Founded by Hans Glas of Dingolfing, Germany
in 1883 to produce farm machinery, it was not
until well after World War 2 that the company
would commence automobile manufacture. Following
the war cheap and cheerful cars were borne through
necessity rather than desire, and Glas turned
their hand to the manufacture of a scooter that
proved very successful. Few could afford fully
fledged automobiles, and with a burgeoning micro
car market it made sense that taking the next
step up the ladder would involve manufacturing
something that had more than 2 wheels, and less
than 4 cylinders. Sales of three-wheelers were
going through the roof, and once powerful manufacturers
such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel were busy manufacturing
their own unique iterations.
The Goggomobil’s
would hit the market in 1955, and were in many
ways vastly superior to much of the competition,
whose vehicles resembled more a covered over
scooter than an automobile. The Goggomobil would
soon be outselling practically all other micro-cars
from the era – right up until BMW took
control (their survival being in no small part
due to the 3 wheeled Iso Isetta). Sydney company
Buckle Motors would begin the import of Glas
chassis and mechanical components in 1958, fashioning
fiberglass replacements for the original steel
Goggomobil bodies – and in doing so avoiding
Australian import taxes. The All-Aussie bodies
looked the same, but were marginally disproportionate
and, more importantly, were lighter.
The weight
advantage gave the Australian iterations a performance
and handling edge over their German stable-mates,
and despite Australia not suffering the economic
hardship as was being experienced in Europe,
the little “Goggo” proved very popular,
with approximately 5,000 being assembled until
1962. |