Glas

For other uses, see Glas (disambiguation).
Glas Goggomobil 250

Hans Glas GmbH is a former German automotive company, which was based in Dingolfing. Originally a maker of farm machinery, Glas evolved first into a producer of motor scooters, then automobiles. It was purchased by BMW in 1966, mainly to gain access to Glas's patents, they were the first to use a timing belt with an overhead camshaft in an automotive application, with its limited model range shortly phased out by its new parent.

History

Glas 1700 GT Cabriolet, 1965

Mechanic Andreas Glas founded a repair company for agricultural machines at 1895 in Pilsting. He named the company Andreas Glas, Reparaturwerkstätte für landwirtschaftliche Maschinen mit Dampfbetrieb (in English: Andreas Glas, repair-shop for steam-powered agricultural machines). During the summer periods about 16 people worked for him. In 1905 Andreas Glas' company built their first sewing machines. He then had sufficient work to employ all his employees during the winters. The production of sewing machines rose from year to year:

Winter period 1905/06 - 10 sewing machines
Autumn 1906 - 20 pieces
Winter period 1906/07 - 40 machines
1907 - 60 pieces
Winter period 1907/08 - 254 sewing machines.

Since 1905 Glas had a branch office in Dingolfing. He started to produce in Dingolfing in 1908 with 150 sewing machines per year. The production count rose each year.

After World War II, the market for sewing machines was declining, and the company began building little carrows and later working machines for bakers along with sewing machines.

Products

Goggomobil TS 250 Coupe.

Glas were known for small cars like the Goggomobil. However, in 1964 the company introduced the Glas 1300GT coupe and later the 1700GT. The body was designed by Pietro Frua. However competition, mostly from British cars, was tough and in 1966 they released the 2600GT powered by a SOHC V8 engine, with a volume just under 2.6 litres. However this didn't help and later the same year the company was sold to BMW. The Glas models were kept in production by BMW, but fitted with BMW engines. The Glas 1300 GT coupe was fitted with a 1.6 litre BMW engine and renamed BMW 1600 GT. BMW also fitted a 3-litre engine and named it 3000 GT. This model kept the Glas name, but had a BMW logo in the front and rear. In 1968 BMW created their own large coupe, the BMW 2500 CS, and this meant the end for Glas. 277 copies of 2600 GT was made and 389 of the 3000 GT.

Scooters

Glas Goggo scooter with sidecar

In 1951 Andreas Glas saw the Vespa scooter from Piaggio in Verona, Italy. He was so enthused that he began production of motorscooters that July.

The scooter debuted with a 125 cc motor, increased over time to 150 cc and 200 cc. Until 1956 46,181 motor scooters were built. Production of scooters stopped because of the Goggomobil cars. From 1953 on, load-carrying scooters were built as well.[1] With the 200 cc engine and 9.5 bhp, they had a load capacity of 200 kg.[1]

Cars

A 1966 Glas 2600 with Glas logo, nicknamed Glaserati
A 1968 BMW Glas 3000GT. Notice the BMW logo in the front but that it otherwise doesn't look like a BMW.

Absorption by BMW

In 1962 BMW released the BMW 1500. The popular four-door compact's success exhausted the production capacity of the Munich plant. In 1966 management decided to buy Glas and absorb the Glas model line.[2] Most of Glas' existing lineup was retired, while some models ended up being badged as BMWs until the company was fully absorbed. It was reputed that the acquisition was mainly to gain access to Glas' development of the timing belt with an overhead camshaft in automotive applications,[3] although some saw Glas' Dingolfing plant as another incentive. However, this factory was outmoded and BMW's biggest immediate gain was, according to themselves, a stock of highly qualified engineers and other personnel.[4] The Glas factory began the manufacture of BMW front and rear axles until they could be modernized and fully incorporated into BMW.[5]

BMW immediately retired most of the Glas range, including all of the outdated microcars.

Changes under BMW

Closure

In the late 60s BMW shut down Glas and built entirely new production facilities which would eventually become an important production site. As of 2008, BMW's Dingolfing branch is BMW's largest factory, with 22,000 workers producing both thirteen hundred 5-, 6- and 7-series cars and bodies for Rolls-Royce.

References

  1. 1 2 Torrey, Volta, ed. (April 1953). "Scooter to Tote Farm Loads". Popular Science. Vol. 162 no. 4 (New York, NY USA). p. 100. ISSN 0161-7370. Retrieved 2012-05-19. This three-wheel cargo scooter, powered by a two-cycle engine, can chug along hauling as much as 440 pounds of goods in the little van at the rear.
  2. ↑ "BMW take over Glas". Autocar. Vol. 125 nbr 3689. 28 October 1966. p. 955.
  3. ↑ Toronto Star 3 July 2004
  4. ↑ Becker, Clauspeter (1971), Logoz, Arthur, ed., "BMW 2500/2800", Auto-Universum 1971 (in German) (Zürich, Switzerland: Verlag Internationale Automobil-Parade AG) XIV: 73
  5. ↑ Becker, p. 74
  6. ↑ www.auto-historia.com.ar Isard Argentina S.A. (Spanish) - accessed 4 December 2008

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glas vehicles.
Glas car timeline 1955 to 1969
Typ Independent (Hans Glas GmbH) BMW
1950s 1960s 1970s
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
City car Goggomobil T
Supermini Isar
Compact car 1004, 1204, 1304
Family car 1700 1800 SA, 2000 SA / 1804, 2004[1]
Coupé Goggomobil TS
1300 GT, 1700 GT 1600 GT[2]
2600 V8, 3000 V8 3000 V8[3]
Van Goggomobil TL
*BMW-era [1]: the "BMW" (only for South Africa by Praetor Monteerders) until mid-1974, [2] as "BMW", [3] as a "BMW-glass"
« previous — BMW road car timeline, 1950s–1980s — next »
Type Series 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 0123456789
Microcar Isetta 250/300
Small family car 600 LS/700
Compact exec 3 Series "New Class" 2-door sedans E21 E30
Executive 5 Series 340/340-2* "New class" 4-door sedans E12 E28 E34
Luxury 7 Series 501/502 E3 E23 E32
Coupé 1600GT
6 Series 327* 503 3200 CS 2000C, 2000CS E9 E24
Roadster Z Series 507 Z1
Sports car/GT M1, 8 Series E26 E31
*made in East Germany as EMW
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