Puma di Adriano Gatto Puma(1:18, LaudoRacing)
- Puma di Adriano Gatto Puma (from 1973)
- LaudoRacing
- 1:18
- Showcase model / No engine
- resin
- Zwei wie Pech und Schwefel
- In near mint condition
- Original packaging exists
- Not for sale
Italian buggy cult: The Puma by Adriano Gatto in historical context
This model is based on the Puma Buggy von Adriano Gatto, a beach buggy developed in Italy that uses the VW Beetle running gear. It comes from a time when lightweight fiberglass bodies on mass-produced platforms were all the rage among small European specialty builders. The miniature shown here represents the first generation, which was built from 1972. The car was designed by the company founder and coachbuilder Adriano Gatto, whose small shop was based near Rome. The buggy was Italy’s take on the US Meyers-Manx conversions — same basic idea but made locally with its own styling. To give you a time frame: 1972 was the year of the Munich Olympics and its tragic attack, the arcade game Pong came out, and NASA flew Apollo 17, the last crewed mission to the Moon. I’m just throwing those in so you get an idea of the era.
Original tech and construction
The chassis of the Puma Buggy von Adriano Gatto is based on the VW Type 1. Builders typically shortened the wheelbase to make it nimbler and to suit the proportions of the open body. The body was made from glass-fiber reinforced plastic, keeping the curb weight around roughly 550–650 kilograms (about 1,213–1,433 pounds). The engine in the rear was VW’s air-cooled flat-four. Depending on the donor car, you usually find 1.2–1.6 liter engines (about 0.32–0.42 US gallons) making roughly 34–50 hp, paired with a 4-speed manual gearbox. The suspension was the stock VW setup with torsion bars front and rear; brakes depended on the donor — generally drum brakes all around or front discs as an option. Typical styling cues were extra spotlights, a simple rollbar, separate fenders, and a minimal interior with two bucket seats and basic gauges. The goal was straightforward: as little weight as possible, reliable mass-produced mechanicals, and an easy-to-clean open body for beach, trails, and city use. If you want a predecessor, the early Manx buggies from the US are the obvious inspiration — they popularized the concept and influenced European builders.
The model in Phat-T’s collection: details, material and limitation
The photos here show a model car at scale 1/18 from the maker LaudoRacing. The miniature is made from resin, which lets them capture the complex fiberglass shapes of the real thing. It’s a strictly limited edition: Limited: 1 of 200 worldwide. The model nails a lot of the Puma’s visual cues: red base color with white curved side stripes, the PUMA logo on the front bonnet, extra lights on the fenders and on the windscreen frame, plus a simple chrome rollbar. One photo shows a yellow snap-on top fitted, another shows the car open — both are true to how the real cars were used. The white seats, the simple dash with steering wheel and mirrors, the chrome engine guard and rear exhaust are all neatly done. The chunky tires even have yellow Firestone lettering; the rims are in a period chrome look, though a specific rim maker isn’t obvious from the photos. Overall, this 1/18 LaudoRacing piece reproduces the buggy’s proportions — wide tires, short body, separate fenders — very well and, again: Limited: 1 of 200 worldwide.
Film reference and recognizable styling
This particular miniature is tightly tied to the Italian cult film Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo (German: “Zwei wie Pech und Schwefel”, international: “Watch Out, We’re Mad!”, 1974). In several scenes you can spot a red buggy with a yellow top and white stripe graphics that’s clearly based on the Puma Buggy von Adriano Gatto. In the film the buggy first shows up as a contest prize and later becomes the centerpiece of chases and set pieces. It’s driven by the characters Ben and Kid, played by actors Carlo Pedersoli (Bud Spencer) and Mario Girotti (Terence Hill). The model echoes that movie connection: the photos include two figures in the car whose clothes and poses are nods to the film characters, so the display reads as a little diorama. Film-specific touches — white stripes, extra lights on the front and windscreen frame, and the yellow top — are all on the model. For collectors the key facts are clear: it’s a 1/18 LaudoRacing resin model, and it’s limited to 1 of 200 worldwide. That combo — neat execution plus the movie link — makes this piece in Phat-T’s collection a nicely identifiable example of an early 1970s European beach buggy.
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