Troller Veículos Especiais S/A (Troller) was a Brazilian

off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with de ...

manufacturer. Founded in 1995 in

Horizonte, Ceará Horizonte is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Ceará (CE), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. ...

, it became a subsidiary of

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

in 2007.

Troller T4 The Troller T4 was a four-wheel drive/rear-wheel drive vehicle made by Troller. It was only available as a two-door car with a fiberglass body and steel chassis, with a design inspired by the Jeep. It has standard 4WD, a 5-speed manual transmissi ...

was a flagship vehicle, which had featured successfully in several rally races around the world, including the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

Etymology

The name ''Troller'' is a Brazilian adaptation of the English word

Troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human ...

, which refers to a character of the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

n legends that dwells forests and caves of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. A character that protects its visitors, as well as being faithful, loyal and bring luck, but loses patience when they threaten their habitat.

History

Troller started in 1995, by Rogério Farias. In April 1996, the first prototype was built. In 1997, the company was bought by the entrepreneur Mário Araripe, who formed a partnership with Rogério Farias; the first gasoline-powered T4 was built. The

mass-production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and bat ...

of the vehicle started in 1999, when a factory was built in the municipality of Horizonte. In 2005, a manufacturing plant opened in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

to build the T4 for the African market. In January 2007, Ford do Brasil announced Troller's acquisition for . On 14 December 2009, a Troller made the news when it cleared

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

's flooded streets during a

news broadcast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...

, at the time, the company played along and tried to find the driver. The T4 received a redesign in 2014. The Troller plant in Horizonte was closed by the end of 2021, with Ford ending all its production in Brazil. The brand and the Technology was not put for sale, just the industrial complex which comprises a land of with of

floor area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...

. The special tax regime, valid until 2025, would also be linked to the factory.

Models

* Troller Pantanal (2006-2008) * Troller T4 3.2 Turbodiesel (2015–2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Troller Veiculos Especiais Brazilian companies established in 1995 Car manufacturers of Brazil Defunct companies of Brazil Defunct defence companies of Brazil Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1995 Companies based in Ceará Off-road vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Automotive industry in Brazil Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company Marques 2007 mergers and acquisitions 1995 establishments in Brazil Brazilian brands Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2021 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2021