Simon Williamson - 1961 Goggomobil T700 Royal (Isard)

Simon rescued this unusual car, in its original UK spec, eight years ago from a barn in Norfolk.

“I like a challenge,” owner Simon explains. “This was just the rarest car I could find! I have restored this myself, having been chemically stripped, repaired, and epoxy coated and rebuilt, I had to fabricate many parts. And no It is not a Trabant!”

After it’s success with the Goggomobil Microcar, the Glas company, based in Dingolfing, Bavaria, launched this larger more conventional car in 1958. Initially known as the ‘Large’ Goggomobil, it then became the Glas Isar in it’s native Germany and the Isard in other markets but continued to be sold as the Goggomobil brand in most English speaking countries.

A total of 86,943 were produced, of which 14,275 were Estates (Kombi), and about 14,000 in Argentina, before production ceased in 1965. The Glas Company were then bought by BMW in 1966 and the site still produces BMW cars there today.

The Glas Club International knows of only 95 of these cars in existence worldwide, not all of them are ever likely to be on the road. This one in particular was a well lost car and there is only one other original UK car.

Powered by an air cooled twin boxer engine designed by an ex BMW engineer, it was originally designed with front wheel drive but was found to be hopeless to drive and had to be hurriedly changed to conventional rear wheel drive at the last minute.

This somehow left the gearchange backwards which makes driving it challenging! The first owners of these cars complained so much they thought they were becoming a part of the Glas research and development dept!