frank, these import taxes and bans worked.

In order to avoid these new hurdles, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen would all soon build their own factories within Brazil, but before foreign companies set up shop, this burgeoning industry also spurred the creation of local Brazilian automakers as well. And they were a little different. These first Brazilian car companies were mostly of the specialty and kit car variety.

One of these cars called the DKW Malzoni was built in Sao Paulo and gained popularity rather quickly. Let me break down that name so we understand what both DKW and Malzoni represent. DKW was a German automaker. They were actually one of the original four auto union brands and the Brazilian arm of the company was called DKW Vemag.

DKW Vemag focused on producing cars for the Brazilian middle-class. Malzoni was the name of the man that built the car, Genaro Malzoni.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat music)- When you think of celebrities and cars,who comes to mind?Some people might thinkof Matthew McConaugheyand his Lincoln commercials,Brie Larson and her Nissan commercialsor Mike Wazowski and his sick new ride.(wheels screeching)But I have a differentname for you, Muhammad Ali.Yeah, that Muhammad Ali.The boxing legend,the civil rights activist.Every college freshmen dormhad that photo of himstanding over Sonny Listonbut did you know that he had a car companybased out of Brazil.Tape up your hands and buckle upbecause this story is gonnafloat like a butterflyand sting like a...I'm not gonna finish that sentence.Big thank you to Off the Recordfor sponsoring this video.Did someone have a little bit too much funover the long weekend andended up with the ticket?Couldn't be mebut luckily Off theRecord is here to help.They've got a network of attorneysand they offer a full refundif they're not able to either reduceor keep the ticket off your record.So what are you waiting for?Save your money.Register now and use code Donutto get 10% off your first ticketat offtherecord.com/donut,baby your future is looking bright.Looking right into the sun.These are not safety glasses.- First off, how doessomeone like Muhammad Aliand a small Brazilian carcompany like Puma meet?In order to find out,we need to do a little bit of backtrackingto answer questions like,what is Puma?And what kinda car was it?Or how did Muhammad Ali get involved?Before we get onto that,we'll first need to take a brief lookat the history of thecar industry in Brazil.Pre 1950s, Brazil was amostly agricultural nationwhose main export was coffee.The only notable thingrelated to the car industrywas that Ford had been there since 1919assembling Model T's in Sao Paulo.However during 1950s,the Brazilian government made effortsto industrialize the countryand one of the big stepsthey took to achieve thatwas to encourage domestic car production.Brazil applied heavy import taxeson vehicles that weren'tproduced in the countryand for a long period of time,banned imports all togetherand to be frank,these import taxes and bans worked.In order to avoid these new hurdles,General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagenwould all soon build theirown factories within Brazil,but before foreign companies set up shop,this burgeoning industryalso spurred the creationof local Brazilian automakers as welland they were a little different.These first Brazilian car companieswere mostly of the specialtyand kit car variety.One of these cars called the DKW Malzoniwas built in Sao Palo and gainedpopularity rather quickly.Let me break down that nameso we understand what bothDKW and Malzoni represent.DKW was a German automaker.They were actually one of the originalfour auto union brandsand the Brazilian arm of thecompany was called DKW Vemag.DKW Vemag focused on producing carsfor the Brazilian middle-class.Malzoni was the name ofthe man that built the car,Genaro "Rino" Malzoni.He was a lawyer,but also an avid carenthusiast and race car driver.At DKW Vemag's request,Malzoni was asked tobuild a competition carbased around DKW's threecylinder, two stroke engineto compete in motor sport.Originally when the car was built,the steel body was too heavyso they switched to fiberglass instead.Soon afterwards it debuted in 1964and the DKW Malzoni won its first raceat autodromo Jose Carlos paceaka interlagos that same yearnot a bad start.Following the win, the DKWMalzoni gained popularityand Malzoni could not handleproduction on his own.So he started a new companywith a few of his buddiesto build these cars.They called it the