ESTRELA was founded in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1937, by German immigrant Siegfried Adler. He acquired the remains of a bankrupt toy factory which produced rag dolls and wooden toys cars. This production initially was continued, but later, in the early 1950’s they started producing plastic and tinplate toys as well. A Sao Paulo based company named MIRIM, later renamed into ATMA Paulista, produced the plastic toy cars for ESTRELA.
Its logo is a four-pointed star, a sort of compass, referring to the Company name "ESTRELA" which means "star" in Portuguese. The Company still exists as producer, importer and distributor of major toy brands and is a major player in South America.
The ESTRELA VW Bus is a three piece tin construction with a roof section, lower body section and a chassis. The roof section has cut out windows and a VW emblem on the front. The lower body section has details of door seam lines, raised door handles and engine air louvers. There are metal fluted headllghts and a round dab of red paint for the taillights. There is only the front bumper with an ESTRALIA license plate that attached to the body. There is also a license plate on the engine door that reads ESTRELA 1956. The chassis has two long strength lines and a front mounted friction motor with rubber tires. The chassis secures to the body with three screws. Just to note, ESTRELA may have changed the license plate number to reflect the year the vehicle was produced. This ESTRELA VW Bus is sometimes mistaken for a DUX VW Bus because of the similarity of the two.
