Index to specific areas
in my goggo page.
Goggomobil 50 Years anniversary Sydney August 2008.
Goggomobil 50th Anniversary Dingolfing May 2005.
Goggo Carryall Restoration
Goggo's
Around Australia 2002
Goggo
Roller 50th Anniversary - Dingolfing, Germany 2001
Goggo
meeting - Lengfurt, Germany 2001
Our Goggo
Dart
The Best
Dart in Australia
Goggo
Articles
Some Old
photographs
Other
Goggos in Australia
40Th
Year Australian Celebrations
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This is our little Goggomobil Dart, which
is owned by my wife Cathy. I do all the work, and she pays the bills.
The Goggomobil originated from Germany and was designed by Hans Glas.
After the Second World War, the Glas company became the market leader in
farm machinery production. They then produced motor scooters from 1951
to 1955, the Goggo Roller. In 1955 production of the first Goggomobil began
and in 1965, over 300,000 vehicles had been produced and Goggomobils were
exported to 68 countries.
The first models were released in 1955 and were fitted with 250cc
and 300cc two cycle (2 stroke) twin cylinder engines. They seated two adults
and the advertising for the cars showed two children in the back seat.
The cars were originally sedans, a very pretty Coupe , a carry all van
and utility produced at some later stage. Later models also were fitted
with a 400cc engine. The Goggo continued production by Glas until the mid
60's when it was sold to BMW and some of the later larger Goggos were Bimmer
badged Eg the 770cc model.
Their Australian history in summary, is that they were assembled
by Buckle Motors in Sydney, but fitted with a Fibreglas body. Buckle Motors
were in the 50's producing a fibreglass sports coupe which was powered
by a Ford Zephyr 2553cc engine. These bodies were of a very high quality.
I suppose that Bill Buckle saw the market for a small car as it
seemed to be the European rage at the time, with cars such as the Fiat
500, the NSU Prinz, Meschersmidt, Lloyd Hartnet, Renault 750 (4CV), etc.
Goggo models produced here were direct copies of the German Sedan and Coupe
with variants such as soft top versions of both of these models. The more
popular model was the "Dart", a pretty little sports car version designed
along the lines of the "Lotus" sports cars of the late 50's, and a carryall
van, quite different to the German brother with more of a VW Kombi shape.
The demise of the Goggo in Australia was the English Morris Mini
850, which was released in about 1961 and was very close to the price of
the Goggo, as well as many of the other mocro's, providing four full sized seats and better performance, and
you did not have to worry about a petrol/oil mix.
There are quite a few Goggos still in Australia as the bodies did
not deteriorate because of rust. The major rust problem was the Chassis
cum floor, which was imported from Germany as was all of the running gear.
The major resurgence of the Goggo in Australia I think, has been the Telecom
add for the Yellow Pages where a Scotish Australian is looking for parts
for his Goggomobil - "Gee-Oh-Gee-Gee-Oh". He also says "No not the Dart",
so every goggo owner gets the "Gee-Oh-Gee-Gee-Oh" and "not the Dart" whenever
they have the car out.
Possibly the other reason for the resurgance is that people my age
used to own one (or two or three - -) Goggo's in their youth and now can
afford to spend time and money restoring them. My first car was a Dart
which my parents bought for me in 1964 , a second hand 1960 model. Our
Dart is restored to the same colour as my original one. Being a 1960 model
it has the 400cc engine and therefore is a bit more driveable as it has
the higher top speed. It cruises nicely at 90KMH (55 MPH) but will go up
to 110KMH (70 MPH) with a little downhill run. Cathy drives it at 100KMH
(60MPH) when on the open road - she only knows of two speeds. |