Lumimari company.Something to keep in mindis that it was very hardfor these things companiesto keep up with the bigbrands from outside Brazil.Lumimari production hadstarted around 35 cars a yearbut very quickly increased to 100.There were two versions of the Malzoni,the first version was called the Spartan.It was used for racing andlacked luxury departmentsince it had little tono internal comforts.So it was a pretty fittingname I'll give them that.The other version was gearedtowards the general publicand was built to be more sophisticated.It had upgrades like leather upholsteryto have that higher end field.In 1966, the Lumimaricompany was renamed to Puma.The Malzoni was now known as the Puma GT.Not a terrible idea since saying,"Oh, I bought a brand new DKW Malzoni,"probably doesn't sound as enticing as,"I bought a brand newPuma GT hell yeah dude."This new version took the leapfrom a limited production carto a fully realized vehicle for consumers.It sported a refresh designthat had smoother linesand was designed with agreater focus on daily driving.The car was an instant successand was praised for its awesome looks.It was awarded Brazil's most beautiful carby the magazine Quatro Rodas,which included in its jurythe Italian Carrozzeria Nuccio Bertonewho was the designer ofthe Lamborghini Mira,the Aspada and the Countachso pretty big get for the magazine.Meanwhile in 1967,Volkswagen purchased DKWand halted manufacturingof any DKW specific part.Without a DKW chassis and motor to source,the Puma GT needed to change its design.Their new car was basedaround the rear enginedair-cooled VolkswagenKarmann Ghia sold in Brazil.This meant that the Puma GTwas going from a frontengine front wheel drive carto a rear engined rear wheel drive car.That's quite the shift fromone generation to another.I can't really think of manycars that have done that.Usually it goes rear wheeldrive to front wheel drivenot front wheel to rear wheeland rear engine, that's crazy.The new car's design wasinspired by the Lamborghini Miraand Ferrari Dino 206GT.This beautiful new carwasn't gonna be exclusiveto the Brazilian market either.In the 1970s and into the 80s,complete cars were being sent to Canadaand there was a kit carversion sold in the US.The buyer purchased the carwithout the front suspensionor transaxle or engineor wheels or tires or...It's a lot of stuff.You would have to supplythe missing componentsfrom a partner distributoror the buyer could supplythe needed parts themselves.Go look in the junkyard for a Karmann Ghiaboom, you got your stuff.Unfortunately however,harsh economic timescame upon Brazil in the 1980sand it impacted Pumacausing them to file for bankruptcy.The company was sold twiceonce in 1985 and then again the next yearand that ladies and gentsis when Muhammad Alicomes into the picture.In 1986 while the company was being soldfor the second time,the production rightshad been sold to a firmcalled Araucaria vehicles.I did my best.Surprisingly, even duringthis gloomy transition period for Puma,they still had one loyal employeethat was still tryinghis best to help them.Puma had a representativein Texas named Kevin Haines.Why is this important?Well, he was friends with Mohammad Ali.Haines mentioned Puma to Aliand convinced the retiredboxer to invest in the company,but I'm not even sure Haineswould have been expecting howinvolved Ali was about to be.Muhammad Ali took Haines up on his offer,actually went down toBrazil with an engineerand an additional consultantalong with a lawyer and abuddy to learn more about Puma.Soon after he formedthe Ali vehicle industryand decided they would producea new version of the Puma GTcalled the Ali Stinger.The car's development started quicklyand according to an article from 1987,there were 20 prototypesof the stinger madewith a Porsche flat sixfrom the 911 inside.There were gonna bethree different versionsof the Ali's stinger offered,a hard top, a convertibleand the most expensive versionthat would have had a sophisticated finishwith white and red seatsfor a sportier appearance.The hype for this car was building.Muhammad Ali remained heavily involvedfrom here on out as well.He told the press all the thingsyou'd want the legendary MuhammadAli to say about his car.The Folha de S.Paulonewspaper quoted him saying,"The car will be as I was in the ring.It will flutter around like a butterflyand sting like a bee.He was showing up an ads for the car.Tell me this isn't cool.This is sick.Ali had plans to expand salesto North America, Europeand Saudi Arabia.Ali would need help with that last part.So he