Agog At Goggomobil Parade
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday August 13, 2008
THERE are a lot of big name car makers claiming major anniversaries this year but this month Australia will mark the anniversary of a very minor car maker. A car maker, which as it happens, no longer exists.
Confused? On Sunday, August 24, a parade of cars at Eastern Creek's Shannon's Classic historic race meeting celebrates the 50th anniversary of Goggomobil production in Australia.At this stage the plan is to have as many as 25 of the microcars and commercials covering the five different models sold here with enthusiasts coming from as far afield as Germany and the US.Goggo manufacture started here in 1958 after Sydney entrepreneur Bill Buckle sealed a deal with the German company Glas to build the cars under licence. As well as taking the company's established designs Buckle, a car maker in his own right with his Buckle family of sports cars, designed the iconic Dart (featured in Shannon's Insurance television ads) and the distinctly lesser-known Carry All van.Buckle will have two of his own Darts in the parade.The first Goggomobil to go on sale here was a sedan powered by a small 392cc two-stroke, twin-cylinder engine. With a #652 ($1304) asking price the car was then the cheapest in the country and could seat two adults and two children just not in a great deal of comfort.The pretty little Dart sports car appeared in 1959. Just 700 were made by Buckle and examples are highly prized. A coupe was added to the range then a cabriolet and, finally, the Carry All. Back then it was an interesting market with Goggomobil getting strong competition from the likes of Lawrence Hartnett's Lloyd-Hartnett and the German-made Messerschmitt and Goliath micros but with the arrival of the Morris Mini in the early 1960s the game was over. Goggomobil production stopped in 1962 with 5000 cars built in Buckle's Punchbowl factory.NO STOPPING GARY'S BMW PAGE 62 Fiat is turning up the vroom with its new Ritmo diesel, see Saturday Drive
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
Share This