If you’ve followed Barn Finds since we first created it back in 2011, you might remember one of the first cars we ever featured was a rather odd little micro car. I still remember when I first spotted that Goggomobil TS400 and how intrigued I was by it. Ever since I have kept an eye out for these strange cars, but you just don’t see them in this part of the world very often. The few I have come across seem to always be in Florida, perhaps the warm weather made it the perfect place to actually use a Goggomobil? Another one has just surfaced here on eBay with a BIN of $6,500 and like usual it’s in Florida. The seller has a warehouse full of cars and this 1965 Goggomobil 250 is the first car to go. It’s currently stored in the rafters, so they will need some time to get a forklift to come pulled down though! They also plan on selling the rest of their cars in the near future, so be sure to keep an eye on this seller!
Just wondering, can you hook up a lawn mower to it?
The Goggomobils manufactured in Dingolfing, Germany by Hans Glas GmbH (yes, that Glas, which was later acquired by BMW), were exceptional microcars with a very high build quality. They were strong, durable, and reliable, and racked up plenty of miles climbing up and down the Alps and other mountains of Germany.
Stone cold simple two stroke, two cylinder, engines of 250, 300 or 400CC displacement. The “Big Block” 400CC engine which was only available in the cars exported to the states. These US export cars also had the larger 8 inch headlights required by DOT (as opposed to the 5 inch German market cars), which gave the US cars a more “bug eye” appearance that looked like a caricature of a real car.
The US cars also had the complex electric pre-select shifter mechanism and an elaborate oil injection system which was not available in the home market. This was necessitated by frequent early engine seizures caused by American dealers and owners who, unfamiliar with two stroke engine designs, neglected to mix oil into the fuel to properly lubricate the two stroke engines.
We have a number of Goggomobils in the collection, including several of the TS250/300/400 Sport models, as well as several of these conventional T250/300/400 “Limousine” (German word for “sedan”) models, and even two of the TL300 Transporter vans that were used by the German Poste for mail delivery. We also have a few of the Goggomobil Buckle Darts made in Australia by Bill Buckle using the Goggomobil platform with a “Barbie Corvette” style glasfibre roadster body.
These are extremely well built and reliable microcars which are an absolute blast to drive.
Chas
Chas,
Great collection of Goggomobils you got there.
I am looking for a 1957 to 64 TS Coupe body or complete car.
Would prefer to find one with very bad floors and don’t really need any of the front sheet metal, since I am intending on building a race car out of it.
Would be a shame to start with something nice, which can be saved for a nice driver.
Do you or anybody you know have anything like that, that would be available.
I am in California, but have several friends in Florida and around the country.
Really appreciate your help.
Mike
Hi Mike.. Actually, I do have one Google TS body shell available. You are welcome to contact me to discuss this as I would consider selling it.
Chasgould@mac com
or 617-721-9400.
Chas
Whoops, that should have said;
Hi Mike.
Actually, I do have one GOGGOMOBIL TS body shell available. You are welcome to contact me to discuss this as I would consider selling it.
Chasgould@mac com
or 617-721-9400.
Chas
I am very much into the later Glas GTs, not so much these.
What struck me as odd is the placement of the ID tag.
Is that where it usually is ?
Given the rather unprotected metal that just turned to swiss cheese…(see the foot well on driver’s side)
@horseradish. Yes, that is the proper location for the VIN tag. Although the floors could be rusted, the VIN plate is actually mounted on a reinforcement rib which is stronger than the adjacent floor pans. Also, the manufacturer did not anticipate that these cars would have to survive fifty years later!
Chas
That is an exceptionally good floor for an unrestored car.
Any one buying this one should be grateful for a floor like this. The gog suffers from extensive floor rot..usually there is no floor, no centre tunnel and no sills only the body holding the lot together . And worse rust 8″ up the front and rear bulkheads. And owners do rebuild floors that bad. Otherwise there would be few Darts on the road now.
How do I know I have had 15 or 16 of these [in Australia 13 in the one spot] and only 2 chassis better than this, one similar and the rest far worse. If i saw a chassis that good I would be elated. A very good starting point. Easy repair as it is or if you are fussy like most of the baby boomers now buying these you can buy replacement floor sections to replace pitted sections. Too many baby boomers with money to burn.
Want an unrestored goggo then you will find it difficult to find a better floor than that pictured. A better one may only be found in an older restoration that was “found” in the 80’s..ie you missed the boat for original cars in good condition as they were found by the eccentrics before the baby boomers discovered them.
I just let go my rare clam shell hardtop Dart on the weekend and have only one dart left in my dehoarding of life/health struggle. And I believe that one is spoken for.
@horseradish. As a comparison with Aussie gogs, If you find a Dart that ID plate [not VIN in those days] is usually under the handbrake on the centre tunnel and a chassis number is stamped into another plate that is screwed to the same cross member but on the left hand side. Another body number plate was rivetted somewhere on the body [fibreglass bodies] in different places. But Bill Buckle the Aussie builder of fibreglass gogs was likely to position things where ever he wanted. Hey it was his car building business and thats one of the things about aussie gogs..they conformed to the thought on the day they were built.
