• Brado revealed an analog dune buggy built around a carbon monocoque.
  • The stripped-back machine skips digital screens and modern driver aids.
  • A rear-mounted air-cooled VW engine provides power for the buggy.

Italian startup Brado has pulled the covers off its first car, a modern recreation of the classic dune buggy. The Carbon Buggy ditches the usual stack of electronic aids in pursuit of a genuinely analog drive, pairing a carbon fiber monocoque with an old-school air-cooled powertrain.

The project is the brainchild of Matias Mussetta and Andrea Mazzuca. Mussetta’s resume includes stints at Scuderia Toro Rosso, Lamborghini, and Dallara, along with technical duties on Ferrari’s crew at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

More: Renault’s R4 Concept Just Became A Beach Buggy That Moonlights As A Pickup

Styling falls to Argentine designer Juan Manuel Diaz, whose portfolio includes the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione and MiTo, the Audi R8 Spyder, and more recently the RS Q e-tron Dakar racer.

The Carbon Buggy adopts a minimalist design with a sculpted tub-style bodywork, round headlights, and a canvas roof. It measures 3,310 mm (130.3 inches) long, making it 322 mm (12.7 inches) shorter than a Fiat 500. The rear is 1,810 mm (71.3 inches) wide, matching a Jeep Compass across the hips.

Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress

The cabin, offered in four- and two-seat layouts, is largely open to the elements thanks to the absence of doors and windows. Inside, premium leather meets marine-grade fabrics and titanium accents. There are no screens or modern tech distractions, just a handful of physical controls and a single dial mounted on the custom center console.

More: This New Sports Car Weighs Half A Miata And Runs On A Tiny BMW Straight-Six

Beneath the bodywork sits a carbon fiber monocoque chassis with an exposed roll-over structure. Power comes from a rear-mounted air-cooled boxer engine sourced from VW, fed by twin carburetors and paired exclusively with a traditional manual gearbox driving the rear wheels. The base 1.8-liter unit makes 85 hp (63 kW / 86 PS), while the 2.0-liter variant climbs to 110 hp (82 kW / 112 PS).

The buggy rides on adjustable oil/gas shock absorbers and features disc brakes on all four wheels. Depending on how the owner plans to use the vehicle, Brado offers an Off-Road configuration with BF Goodrich tires or a Hybrid Street setup riding on Cooper Cobra rubber.

Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress

Brado treats the Carbon Buggy as a limited-series product aimed at the luxury leisure crowd. Each build gets the bespoke treatment, with buyers stepping in as co-designers and signing off on details right down to the tint of the carbon weave.

More: A Buggy That Screams Past 11,000 RPM Should Probably Come With A Surgeon General’s Warning

The Brado is hardly alone in mining the old VW dune buggy template. American outfit Meyers Manx already offers the fully electric 2.0 and the more unhinged limited-production LFG, the latter wrapped in carbon and powered by a flat-six developed by Porsche specialists at Tuthill. The Callum Skye takes the buggy idea in another direction, marketed as a high-performance multi-terrain EV.

Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress
Brado’s Carbon Buggy Skips Fuel Injection, Screens, And Half A Century Of Progress

Brado