Continuing with some 1960s vintage BMW history, we have to of course look at BMW’s major acquisition follow its successful staving off of Mercedes-Benz takeover. That company was Hans Glas GmbH. In the 1960s, this company briefly moved away from its bonds as constructor of sewing machines and licensed Goggomobils to produce some seriously pretty coupes; the 1300 GT and 1700 GT were the first and better known, but the 2600 and 3000V8 were no less striking. Glas employed same tactic as most major manufacturers for the designs, hiring an Italian to pen the lines. It was Pietro Frua who was responsible for the GT’s design, and while neither his name nor that of Glas resonate with the same authority as Pininfarina, Bertone, Ghia, Italdesign and Giugiaro, Gandini or even Michelotti (who produced a very similar design in the Triumph GT6), the combination was nonetheless a beautiful outcome for the German firm.
BMW purchased Hans Glas GmbH outright in 1966, gaining access to their Dingolfing plant and engineering team (incidentally, one of the first to use timing belts!). In the process, BMW’s technology and Glas’s designs merged, giving us the BMW 1600GT. The upgraded Glas 1700 GT offered 100 horsepower, and about 5,400 Glas-branded GTs were produced before the nameplate was eliminated in 1967. BMW produced a further 1,200 1600GTs before retooling the Dingolfing plant for E24 production in the mid-1970s.
Some fifty years on, that makes any of these cars quite rare, so even though this particular Glas isn’t the most pristine out there, it’s worth a look:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1966 Glas 1700GT on eBay
Year: 1967
Model: 1700 GT
VIN: 09500
Engine: 1.7 liter inline-4
Transmission: 3-speed automatic
Mileage: 83,946 mi
Price: $12,750 Buy It Now
1966 Glas 1700GT The 1966 Glas 1700GT shown here is available in red with black interior. It is equipped with an automatic transmission, chrome bumpers, OEM radio and with solid wheels. It has lots of potential and is an excellent original West Coast car which has had the same owner for many years and it has been sitting in storage during that time. A great candidate for light restoration. For $12,750
Saying the car needs a “light” restoration is probably generous. While it appears mostly complete, there’s body damage and some rusty undercarriage shots. It appears as though the car was resprayed red at some point and while it looks fetching in the shade, but the light blue under the hood reveals it’s likely not original. Some bits appear to be missing and will likely be quite hard to source for a proper restoration. But at $12,750, there’s at least some room for a restoration budget. When properly sorted, these cars can surpass $60,000 asks and are quite rare to find for sale at any time. There’s currently only one other GT I can find for sale, and it’s a 1300 4-speed in Europe. You can see the potential of what this car could be in that example, which is listed at about $41,300. Lane Motor Museum has a pretty well sorted copy which you could always visit as a reference point. One of the prettier German-Italian collaborations, this 1700 model definitely deserves to be saved and restored!
-Carter
That’s a 1980’s vintage Toyota Corolla engine and not a Glas engine. Take a look at the Lane Museum car and it’s easy to spot that the plug wires shouldn’t go in from the top. The black plastic oil cap and the plastic surrounds where the wires go into the valve cover are other clues it’s not even a period engine from when this Glas was produced. This example is a disaster. The seller would have to pay the buyer more than his asking price for the buyer to have any chance of being above water with a $60K value for one that is restored. These are beautifully designed cars inside and out, but in this case buy the $41K example out of the UK even if it’s only the 1.3 and you’ll be tens of thousands ahead as well as avoiding the therapy sessions eventually needed with this one.
The Glas-rolla:
https://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/15038-3tc-engine-modification/