Goliath

[Guest]

I have a '56 Goliath. No one seems to know much about it. Are there any clubs out there for Goliath owners??<p>[ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: Ronald McDonald ]

[Guest]

Hey, Tom Borchers. Wasn't the Goliath a German built car. If it is, can you enlighten us on it? hvs

[ThomasBorchers]

As I read „Goliath“ I thought „Does he mean the German car? No, I don’t think so” But now I think that he perhaps mean the German car since Howard asked this.<BR>Ronald, you should write what you would like to know about Goliath. Goliath built several different cars, like: Light trucks (today we would say “van” , light pick up trucks with three wheels and passenger cars. If you have a passenger car, then you may have a GP 700 (E), or a GP 900 E (V). <BR>I can give you more information about the history of the company and technical dates of these two cars if you need them.<P>Tom

[Guest]

The Goliath was a front engine water cooled 4 cylinder boxer type car built in Germany. MY dad had a 2 door convertible, red with red leather interior in the early 1960 when I was in 1st grade. The car had side rails like the early 50's Ramblers. They also made coupes and mini vans. A coupe was auctioned at the AUburn auction this year, and there is a complete coupe in North 54 junkyard in Alamagordo, NM

[ThomasBorchers]

I am sorry but these Goliath we talk about from 1956 have a 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine with the cylinder in one row. The car you mean is probably the model 1100. These cars had the boxer type engine with 4 cylinders and where built from 1957 to 1958.<P>Tom<p>[ 10-25-2001: Message edited by: ThomasBorchers ]

[Guest]

Thanks Tom. I have never seen an earlier Goliath in the flesh, only the pictures. By the way, my Dad's name is david, which made his ownership all the more interesting.

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies, My Goliath is a small wagon type body with a 4 cylinder water cooled engine. The registration says that it is a '58 but the ID tag on the firewall says that it is a '56. I have been considering selling it but I have no info or idea of its worth.

[Guest]

The one at the Kruse Auburn auction reportedly sold for $3200.

[ThomasBorchers]

Hi Ronald.<BR>Then you may have a 1956 car with the later (then wrong) engine in it because this 4 cylinder engine was first introduced in July of 1957 in a car, the Goliath 1100.<BR>It could be possible that you have a pre-series car or a test car because at the end of 1956 the new 4 cylinder engine was ready to run.<BR>These small station wagons are very rare because if you find a Goliath they are mostly sedans.<BR>By the way: Your car was bulit in Bremen/Germany which is just 28 miles away of my town where I live.<BR>As for the value: In Germany a Goliath 1100 in a #3 condition is worth around DM 9500,- ($ 4300,-).<P>Tom<p>[ 10-26-2001: Message edited by: ThomasBorchers ]

[Guest]

I would suggest joining the Microcar & Minicar club located in New Jersey. Their website is <A HREF="http://www.microcar.org" TARGET=_blank>www.microcar.org</A> <BR> In the latest club publication there is a parts supplier listed for Goliath. He is Dyck Livant, 77 New Hampshire Ave., Bay Shore, L.I., NY 11706. His phone is (631) 273-0458. Best of Luck!

[Guest 70 Electra]

This posting caught my eye, since I just saw my first Goliath ("in the flesh") at Fall Auburn. <P>Contrary to the earlier posting, it was a 2dr wagon, not a coupe. The auction description states it was a 1959 model 1100. It sold for $3200.<P>I actually looked at it and sat in it. It was probably a #4 condition car, yet was a very good solid example. It was complete and appeared to be incredibly original. Strange little thing......

[Guest]

Thanks to Paul Jacobs for the microcar and minicar club info but it does not apply to my Goliath. That club is for cars that are under 11 feet long.

[jimmy2wires]

Looking for a Goliath engine and transmission.

[Frenchbuff]

Does anyone have contacts anywhere in the world for information and or parts for a '50s Goliath?  I had one back around 8 yrs ago, a driving Tigre coupe I bought in Lansing Mich, then also a complete drivetrain out of a FWD collection in Missouri.  sold both to a fellow in PA somewhere  he restored flood damaged Mercedes.  I've come across a complete Goliath & may help the owners restore it.  Anyone have contacts in Germany?

 

Ken

248-515-9879

[Graham Man]

[8E45E]

On 1/31/2022 at 11:53 AM, Jack Bennett said:

I must admit ignorance about the Goliath. But, I will redeem myself by asking how many people today have owned a Borgward, and can remember when they bought it?