@ Rusty
I agree with your sentiments regarding the Aussie cars.
However, just for clarification, only the Aussie cars were made of glasfibre as all of the original German Goggos were steel bodied cars, which Bill Buckle learned would have a huge duty if imported into the land of Oz, whereas individual automobile parts had no duty. So, he decided to reproduce each of the body models in glasfibre to be bolted onto the original German rolling platforms with the original German running gear.
Buckle also designed his own version of the van which he called the “Carryall” which was much more attractive than the original German transporter van, and of course the adorable Buckle Dart.
I have lusted after your clamshell topped version of the Dart ever since I learned about Darts. I am sorry that I missed the chance to purchase that car from you!
While the cars in Australia were pretty well used and often rusted, it is not at all unusual to find exceptionally clean examples here in the states. This is because dealers were only required to order two or three cars to become an official Goggomobil dealer and often they were lawn mower repair shops, or motorcycle shops, or used car dealers.
When Goggo failed to support their products here in the states, many of these cars were taken off the road for simple problems because parts were not available. As a result, many cars became inoperable simply because they needed an ignition coil or a carburetor or ignition points for tuning. Because the cars were worthless as used cars, they wee not maintained or repaired, but rather just taken off the road. However, the cars were so tiny and cute, that their owners found a protected place in the barn or the cellar, instead of being left out to the elements like the old Chevrolets and Fords, which took up too much space to be left inside.
Consequently. it is not at all unusual to find Goggos here in the states with less than 5,000 original miles on them, and in remarkable original unrusted condition. I currently have fourteen Goggomobils and nine of them have less than 4,000 original miles on them!
You are correct that most of the barn finds have already been discovered, but like this example, there are still a few more out there to be discovered!
Chas
Charles, are all those yours? What a COOL collection!!!
Hi Chas lovely collection, yes I know only Aussies had fibreglas gogs. Of my collection I have owned three vans [carryalls] perhaps the rarest version of all gogs worldwide. Only 8 known surviving and I had 3 of them. But I only restored one my clamshell Dart, perhaps the rarest Dart even moreso than a number of Darts with doors which I consider the next rarest. Coincidentally at the time I found out how damaged my lungs were but managed to drive the dart for 4 or 5 years until I couldnt stop coughing from the smell of two stroke. Who would ever believe a car could affect your health. Hence it was laid up.
I love America for its amount of surviving post war cars from every country of the world who had to “export or die” [except you didnt get any cars from Australia],many like gogs just rediculously unsuited to US driving Its almost as if Emma Lazarus was talking about cars ..hee hee.
I find myself lusting for many cars we never got featured on this and other blogs. Including @Horse Radish’s Glas GTs. Man how many times have I read so many GT’s coming up for sale in US. Beautiful sportscar. I have said it many times on here and the other site I dont much visit these days that America is truley the lucky country for cars..America is classic car heaven with the most diverse car imports that make little sense but excite the senses.
Our Aussie goggo story is a bit different but ends the same. Buckle said to have made roughly 4000 gogs, no one knows numbers for sure I think but what ever its a massive task for a small manufacturer . The only successful small car manufacturer in Aussie. But in the end the cars ended up like yours too. Less people could work on them, our rough roads destroyed them quickly as Aussie did drive the gogs as everday cars. But Usually most of ours are under 20,000 miles..not as low as yours, as cars have always been expensive here so if you bought a gog you tried to get as much life out of it as possible because you couldnt afford the next step up.. My Dart I loved as it reached past 60,000 miles a feat very few gogs could hope for. And that was before i got it.
It is great that there is a high survival rate in US of good condition gogs when so few were imported and I do understand the squireling them away at early miles or not even using them from the dealers shelving them. As ours lasted 20,000 miles before squireling them away [which often meant paddock parked] they indeed had more time to rust..which is how I look at gogs as rust prone.. But I find all fiberglass cars rustprone contrary to what people think of fibreglass cars. For instance I have another Aussie sportscar [Buchanan Cobra] whose body was designed by the body designer who designed buckles Dart body. This car is one of 7 / 8 cars built. A one of 13 J&S Hunter whose chassis is rusty. Bond Equipe rusted out. Yep all fibreglass but the chassis very rusty except my Lightburn Zeta Sports which has a full fibreglass tub on a chassis but it was a well looked after car but i imagine a paddock car would still suffer.
Re the choice of choosing a gog means you can wait for a good chassis to turn up proves you dont have enough micro car people chasing these as I am sure there really isnt enough good chassis to go round if your gogs became flavour of the month like they did here. Besides Americans have too many projects of all sorts to choose from how many would choose a gog. Here because of one stupid advert gogs became sought after 20 years ago.
Infact i got my Dart registered that very month of the TV ad so driving it around I constantly heard G. O. GG. O bandied around everytime i drove it..Aussies will get that.
Chas good to hear you again I guess we will continue to talk on this fine blog. Keep the 2 stoke torch burning just dont let me smell it..hee hee
I know you have a big microcar scene