The origin of what was to become the Puma was the DKW-Malzoni (a.k.a. Malzoni GT), built by Rino Malzoni of Matao in Sao Paulo state
from around 1964. Malzoni was a keen auto racer and began building his own competition cars based around a DKW straight-3 two-stroke
engine with a light, fiberglass-skinned bodyshell. The cars began to sell in quantities larger than he himself could build, and Malzoni
founded a company with a group of other auto enthusiasts to meet the quickly growing demand. Production at first was around 35 cars a
year, increasing to more than a hundred within a couple of years.
