Goggomobil was the first four-wheeled vehicle produced by Hans Glas, who went on to produced a 2.6-litre V8 and then was taken over by BMW. Released at the 1954 IFMA international bicycle and motorcycle show, the TS250 is a four-seater two-door powered by a 247cc two-cylinder two-stroke engine that delivers the motion to the road through the rear wheels. Power is said to be in the 14 horsepower region and the torque figure comes in at 19Nm at 3800rpm. With a weight of 460kg and a clever four-speed preselect gearbox, the diminutive Goggo is said to be able to reach a max speed of 85km/h.
Being well under 700cc, the Goggomobil T250 is a bona fide microcar. This genre of cars boomed in the 1950s as post-war consumerism took off with employment on a high, people had money to spend and credit was easier to come by than ever before. The result was a raft of cottage-industry car makers peppered through the UK and Europe and a drive to push the economy forward.
With the wide-open South African landscapes, long roads, relatively small population and healthy full-size vehicle manufacturing operations, the microcars trend was perhaps a bit watered down here on the tip of Africa. The result is rarity, which in the classic car game translates to desirability, and microcars are climbing the collector ranks the world-over with a new trend of simple living and downscaling.
Smaller houses, smaller cars and smaller impact is all the rage. But we're a nostalgic bunch so the first place we look is to the past, to learn from it, use it an preserve it. A second microcar boom is underway, and while many modern ones might be of a greener disposition, they doff their cap to the small cars of the 1950s, which are experiencing their second wave.