Vintage at Saratoga V: BMW 1600GT.... and its predecessor, the Glas 1700GT

You may have seen some pics of this car at the recent Vintage at Saratoga, NY on July 14 2012.  You can see the Saratoga Auto Museum on the background in the picture on the left, btw.  This is a BMW 1600GT owned by a gentleman named Axel.  Great name for a car guy, isn't it?

All kidding aside, this is a seriously rare car here in the US.
"Between September of 1967 and August of 1968 BMW built a total of 1,255 cars of this type including only two convertibles. The BMW 1600 GT was sold in Germany for US$3,960 but after October of 1968 the car was offered at a closeout sale price of only US$2,725. Officially BMW only exported five 1600 GTs were into the USA." *

Now check this out:

The BMW 1600GT

The Glas 1700GT

You may notice a .... similarity in the pics above. There is a reason for that.  BMW took over Glas on November 10, 1966. 

Just to confuse things a little bit... here is a pic of the rear view of the Glas (red on left) and the BMW (white on right).  Yeah.... they switched colors on the cars from the two preceding pics.

That threw me for a second also.  :)

These are very cool little cars.  Glas is the company that also gave us the ... Goggomobil!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goggomobil

Left to right:  Goggomobil TS250, BMW Isetta, Smart Car.  And you thought that the Smart car was tiny!   :)

Here is some info on the Glas and BMW models

GLAS GT

This coupe was not only elegant and relative affordable, it was also very potent and is considered the most successful design of all automobile models coming out of the GLAS stable.
The 1300 GT was introduced in September of 1963 at the Frankfurt Automobile Show. Frua in Turin, Italy, responsible for the design was also contracted to manufacture the bodies. The 1300 GT was produced between March of 1964 until September of 1967 and the 1700 GT from May 1965 until September of 1967. Altogether only 5,378 GTs were built including the 362 convertibles. Out of those two thirds were 1300 and one third 1700 GTs. In Germany the cars were priced between US$2,900 and US$3,460. The price for the convertible was about US$250 more than a coupe with the same options.
Officially nearly three hundred GT coupes were exported into the USA. It was offered in the USA for US$3,785.





GLAS 1300 GT
early 1300 GT
Coupe, 2+2 seating (also 2 door convertible), 4 cylinder, 4 cycle inline water-cooled motor, 1290 cc, 75 DIN Hp (since Sept. 1965: 85 Hp), two 35 RH side draft carburetor by Solex, 4-speed manual transmission (also available with a 5-speed manual transmission), single disk dry clutch, rear wheel drive with split drive shaft, all steel unibody construction, independent front wheel suspension and fixed rear axle with leaf springs and Panhard stabilizer link, hyd
raulic disk brakes up front and drum brakes in the rear, 6 volt electrical system, length: 4055mm, width: 1550mm, height: 1280mm (Convertible: height: 1350mm), wheelbase: 2320mm, track: 1260mm in front and 1200 at the rear, tires 6,25 S – 14 (since Sept. 1965 155 SR 14), curb weight: 900kg (Convertible: 940kg), GVWR: 1200kg, top speed: 170km/h (with the 85 Hp motor: 174km/h), fuel consumption: 10.5 Liter/100km, tank capacity: 55 liter

GLAS 1700 GT


Coupe, 2+2 seating (also 2 door convertible), 4 cylinder, 4 cycle inline water-cooled motor, 1682 cc, 100 DIN Hp, two 40 RH side draft carburetor by Solex, 4-speed manual transmission (also available with a 5-speed manual transmission), single disk dry clutch, rear wheel drive with split drive shaft, all steel unibody construction, independent front wheel suspension and fixed rear axle with leaf springs and Panhard stabilizer link, hydraulic disk brakes up front and drum brakes in the rear, 6 volt electrical system, length: 4055mm, width: 1550mm, height: 1280mm (Convertible: height: 1350mm), wheelbase: 2320mm, track: 1260mm in front and 1200 at the rear, tires 155 HR 14, curb weight: 920kg (Convertible: 960kg), GVWR: 1200kg, top speed: 183km/h, fuel consumption: 12 Liter/100km, tank capacity: 55 liter

http://www.glasclub.org/index.php/en/glas-vehicles/2011-12-06-07-04-07/description

BMW 1600 GT

"After the BMW takeover of GLAS, the coupe was continued for another year as the BMW 1600 GT. In addition to the typical BMW face treatment (kidney grill and roundel on the hood) it received the motor, gearbox and independent rear axle of the BMW 1600 TI. Kept were the body shape and front axle design. Between September of 1967 and August of 1968 BMW built a total of 1,255 cars of this type including only two convertibles. The BMW 1600 GT was sold in Germany for US$3,960 but after October of 1968 the car was offered at a closeout sale price of only US$2,725. Officially BMW only exported five 1600 GTs were into the USA.

• Coupe, 2+2 seating
• 4 cylinder, 4 cycle inline water-cooled motor, slanted to the right by 30'
• 1573 cc, 105 DIN HP
• Two double 40 RH side draft carburetor by Solex
• 4-speed manual transmission (also available with a 5-speed manual transmission)
• Single disk dry clutch
• Rear wheel drive with split drive shaft
• All steel unibody construction
• Independent front and rear wheel suspension
• Hydraulic disk brakes up front and drum brakes in the rear
• 12 volt electrical system
• Length: 4055mm
• Width: 1550mm
• Height: 1280mm
• Wheelbase: 2320mm
• Track: 1260mm
• Tires 155 HR 14
• Curb weight: 970kg (Convertible: 960kg)
• GVWR: 1330kg
• Top speed: 185km/h
• Fuel consumption: 12.5 Liter/100km
• Tank capacity: 55 liter'

By the way, you may also notice a similarity  between the gray 1600GT pictured in the website  above, and the 1600GT that was in Saratoga last week.  You guessed it.... they are the same car!

*http://www.glasclub.org/index.php/en/glas-vehicles/bmw-1600-gt/description

If you 'd like to learn more about the Glas Company, explore http://www.glasclub.org/index.php/en/

Baurspotting first discovered the Glas story through my friend, Andreas T, of Belgium, last November when we were working on the story of his restoration of E21 Baur #000001, the very first E21 Baur built.  It is a great pictorial story, in eight parts.  Here is Part VIII:
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/2011/11/first-baur-restoration-project_23.html

Andreas has also restored Baur #4595, the very LAST E21 Baur built.  He owns both of them.  He has restored many cars, and in the course of our correspondence last fall, he sent me a pic of his Glas 1300GT:

Andreas' Baur #000001 and his Glas 1300GT at Open Door Day at BMW Jorssen Aartselaar.

Another pic of Andreas' Baur #000001 and his Glas 1300GT at Open Door Day at BMW Jorssen Aartselaar


Enjoy!