And don’t get me wrong: I think Goggomobils are goggomogreat, but I love that this same company also made some striking four-door large sedans and even GT cars. They’re kind of like Iso that way, making the Isetta and the Rivolta and Grifo, or even BMW, licensing the Isetta and making the 507 at the same time. Oh and hey, since you brought up BMW, now’s as good a time as any to remind you that BMW ended up buying Glas, which led to strange BMW-badged Glas cars like the BMW 1600 GT, which was basically a re-badged (and slightly engine-embiggened) Glas 1300 GT, complete with little mouse kidney-sized kidney grilles:
At some point I should cover Glas in more detail, because I think they’re cool. Until then, just enjoy this appetizer. That family had strange taste in cars. The father also bought a Fiat 1100TV roadster, and had a Henry J chassis that he planned to put a Devin body on. The mother had an early VW Bus that she traded for a Corvair Greenbrier. Hans Glas was creative, to say the least. I dug the Glas GT, but liked the BMW version better. Also, thrilled to find out that this place exists as of a few days ago. Jalop has withered away and their lack of taillight coverage leaves me Goggo for Goggopuffs. I never heard of Glas but am now a big fan. Only BMW I would buy. Your Goggomobil is super cute, and apparently has some TARDIS-like abilities if that family of four actually fits inside. But it seems your front wheels are positive-cambering themselves to death as it’s the only way to fit under that front arch. And your GT is like a Jag E-Type without the preposterously-long nose. I really dig it. But again, I’m not even sure any of the wheels will actually turn based on that side-on view, particularly given the fronts are going to have to, you know, steer and whatnot.
- Little-known fact: In the early ’60s, Glas was the first automobile manufacturer to use a timing belt with an overhead camshaft. BMW is said to have acquired Glas for both its factory and its timing belt patents. 2) The BMW 1600 GT was based on the Glas 1700 GT (which was sold in the US in 1966-67). It would’ve been better to keep Glas as a mass-market division and/or use their 1300-series platform, which was FWD, as a launchpad for a more complete pivot to front-wheel drive. You mentioned the Goggimobil though and that bright me to this from my childhood: https://youtu.be/fk6pO7eLeiM
