eBay Find: 1966 Glas Goggomobil TS 250 – Cute As A Button

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Ever heard of Glas? No not fiberglass, I’m talking about Hans GLAS GmbH, the West German concern based in Dingolfing that made scooters, microcars and, later on, a handsome line of more conventional automobiles. But the little Goggomobil TS 250 Coupé of 1957-1969 was a real gem, if you could fit in one.

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When I saw this one online, I actually knew what it was, thanks to my recent purchase of My Cool Classic Car: An Inspirational Guide to Classic Cars by Chris Haddon (which I strongly recommend for your CC library; there is also a Citroën DS Pallas and a Panhard 24ct featured).

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The sporty Goggomobil TS 250 debuted in 1957, based off of the T 250/300/400 two-door sedan that first appeared in 1954. Competing with other European microcars such as the Lloyd Alexander, the tiny Goggo was very stylish in its TS Coupé iteration, as seen here. Home market Coupés were available in TS 250, TS 300 and TS 400 models, with 245, 293 and 392cc two-cycle twin cylinder engines, respectively. The 250cc cars were popular in Germany because one only needed a Klasse IV driver’s license—also used for motorcycles—which was much cheaper and easier to obtain than a full driver’s license.

All US-bound models got the 400 engine and larger 7″ sealed beam headlamps, so this 250 must have been originally sold in Europe. GVWR was a mere 650kg (1433 lb), while overall length was 3035mm (119.4 inches–very nearly the same as my Town Car’s 117.7″ wheelbase).

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It almost has a shrunken Studebaker Starliner look to it. For everything you ever want to know about these neat little cars, a visit to the Glas Automobilclub International website is highly recommended. Forget Wikipedia!

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This lovingly restored 1966 TS 250 is a beauty in dove gray with a cheerful red interior, chrome wheel trims and wide whitewalls–though the latter probably aren’t correct for a 1966 model.

5.0.3image: www.glasclub.org

As alluded to earlier, Glas also made a lineup of larger-sized cars, starting with the Glas Isar, which appeared in 1958. The Isar was still quite small compared to American cars, but Glas continued to make ever-larger cars (by European standards) including the lovely fastback 1300 GT and even a handsome V8 coupé–at least before the concern was swallowed up by a much more prominent auto company based in Munich in November 1966. BMW desperately needed more production capacity at the time for its hot-selling Neue Klasse cars, so buying Glas was the expedient solution.

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Our featured car apparently has a lot of its original paperwork too, and even the factory tool kit. What a neat little car! If you really want to stand out at the local car show, this is your ticket. Interested? The auction ends on Friday; more details and pics can be found here.

It even comes with its own picnic basket. Sadly, the car is so small that there is only room for one sandwich. But who cares; it’s so cute.

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1966 Goggomobil photos are from the eBay auction; photo of the Glas lineup courtesy of www.glasclub.org.