Paul Bussey bought his dream microcar at the second time of asking
MAN & MACHINE
I’D ALWAYS BEEN a huge fan of ‘bubblecars’ and had owned a Messerschmitt KR200 and a BMW Isetta, so next on my wish list was a Glas Goggomobil Coupé. Not many to choose from over here in the UK, so I bided my time until one came up for sale in Hemel Hempstead. Its German owner, Dirk Wurm, was heading home after a three-year secondment in the UK and had decided not to take the car with him.
This was in the 1990s and the £1200 asking price seemed high in view of the work that was needed, including a full repaint and some mechanicals. I had taken along microcar expert Lawrence House and he reckoned I should wait for a better example. I heeded his advice, but that better car didn’t materialise so while I waited I distracted myself with a series of other classics: Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria, Corvettes, Range Rover EFi Vogue, another Messerschmitt KR200, Sidewinder Beach Buggy, Volkswagen Type 2 Pick-up and a Bentley Turbo R LWB.
Then in 2006 the very car that I had viewed in Hemel Hempstead was offered for sale again. Much work had been done so it seemed like a good buy, and I have now owned it for 17 years. In that time improvements have included a full brake rebuild, fitting a new crankshaft oil seal, a new steering damper and front trackrod ends, coil-overs all-round, plus a myriad of other, smaller jobs. The car came complete with an original stainless steel boot-rack and sun-visor, and I’ve since bought a repro period roofrack.
I knew little of the Goggo’s past, but met up with Dirk Wurm in 2007 and he shared a great deal of the car’s history. Most enlightening was that he had the Goggo flown over to Gatwick from Frankfurt courtesy of Lufthansa Air Cargo in the early ’90s. And I have the bill to prove it. The car weighed 460kg and the cost was £1833 plus DM500 freight forwarding – more than the car’s value at the time. Prior to Dirk acquiring the Coupé, its first owner was Patrick Sukrow of Neu-Isenburg, Germany.
Even more interesting was that, while the Goggo had left the Glas factory in Dingolfing, Bavaria, fitted with a 250cc engine, as recorded on the engine data plate,
