Glas Meet Page 1

HMN SHOW COVERAGE

The Glas ‘Isar” 50th Birthday A big party for tiny cars

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY AXEL COELLN

T

he Glas Club International meets every year, but this year was special; the club celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Glas Isar. The Glas Club International was founded in 1975 as an automobile club with its membership devoted to the

vehicles manufactured by the Bavarian Hans Glas GmbH in Dingolfing. Even though this small German car manufacturer closed his doors at the end of 1966 when the firm was taken over by BMW, this club has nearly 800 members worldwide in pursuit of maintaining or restoring their cars and scooters. Most of its members are from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Holland and Scandinavia; however, there are also members in other countries,

Microcars aren’t immune from the racing bug, as this soupedup Goggomobil coupe demonstrates. 82

including Australia and the USA. There are many regional meets throughout the year, but once a year, always on the Whitsun weekend, which is a long weekend in most of Europe with the Monday being a holiday as well, the club meets for its general meeting. The city where the meet will take place is selected two years in advance to give the organizers time to make all the necessary arrangements to accommodate about 250 people with well over 100 Glas cars. This year the city was Bad Windsheim, a small historic city in the Franconia region of Bavaria. It’s just like a big family get-together, the common factor being their Glas automobile. Every year you’ll find a large contingent of Goggomobils, Glas -04, Glas 1300 and 1700 GTs, 1700 Limousines and V-8 Coupes, but maybe only one or two Isars. This year, however, was different. There was even an Isar from England with right-hand steering. The car, called

HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • SEPTEMBER 2008

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