It was the early 1950s, and Hans Glas GmbH, based in Bavaria, Germany, needed to evolve. Making and repairing seed drills – its mainstay business since 1883 – was a struggle in the post-war era. An excursion to Italy for a trade show revealed to the company’s top brass just how popular scooters had become – thrifty, nimble, and cheap, they were the perfect form of transportation for war-torn Europe. The company quickly fabricated a raft of scooter models; it wasn’t long before these were outselling its agricultural equipment. Shortly thereafter, Glas skated to where the puck was going to be – ie, enclosed transport. Rising incomes and family formation were sinking the scooter market – customers were yearning for four seats and weather protection. Glas didn’t make a barely-clad scooter like the Isetta; he created a real three-box (rear, cabin, front) vehicle that he called the Goggomobil. Sales were brisk, inspiring a flow of new models – even a truck – all powered by two-stroke rear-mounted air-cooled engines. Here on craigslist is a 1958 Goggomobil TS400 Coupe with an asking price of $6200. You can retrieve this little guy from its Costa Mesa, California garage in the world’s smallest trailer; if your truck is large enough it might just fit in the bed. Numskal pitched us this tiny tip – thanks!

Residing in this engine bay is the “big block” 392 cc tw0-stroke, good for almost 20 hp. By the time the TS400 came along, the engine was given an oil reservoir – no more mixing ritual! We’ll talk about the gearbox in a minute, but suffice it to say it’s broken on this example. The engine will start and run, and the clutch will depress, but no power meets the wheels. The horn, headlights, emergency brake, and wipers do work. The seller says the fuel tank needs to be cleaned and the rest of the brake system probably needs rebuilding. If you want to see a Goggomobil really go-go, spend a few minutes with this video. Remember, there’s swing-axle suspension under there!

The interior is missing the passenger’s seat, but at least the glass is decent from what we can see. Note there is no shift lever on the floor, and no, that wand next to the steering wheel is not it either. This is an electromagnetic pre-selector gearbox with a manual clutch; the selector is that small knob to the far right on the dash, and as you can see by following the link, it is definitely loose. Once the gearbox is fixed, the lucky buyer will be able to hit 65 mph – with a tailwind and a lot of patience.

The engine being in the rear, this grille is for looks only. Someone drilled extraneous holes in the front sheet metal, but aside from that, the seller tells us this has always been a California car and it’s not rusty beyond what you see. If you squint hard at the engine lid in this photo, you can see the “Coupe 400” emblem, still attached. All Goggomobils possess an indecent amount of charm, but the Touring Sport coupe is especially pretty. Nice TS400s will sell in the mid $20k area if you can find one at all. This one runs; the price might be right!