OK, first of all the brand name... Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co. was a company started by Carl Borgward in 1928. In 1931 he purchased the Hansa-Lloyd-Werke company and merged the two companies under the name Borgward Group.
The Goliath factory was destroyed in World War II. After the war, Borgward relaunched the business and sold cars under the Goliath and Borgward names. This car started life as a Goliath 1100, but in 1958 it became the Hansa 1100. (I have no idea why.)
Somewhat ahead of its time, the engine is a water cooled boxer style engine. This was not a quick car, with a top speed of under 80 MPH.This is a 1960 station wagon (Combi) with a 1958 engine. The seller says that it's not a perfect engine, it smokes a bit and "has some noise", but the car runs and drives. The paint is a Toyota color that's close to the original. The paint job is fairly recent, but has some runs in it, which the seller points out in the pictures.
I like this line in the ad: "In thinking about this car, it is very important to understand that vehicles like this are not daily drivers. Small, rare cars of this vintage tend to be slow, unique in handling and not always easy to find parts for." Perfect. I see so many ads for obscure cars where the seller makes it sound like you could drive the car everyday. It's refreshing to see someone being very honest.The seller also goes on to say, "What you are getting is a fun vehicle for local drives, a scarce and interesting ride that was ahead of its time in many respects, and a remarkably well preserved piece of automotive history." That's the only reason I can see for owning a car like this and that reason is good enough for me.
Located in Montpelier, VT, click here to see the eBay listing.This car is also on a Borgward / Goliath / Hansa website. It has a bit more inof and some different pictures. You can find it here.
