From The Classifieds: 1959 Goggomobil Dart

ever wanting for vision, ingenuity or enthusiasm, the Australian car industry has produced an eclectic range of vehicles during its history. But the number of start-up operations that quickly ran out of charge in the industry’s 110 years far exceeds the remaining true locals building for the Australian market today.

But some will never be forgotten. Particularly when the product remains in the mind to the extent that it featured in national TV commercials in the 1990s, 30 years after it was on the market. In fact the ads themselves are better remembered than the vehicle.

The commercial in question was made for a telco and was actually an award-winner that stood out from the regular parade of inanities featured on Australian television. Most viewers today will remember it. As a frustrated seeker of spare parts for his special car spelled out “G – O – G – G - O  . . .” It stuck in the mind as few ad breaks do.

The featured car was a Goggomobil Dart, a car in which nostalgia is tempered by a certain sense of amusement.

The tiny, doorless, roofless Dart was built between 1959 and 1961 by Sydney company Buckle Motors, already known for its fibreglass six-cylinder sports cars that campaigned with some success on racetracks around the country in the 1960s.

The Dart was clad in fibreglass too, although the overall size was somewhat less and the powerplant more akin to that of a model aeroplane than a sportscar. Displacing 0.3 of a litre, the two-cylinder, two-stroke engine makes the smallest of today’s eco-friendly powerplants seem like a big-block Chevy.

But it didn’t have a lot of weight to carry. At around 380kg, the Dart undercut many a motorcycle and even though it had minimal kilowatts to play with (specs are hard to come by but 11kW seems about right) it was quick enough at 1960s traffic speeds. If the driver was game, it could reputedly reach as much as 100km/h.

The jellybean body was cute then, and remains so today, although driver and passenger feel pretty vulnerable in the tight-fitting cockpit. The car has what looks like a rear seat but it’s more suitable to a Barbie doll than even the tiniest human. The voluptuously curved windscreen is said to have come from the French Renault Dauphine also sold in Australia at the time.

Basically, there were two Goggomobil two-seaters – our locally built fibreglass model and the German original with a steel body and the choice of coupe or convertible configurations. The Australian car was based on German mechanicals and offered a larger, 0.4-litre engine later in its brief career.

About 700 Goggomobil Darts were built in Australia before the end of production in 1961.

The 1959 version featured here is one of very few Darts to have survived the 50 or so intervening years since it was first registered, but with a “professional” registration three years ago it’s unlikely a neater, cleaner version exists.

The owner has had it in his Kangaroo Point garage in Queensland for about eight years and, though clearly a fan, he describes it as “bizarre, cramped, smoky and tiny.”

The driver’s seat is essentially fixed, with only a minimal degree of travel. For a two-seater that is hardly bigger than a pedal car, it is an intriguing insight into the way car designers sometimes think.

With club registration, the Goggo is priced at $32,000, although the owner says he is prepared to negotiate.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…