1960 Glas Isard 400 Coupe

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Plymouth, Michigan | July 30, 2016

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Does this look like another famous microcar to you? Specifically, the Goggomobil? Well, essentially, it is. Hans Glas (whose company ultimately became part of BMW) would start selling cars in 1955. They were originally branded as “Goggomobil” – a marque that existed between 1955 and 1969.

The Glas brand first appeared on a car in 1958. Here’s where it gets really interesting: between 1958 and 1965, Glas produced a car, larger than what you see here, called the Isar. Then there is this, the Isard, with a “d.” The story is that “goggo” was negative French slang, so Glas had to sell the Goggomobil TS in France as the Glas Isard.

So this is technically the same car as a Goggomobil TS400 but with a much more interesting backstory. It’s powered by a rear-engined 20 horsepower, 395cc straight-twin. For comparison, the car we featured yesterday had 800 more horsepower. Fun comes in all shapes and sizes – and in this case, it’s pint sized. Click here for more info and here for more from RM Sotheby’s.

Update: Sold $24,200.