formed a deal withquite an interesting fellownamed Mohammed Al Fassi.Mohammed Al Fassior self-proclaimed"Sheik" Mohammed Al Fassiwas a Moroccan Saudi businessmanrelated by marriageto the Saudi Royal family.This guy is in the running forone of the most absurd peopleto have ever lived okay?It was rumored that he hada 170 member entourage,an extra limousine forhis personal camera crewand at one time he had a title so longthat it took up a fullpage on his passport.Al Fassi was known to send$50 to complete strangers.if they wrote him a hard luck storyand he was quoted as saying"I'm using all my power to help people,Muslim, Jewish it doesn't matter.I feel like I'm helping peopleand it gives me satisfaction.I kinda like that.In 1982 though,the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Floridademanded that he payhis $1.56 million bill.Al Fassi came back and sued the hotelfor 1 billion claimingmalicious prosecution.This guy was on another level.If you're liking the story so far,go ahead and hit that like button,it actually really helps us out.and that's all I ask.So what did Muhammad Ali andMohammad Al Fassi have planned?Well, Ali brokered a dealwith "Sheik" Al Fassito order 400 special additionsof the Puma P-108 convertibleto be called the Puma Al Fassiand sell them throughout the middle east.Some sources say it was 440 carsothers say 1,440 cars.With Al Fassi being involvedwho really knows.Two prototypes werebuilt around 1988 and 89with a big old Al Fassi badge on the rearand with smaller badgeson the quarter panels.The cars were gonna beimported from Brazilbut before they were sent offthey're actually were gonna be modifiedin order to pass European car standards.Basically the whole car was widened,the headlight design was tweakedto be square sealed beamsinstead of roundand the dash and interiormaterials were upgraded with wood.Now at this point,everything seems to begoing pretty well right?So why hasn't anyone heard of these cars?Well, remember when I mentionedhow eccentric Al Fassi was?That came back to bite him.Muhammad Al fast hepublicly declared supportfor Iraqi dictator SaddamHussein during the Gulf war.This declaration resulted in him being putunder house arrest in SaudiArabia for three yearsand then eventually banishedfrom Saudi Arabia altogether.He fled the country andtook any movable assetshe could with him,including two Boeing 707s.His remaining assets in the townswere either confiscated or frozenkilling his deal to bringover the Puma Al Fassi.This was a fatal blow toPuma and Muhammad Ali's brandbecause there was $36 million investedinto the production ofthe cars for Al Fassi.Muhammad Ali was forced togive up production rightsof the Puma to anothercompany called it Alpha Metalswho produce the finalrun of Pumas in Brazil.This new financial turmoilcombined with Brazil lifting the banthat stopped imported carsfrom coming into Brazilwas the last nail in the coffin to Puma.Unfortunately, Pumas wild runfinally came to an end in 1995until it came back what?Unbelievably Puma returnedin 2013 in South Africaunder the name Puma Automobiles.In 2017, they revealedthe Puma GT 2.4 Lumimaryof which there are only 10 to be madeand actually it looks pretty awesomebut just basically a whole new company nowand the only other car they makehas a really crazy namethat I can't pronounce.It's like Youabianand it cost $1.1 million.Most people only rememberMuhammad Ali for his boxingbut his brief stint in the car industryis without a doubt oneof the craziest storiesI've told in this show.There probably isn't anotherinstance of a sports iconwho tried to sell carsto a self-proclaimedsheikh in Saudi Arabiausing a south America based car companythat was facing constantfinancial struggles.but you know what?I can't blame them for trying.Thanks for watching Wheelhouse.I love doing internationalcar stories like this one.This one is pretty nuts.If you're intrigued by the mystiqueof Brazilians automotive historycheck out our episode ofPast Gas on a Fordlandia.Henry Ford went down to Braziland tried to start a factory,it goes a little off therails to say the least.I love doing global stories like this.If you know some weird obscure car historyoutside of the US thatnobody's really heard of,let me know in the comments.I'd never heard of thisuntil we looked into likeBrazilian car historyand we're like, wait aminute this is really weird,let's check that out.Follow Donut on all socialmedia at @donutmedia.Follow me at @nolanjsykes.If you want, I takecar pictures sometimes.Be kind, take care of each otherand I'll see you next time.