If you speak Dutch, you know that “hallo vrienden” means “hello friends” in English, and this rather rare Goggomobil is for sale here on classic-trader in Terborg, Netherlands. Read on to learn more! (thanks to reader Jeff for the tip)
Hans Glas GmbH produced three types of Goggomobil microcar between 1955 and 1969: the T sedan, the TS coupe, and the TL van / pickup. A total of about 214,000 sedans, 66,500 coupes, and 3,600 vans / pickups rolled off the line in Dingolfing, Bavaria, Germany. and started out with 250cc engines, but later had 300cc or 400cc mills, all rear-mounted and two-stroke twins. All had Getrag electric pre-selective transmissions and manual clutches, and independent suspensions with coil springs and swing axles. Some found their way to America, but with larger headlights, to meet American safety standards at the time.
We turn our attention then to the example at hand, and once you get past the website being in German, the seller does not give us much in the way of details. Therefore, we have to rely on the handful of pictures to give us an idea of general condition. We can see a vehicle that hasn’t seen the road in quite some time, but looks to be all there, at least from an exterior and interior standpoint. Lots of faded paint and surface dirt, as well as perhaps rust in some form. The seats look to be in very nice condition, the exterior bits and spartan dashboard look to be all there, and it looks like the glass and tires are present also.
I’ll be honest with you: I didn’t even know that Goggomobil existed until I did a quick search of Barn Finds, and found that we’ve featured a good number of these micro-machines over the last 9 years. Allegedly, BMW made some Goggomobils also, but I had a tough time finding confirmation of that on a tight deadline. I’m all about the limited-production and niche-market vehicles, and this is definitely one for both categories. I can dig it, but what about you? Let us know in the comments!
Goggomobil! Be honest; you’re just making up names, aren’t you? You mentioned imports to America. I wonder what it would be like to be putting along in your Goggomobil then suddenly get T-boned by a ’59 Invicta. “Martha, is that a stain on the front bumper?” Nice find, Scotty, and thanks for giving it some love here on barnfinds.com!
Here is an ad from Australia…
https://youtu.be/153hBzKPnGc
Hate to tell you this Todd but when we were in Europe in the mid ’70s these things were all over the place. Sedans, convertibles, and what we saw was mostly delivery rigs like this one and all sorts of other configurations designed to haul goods through narrow, crowded streets. My stint in Thailand exposed me to tons of stuff like this, mostly Japanese, Chinese and Russian, most of which I couldn’t even pronounce or make sense out of the names.
bobhess I’ve seen some interesting vehicles overseas as well, including the Hyundai Pony, a sedan with the back end of a pickup truck, but I never saw a Goggomobil! I guess Scotty owes you $5. lol Check out the Pony… https://rb.gy/mvpbwc
Sorry, folks. I really feel the need to chime in here for once. I don’t usually post, but my parents’ first car was a Goggomobil Isar T600 when we lived in Holland (born and raised there). Look up Isar T600 by the Hans Glas GmbH. Our Isar had a BMW 600 cc air-cooled boxer twin that came from the BMW 600, but instead of hanging out the back a la BMW 600 or 700, or VW, it was spun around to in front of the front wheels. That did cause the shift pattern to be backwards. We drove it all over Holland, Belgium and France and it got 50 mpg (20 km/L) from 600 cc and 36 HP. That is the same HP VW got out of 1200 cc. In Holland in those days (60s), the VW was notorious for being a gas-guzzler with ‘only’ 35 mpg. Even with both my parents, 3 kids, and all our camping gear, we had no trouble keeping up 100 km/h (60 mph). Wish I could find one to restore!
Glas was bought out by BMW in ’66 because they owed BMW tons of money for engines and trannies. BMW carried on the Glas 1600 and 3000 for a couple of years after the takeover.
The name? Really? Go Go Mobil? From the same country that brought you the Volks Wagon? You’re surprised?
He did name the company after himself in the 60s (Hans Glas GmbH).
Great information, thank you for sharing that!
Agree with you on getting hit with a ’59 Invicta Todd. Might as well be riding a bicycle. Good information jageater. Thanks.
Amphibious vehicle in the background ??? Rather float than gogo.
People do not realize those foreign countries had very small cars . In ohio one guy has a Fiegro & a S Cargo truck I believe it may be Japanese or Chinese
In 1993 I was part of a large group of people who brought their antique cars [over 100 vehicles] from all over Europe, to drive the famous Route 66. One of the participating cars was a Gogomobile coupe, driven by a dedicated couple who were determined to make it all the way to Santa Monica, California.
The group camped out most nights. We found the Gogomobile leaving the campgrounds well before sunrise, and as most of the other participants passed the Gogomobile, the couple always waved back as the cars passed them. And typically the Gogomobile was one of the last [if not the last] car to come into the latest campground, well after sundown.
Our group started out in Washington, DC, driving to Chicago to pick up Route 66. That little car DID make it all the way to the end of Route 66 in Santa Monica, without any breakdowns! That adventure took almost a month, and they traveled almost 4,000 miles.
The Goggomobil was tremendously successful. One saw especially the 400TS Sports Coup, which was a truly handsome micro car. It´s most famous owner was Princess Margaret´s husband Lord Snowden who allegedly showed up at royal functions driving it, rather then being chauffeured in a Bentley or some such. This guy really was an iconoclast with balls. Incidentally the engine, ALL versions, was designed by the same man who penned the Adler SB 250 motorcycle twin, later to be copied by the Japanese and by Ariel, which marketed it is an Ariel Leader. The Hans Glas Co. also built a very succefull motorscooter and the gorgeous pocket rocket, the 1600GT, which later became the BMW1600GT. I owned one of both – they were a gas, putting the Alfa Romeo Boattail Spyder (which I also owned!) to shame.
.318 Poly Swap :-)
Husky’s 2020 presidential run slogan
In the rear view of the gogo, what’s the cabriolet to the right? I thought it was an Adler, but a little research says it’s not.
Cool…..
Suicide doors!
A Goggomobil Dart Sports was sold in Australia. It had a fibreglass body and was the brainchild of Bill Buckle, who also sold Other Goggomobil vehicles.
His masterpiece was his Buckle Coupe, a fibreglass two door hardtop powered by a late fifties Mark 2 Ford Zephyr motor (6 cylinder, in line, 2.6 litres). Looked and performed well, a few were raced in sports car events.
Great info, guys! Thanks
Having grown up in Germany and also traveled in those European countries I can appreciate these cars and others of there kind. If you have ever been to these countries you know lots of those towns the roads are barely wide enough for a VW bug, and lots of folks just coming off of a terrible war didn’t have any $$ so they had to Do with what small and cheap cars were made at the time. Rode in a few odd ball cars in my time overseas but on today’s Autobahn no way
Goggomobil was bild by the German Hans Glas, and he gave the tiny car the name of his grandson Goggo.
Later he made bigger cars, first named Isar and then Glas.
BMW took over in 1966 and bild the Glas for another 2 years.
They used the avanced technic to bild their first real cars!