Goliath 1100

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Goliath 1100 (till 1959)
Hansa 1100 (after 1959)
Goliath GP700
Manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH
Production 1957 – 1961
Predecessor Goliath GP900
Body style(s) 2 door saloon
3 door estate
2 door coupé
Layout FF layout
Engine(s) 1094 cc 4 cylinder boxer motor
Transmission(s) 4 speed manual
all-syncromesh
Saxomat automatic clutch optional from 1959
Wheelbase 2270 mm (89.4 in)[1]
Length 4060 mm (159.8 in)
Width 1625 mm (64 in)
Height 1450 mm (57.1 in)
The first Goliath 1100 was externally similar to the Goliath GP 900 that preceded it. (After the 1959 name change the car acquired sharper tail fins.)
The first Goliath 1100 was externally similar to the Goliath GP 900 that preceded it. (After the 1959 name change the car acquired sharper tail fins.)

The Goliath 1100 is a small two door saloon that was manufactured by the Bremen based Borgward subsidiary Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co between 1957 and 1961. A three door kombi (estate) version was also available from launch and a two door coupe was offered a year later. For 1959 the Goliath name was dropped and the car was rebadged as the Hansa 1100, recalling Borgward’s prewar model of the same name.

The Goliath 1100 replaced the Goliath GP900 and apart from a completely new engine, little had changed. In place of the GP 700’s two stroke engine, the 1100 featured a water cooled boxer motor, an engine format taken up by Subaru several years after the demise of the Goliath brand.

[edit] Goliath and Borgward

The Goliath business had been established in 1928 by the entrepreneurial engineer Carl Borgward in partnership with Wilhelm Tecklenburg. The plant had been bombed to destruction during the war, but during the 1950s produced a succession of small front wheel drive passenger cars. The Goliath 1100 was the last of these.

[edit] Chronology

The Goliath 1100 appeared at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1957[1]. From the outside, it was distinguished from the GP900 by a more modern front grill.

Later in 1957 the 40 bhp (29 kW) 1100 was joined by the 1100 Luxus version. The cars shared the 1094 cc engine displacement, but the Luxus, courtesy of a second carburettor and a higher compression ratio, boasted an output of 55 bhp (40 kW). A maximum speed of 135 km/h (84 mph) compared with 125 km/h (78 mph) claimed for the less powerful car.

In October 1958 the Goliath 1100 was replaced by the Hansa 1100. Hansa had been the brand name used by the business in the 1930s and 1940s. The new Hansa 1100 used most of the same body panels, but it now featured sharper tailfins and, on the saloon version, an interestingly kinked chrome strip along the car’s flank. An optional Saxomat automatic clutch was offered.

[edit] Sources and further reading

  1. ^ a b Gloor, Roger (1. Auflage 2007). Alle Autos der 50er Jahre 1945 - 1960. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-02808-1.