That one must be a German market car.  Seems Borg Warner complained about the Borgward name being split with 'Borg' by itself on the on side of the diamond logo, and would cause confusion.  Story has it, Borgward's own 'Hansamatic' automatic transmission was having all kinds of problems at the time, and Borg Warner didn't want their reputation being ruined.  Therefore, North American market Borgwards had a smaller diamond on the grille where the Borgward name didn't have to be split in half.  

 

Craig

[8E45E]

Two acquaintances of mine owned Borgwards, both Isabella two door sedans.    The first was while in high school, a fellow student who was a grade older owned a black 1956, and the other was a customer of mine a few years later who drove a red 1960 model.  What impressed me with both of them, was that everything still worked in what was then a twenty year old car, even the clock and the old tube-type Blaupunkt radios.  Back then, most car clocks stopped working after 3-4 years.  Although the two that I was familiar with weren't bad for rust, Borgwards were serious rustbuckets, especially in the sill & rocker panel area.

 

Craig

[Frenchbuff]

Well Craig and Jack, my first car was a '59 BW Isabella TS coupe - and my sister had one also, when we were kids just starting driving in Salt Lake City Utah - middle of nowhere back then.  And after both of us had to let them go due to being hit by others,  my father started my and his lifetime fascination with the Citroen DS - in 1962 when he bought a '58 as a trade-in on a Studebaker at a Studie dealer in SL - for $260, with 22K miles on it and still had clear vinyl seatcovers on orig. seats.  Many yrs later I think I figured out why SL had all sorts of Euro cars, including a Messerschmidt 3 wheeler I saw as my first Euro car - 

There was an USAF base outside SL, and the AF guys had free airshippiing of their cars back from overseas assignments, so that has to be the connection, as SL is the ONLY place on the whole N American continent that had a Citroen TAXI co.!! Go figure.  Some GI must've loved the comfort of their fantastic seats and superb hydropneumatic variable ht suspension with auto-load bearing and automatic height adjustment for load, and decided they made the ultimate Taxi.  That's what got me started on a lifetime of messing with oddball cars.  Interesting inifo and thanks for that!

 

Ken Nelson

[8E45E]

4 minutes ago, Frenchbuff said:

as SL is the ONLY place on the whole N American continent that had a Citroen TAXI co.!! Go figure.  Some GI must've loved the comfort of their fantastic seats and superb hydropneumatic variable ht suspension with auto-load bearing and automatic height adjustment for load, and decided they made the ultimate Taxi. 

In the 1980's, there was at least one Peugoet 505 taxi here.  At the time, Peugeots as taxicabs had a solid reputation in the Middle East, and someone figured they would here, too.  I don't believe it was anymore reliable than a typical full-size Chevrolet or Crown Victoria of the time.  Today, nearly all one sees for taxicabs are Toyota Priuses and Camrys.

 

Craig

[Bloo]

The idea of a 505 as a taxi literally made me laugh out loud. I worked on them professionally for a little while. They have their place, but I don't think taxi service is it. They are in the shop a lot.

 

They are wonderful little sport sedans, great road cars for twisty roads, and have probably the smoothest, most relaxed, most user friendly manual transmission in the history of the world. That said, they need tinkering, a lot of tinkering. I would say if you borrowed a 505 Turbo Gas for a week long road trip up the California 1 or some other wonderful road, and nothing went wrong or broke, you would be hooked for life. Not just the turbo gas come to think of it. Any of them except the diesel. Those were so slow they were dangerous.

 

After Peugeot pulled out of the US, 505 owners would go to lengths to keep them alive you probably wouldn't see with most other cars. The driving experience is a cut above. A new ordinary car would have been a let down, and they all knew it.

 

[8E45E]

The Peugeot 505 taxi that was running around here was a station wagon.  Not sure if it was gasoline or diesel engined, but I'm sure it wasn't turbocharged being a wagon.  Seems to me, only the sedan was available with a turbo.

 

Craig

[8E45E]

Here is a 1960 Goliath Hansa 1100.

 

Craig

[Frenchbuff]

Where is this one?  It looks identical to my Goliath Tiger coupe I had about 7-8 yrs ago.  

 

Ken

[8E45E]

In the LeMay Family Museum in Marymount, WA.

 

Craig