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"Let's Join 'Em." With financial backing from Kaiser and technical guidance from onetime Utah Cowpuncher Pearce, the Brazil nuts went ahead anyway. U.S. engineers converted an old foundry to make Willys' castings, began building the sprawling, efficient plant at Sao Bernardo. The Brazilians set about lining up parts suppliers. A manufacturer of hypodermic needles converted his production to gas and oil lines, and a blacksmith bid to supply wheels. Recalls Willys Treasurer Paulo Quartim Barbosa: "We gave him an order for 500 wheels. They weren't quite square—but almost. Our technicians found they had eight protruding points. But we gave him another chance, and when he sent them back to us again two months later, they were as good as the wheels we had been importing." Two years ago, when Willys decided to 'produce the all-Brazilian 2600, it still had no designers. To do the job, the company tapped a 28-year-old architect, Roberto Araujo. Says Pearce: "This is his first major effort. I think it's good."
Now, with an assembly line turning out 6,000 cars a month, Pearce bustles with plans to step up his sales. Willys' present 285 dealerships in Brazil will be doubled within two years; remote agencies will receive new cars by air. Willys also plans to establish 500 emergency repair shops around the country, train mechanics to man them, and-provide spare parts. Eventually Pearce hopes to export from Brazil to other Latin American nations. In time, Willys do Brasil and its American cousin may even meet head on in a battle for export markets. Edgar Kaiser already foresees the possibility. Says he: "When that comes up, we'll just have to be competitive. We face competition when these countries industrialize, no matter whether we help them or not. So I say, 'Let's join 'em.' "