British automotive historian and author Mike Lawrence, in his encylopedic A to Z of Sports Cars, 1945-1990, refers to the Lafer as “the first, and most successful, of a genre of cars which have mated a fibreglass body in the style of the MG TD to a VW Beetle floorpan.” He dates production from 1972 to 1989.
There’s also a Brazilian website that says Percival Lafer didn’t start turning out his MP model until 1974, with the TI coming along three years later, but I’m depending on Google to translate from the Portuguese; it may be that 1974 was the first year of export.
http://www.mplafer.net/2007/06/liberdade-em-verso-brasileira .html
1981 Lafer TI
1600 cc Type 1 engine