The lifespan of Hans Glas’s manufacturing empire was quite long at almost a century, but it made cars for little more than a decade of this, so it’s perhaps no wonder that this is a marque which is now forgotten by all but the most ardent motoring anoraks.
Based in Dingolfing, Bavaria, Hans Glas GmbH was founded in 1883 to make agricultural machinery. By 1951 the company had moved into motor scooter production, but just five years later this was wound up, to focus on building small cars instead. Riding the microcar wave that was sweeping across Europe, Glas introduced the Goggomobil in 1955, and this awkwardly styled tiddler would go on to sire a range of small cars.
The original plan had been to produce a tiny car with a single door on the front, much like an Isetta or Heinkel, but motorcycle racer and Glas dealer Schorsch Meier persuaded Glas to take a more conventional route in the hope of improving sales. Although a single-door prototype was built, what Glas unveiled in 1955 was a two-door saloon, with a choice of 242cc or 296cc two-stroke air-cooled two-cylinder engines, with 13bhp and 17bhp respectively.
With its monocoque construction, rack-and-pinion steering, plus independent suspension all round, the ‘Goggo’ made some of its more expensive and more mainstream rivals look decidedly dated. However, the swing-axle suspension front and rear, with coil spring and damper units at each corner, was hardly the last word in sophistication, while the fitment of 10-inch wheels really rammed home the car’s diminutive proportions.
When The Autocar got its hands on an early Goggomobil T300, the review was very favourable: “The little Glas engine delights in high revs, and the effect inside the car is almost that of a grand prix racer when a vigorous driver is losing no opportunities. Cheap economy machines can afford neither the weight nor the expense of thorough sound damping, and the sporting fraternity will be thrilled to bits.”
With fuel in short supply when it was launched in March 1955, the Goggomobil was the ideal economy car for lots of families, and it was in with a shout of doing really well thanks to favourable reviews in the motoring press. But a £336 basic price was inflated to a much more hefty £505 by the time import and purchase taxes were applied. That was a massive 50% increase on the basic cost, which put the Goggomobil at a major disadvantage compared to home-produced small cars. For £541 you could have a Ford Anglia 100E or an Austin A35, while the Morris Minor started at £602.
As a result of its relatively high price, UK sales were relatively limited, but across Europe the Goggomobil sold really well. In the first 15 months alone more than 30,000 of them found buyers, and that put enough money in the coffers for the Goggomobil range to expand; at the 1956 Frankfurt motor show a coupé was unveiled. While the saloon looked a little awkward from some angles thanks to its rear-mounted engine, the coupé was a pretty little thing.
The coupé brought with it some trick new technology that really marked it out from the crowd: a Getrag-built electric pre-selector four-speed gearbox. The driver could pick the next gear they required and cogs would be shifted simply by kicking the clutch pedal, which made urban driving that much easier.
Once again The Autocar tested an early Goggomobil TS300 coupé and came away impressed: “On the road the coupé exhibits the same fascinating manners as the saloon, giving an unexpectedly comfortable ride with almost complete freedom from roll. It can be drifted round corners on a wet and bumpy surface with extraordinary abandon. The steering is lighter and less sensitive than the higher-geared mechanism of the saloon, and the deep, curved windscreen and slender pillars allow a first-class view over the short, sloping bonnet.
“This little vehicle will certainly attract many buyers for its looks alone, but beneath the stylish exterior is a mechanical specification of great interest and worth, coupled with handling characteristics which have already earned for the Goggomobil the sobriquet, in its native country, of the Arbeiter Porsche – the Poor Man’s Porsche.”
To differentiate between the saloon and the coupé, the former was sold as the Regent T250 and T300, while the latter was the Mayfair, in TS250 and TS300 forms. To create the coupé, the saloon’s platform and all of the running gear were carried over, and while the new arrival cost just £50 more than the saloon in its home market, in the UK it carried a stiff £125 premium thanks to import and purchase taxes. Offered in right-hand drive form (as was the saloon), the coupé was a rare sight in the UK, and survivors are now seriously scarce.
If the coupé was unusual in period, the convertible 1958 was even more so, much like the van and pick-up which were all launched in 1957. That was also the year that Glas introduced a 392cc engine option in the saloon and coupé, and with such a complete range, the Goggomobil ticked over right through to the end of the sixties.
But by this point Glas was no longer independently owned because it had overstretched itself trying to move upmarket with more luxurious cars in the first half of the sixties. By 1966 Glas had been swallowed up by BMW, which for a while continued to sell the V8-powered 2600 and 3000 luxury saloons which had been developed by Glas in the early sixties. Just 71 of the latter were made compared to around 285,000 Goggomobils in their various forms. Maybe a Glas 3000 V8 article should be on the cards, although it’s not so much a car that time forgot, as one that very few people knew existed in the first place.
