Glas GT

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Hemmings - It was a match made in an automotive enthusiast’s heaven: beautifully proportioned, designer label sporting coachwork from Italy, precision-assembled in Germany, with sprightly, under-stressed mechanicals. This was the brief of Glas’ GT, a low-production 2+2 fastback coupe and cabriolet that was among the final offerings of this small but innovative Bavarian firm before it was consumed by its larger neighbor from Munich. More than half a century after the last GTs were built, this Glas remains a delightful interpretation of a mid-Sixties driver’s car from Europe.


Hans Glas GmbH is an automaker that has faded into obscurity, but has a rich and varied history going back to 1860, when it was founded to make and service agricultural machinery. Thirty years later, the successful firm opened a second factory in what’s now Dingolfing. During World War II, Glas produced arms by requisition, but returned to its roots soon after, thanks to a spike in demand for its agricultural products. The young Andreas Glas (surname spoken glahs), noted the popularity of motor scooters while traveling in postwar Italy and, by 1951, his family’s company had introduced the very popular Goggo scooter. The Goggomobile microcar, in sedan and coupe form, was another hit, and, in the early 1960s, Glas began moving upmarket with its larger Isar, variants of its timing belt-pioneering 1004, and the 1300 and 1700 model lines that spawned our feature car.


The 1300 GT was introduced at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show. This car used the namesake engine from the 1304 sedan, cloaking it in a pretty, sleek, 2+2 body that was penned by Carrozzeria Pietro Frua in Turin, Italy, and built by the nearby coachbuilder Maggiora, which also built the bodies for the Lancia Aurelia B20, Maserati Mistral, and De Tomaso Pantera. This model’s final assembly was at the Glas plant in Dingolfing. A cabriolet variant, also styled by Frua, would arrive for 1965, along with the more powerful 1700 GT version that was primarily available in coupe form. Both body styles shared an equally attractive, well-trimmed interior with comprehensive VDO instrumentation and upscale brightwork touches.



Every GT coupe and cabriolet had four cylinders below its hood, and all shared a single overhead-cam design and Glas’ toothed timing belt, soon to become an industry standard. The 1300’s unit sported five main bearings and displaced 1,289-cc (78.6-cu.in.) through its 75 x 73-mm (2.95 x 2.87-inch) bore and stroke. Its aluminum head featured ball-guided rocker arms and hemispherical combustion chambers, and two Solex 35 RH carburetors breathed freely thanks to its cross-flow design. With a 9.3:1 compression ratio, this engine made 85 hp at 5,800 rpm and 80 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm. The 1700 GT’s engine displaced 1,682-cc (102.6-cu.in.) by its 78 x 88-mm (3.07 x 3.46-inch) bore and stroke, and thanks to its 9.5 compression, it made a DIN-rated 100 hp at 5,500 rpm and 109 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm. Four-and-five-speed manual transmissions were available.



With a conventional rear-drive layout and independent coil spring front/live axle leaf spring rear suspensions, allied with front disc and rear drum brakes behind 14-inch wheels, the lightweight GTs offered reasonable handling, and a 0-60 time that bracketed 10 seconds 












#glas #Glasgow #glas1300gt #glas1300gtcoupe #glas1300gtcabriolet 

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