Goggomobil

The Goggomobil was a microcar produced in the Bavarian town Dingolfing after World War II by Hans Glas.

There was a conventional looking four passenger two-door sedan and a very sleek sports coupé. The engine was an air cooled, two stroke, two cylinder unit originally of 250 cc and Convert|15|hp|kW|0|abbr=on but increased to 395 cc and Convert|20|hp|kW|0|abbr=on. It had an electric pre-selective transmission built by GETRAG and a manual clutch. The engine was behind the rear wheels. Suspension was independent all round using coil springs with swing axles.

219,531 sedans and 66,511 coupés were built from 1955 to 1969. Between 1957 and 1961 some 700 sports cars called Goggomobil Darts were produced by Buckle Motors Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia. [ [http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tour/goggo-dart.html A Dart in the Microcar Museum] ]

Glas also produced the highly rated Goggomobil motor scooter.

The Glas Auto works at Dingolfing were subsequently taken over by BMW.

TS300

The specifications of a 1957 Goggomobil TS-300 Coupé are:

* Configuration — Glas 2-stroke rear engine, 298 cc displacement
* Engine — 2 cylinder, 2 stroke, air-cooled, 58 x 56 mm. bore and stroke, 6.0:1 compression, 15 hp. at 5,000 rpm, auto ftlbf|17.4 torque.
* Transmission — 4 speed plus reverse (with electric pre-selector as an available option).
* Top Speed — auto km/h|85
* Tires — 4.80 x 10 inch.
* Weight — Auto kg|420|0.
* Wheelbase — convert|71|in|mm|abbr=on
* Height - convert|49|in|mm|abbr=on
* Length - convert|114.5|in|mm|abbr=on
* Width - convert|53|in|mm|abbr=on

A coupé tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1957 had a top speed of convert|59.2|mph|km/h|abbr=on and could accelerate from 0-convert|50|mph|km/h|abbr=on in 27.9 seconds. A fuel consumption of convert|50.5|mpgimp|L/100 km mpgus was recorded. The test car cost £625 including taxes of £209 on the UK market. cite journal | authorlink = Unsigned |title = The Goggomobil TS 300 Coupé| journal =The Motor| volume = | pages = | date = September 18 1957]

TS250

The specifications of a 1958 Goggomobil TS-250 Sedan are:

* Configuration — Glas 2-stroke rear engine, 247 cc displacement
* Engine — 2 cylinder, 2 stroke, air-cooled, 13.6 hp. at 5,000 rpm.
* Transmission —4 speed plus reverse.
* Top Speed — auto km/h|75
* Tires — 4.40 x 10 inch.
* Weight — Auto kg|415|0.

Australian Yellow Pages advertisement

Australian Yellow Pages ran a well-known advertising campaign which referred to a Goggomobil ("not the Dart") [ cite news
url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/drive-life/iconic-cars-golden-year/2008/08/22/1219262497841.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 | title=Iconic car's golden year | first=David |last=Berthon | publisher=Fairfax Ltd | work=Sydney Morning Herald | date=2008-08-22] . The Yellow Pages advertisement was used as a basis for an advertisement for Mobil, properly licensed from the producers of the original advertisement. Another advertisement, for Shannons Insurance and featuring an unauthorised reference to the original Yellow Pages advertisement, resulted in a Federal Court of Australia case. The case (TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED AND SENSIS PTY LTD v ROYAL AND SUN ALLIANCE INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED) was resolved in favour of the producers of the Yellow Pages, Sensis [Federal Court of Australia: Telstra Corporation Limited v Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Australia Limited [2003] FCA 786 (1 August 2003)] . Tommy Dysart featured in all of these advertisements, as did a number of different Goggomobils. The advert has been parodied a number of times in Australian TV shows, usually featuring Tommy Dysart.

External links

*http://www.goggomobil.com/ehome/ehome.html
*http://www.californiaclassix.com/archive/59_Goggo.html
*http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tour/goggo-t250sunroof.html

References

*"Kleinwagen, Small Cars, Petites Voitures", by Benedikt Taschen, 1994