Hi everybody,

The following is a little
out of track for the forum , but could never the less be of some interest when
we are discussing the situation among German car manufacturers after ww2.

Sometimes you forget how
close in time the old time with east-Germany was, and sometimes you also forget
how lucky we are when it comes to spares and supplies for our amphis.

4 years ago I had an
employee how previously was an east German. During the cold war he was a highly
ranked specialist and involved in export business for the Carl Zeiss Jena company.
As being such a prominent citizen he actually had a “company car”
for his travels. He told me a story about how to buy new tyres for his Wartburg:
“First you had to see your manager and get his purchase o.k., ?then you
went to the purchase department to get the official purchase order, then you
went to the local office that handled the coupons for such “delicate”
stuff. This office then gave you (if not the local police, military or high members
of the party had booked all available tyres) the coupons for the tyres. With the
coupons in one hand and a thermos with some hot drink you then lined up in
front of the local garage/tyre company at 3 a’clock in the morning. Then,
if you where lucky, some 8-10 hours later you could watch how the garage man
changed your “down-to-the-cord” worn tyres to some with at least
some thread.” The last time he did this manoeuvre he got one new tyre and
two used ones, then the stock was empty…… . This was less then 20
years ago!

I wish you all a nice
2006 with the best of luck in finding the missing spares for your Amphi!

V?nliga h?lsningar/ Best regards

Bo Strander

AK OPTIK AB

-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----

Fr?n: amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com] F?r chasgould@aol.com

Skickat: den 5 januari 2006 16:17

Till: amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com

?mne: Re: [amphicar-lovers] Digest
Number 1932

In a
message dated 1/5/2006 4:37:04 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com writes:

When I was first in Germany in the early
sixties, Gogomobiles and Isettas

were quite common. By the time I left Germany in 1965, Goggomobil had come out

with a very stylish model a bit like a mini-Corvette as I recall. However, I

gather the company ceased productions soon after that and I never saw another
one

like it.

Hi
Victor,

Actually,.
Goggomobil never made that little sports car. Rather, an Australian
entrepreneur named Bill Buckle wanted to import Goggomobils to Australia, but
the tariff was way to high. Instead he opted to purchase Goggomobil platforms
which could come in as auto parts with little or no tariff. He then reproduced
each of the Goggomobil body styles in glas fibre with the permission of Hans
Glas who was the head of Goggomobil production facility in Germany. Buckle made
and sold glas fibre coupes limousines (sedans), and even a cabriolet model in
the land of OZ. He later designed a bubble shaped van which he called the
"Carryall" and near the end of production designed and built the
Goggomobil Buckle Dart, which is the little sports car version which you refer
to. These were only made in Australia, and were never formally exported out of
the country, although some private examples were taken home by enthusiasts. Bill
Buckle did send one example to Hans Glas who considered producing them at the
factory in Germany, and you may have seen this example at a show or maybe even
in use in Germany, but alas, Glas never produced a single Dart model. There
were approximately 700 Darts made, and very few survive as they deteriorated
badly in the Australian weather especially once the top allowed the water to
enter the floor pans.

They
are remarkable little cars, much lighter, faster, and better balanced than the
steel Goggo cars, especially if you move the battery up front to even out the
weight distribution. They are delightful to drive, extremely light, nimble, and
responsive, all from a 250 or 300 cc two stroke two cylinder engine. I have
three of the Buckle Darts in our collection here in Boston. I have attached
some photos for your reference.

On the
Trabbie note, David is correct that the waiting period for a new Trabant was
often as much as 14 years!

There
is an old joke that an Eastern Blockfamily who had saved all their life
for an automobile finally had saved enough money and went into the Trabant
dealership in November of 1967,to order their new car. The dealer told
them that the first available delivery date would be on February 22, 1982,
which was fourteen years and three monthsinto the future. The husband was
so excited, and said that was perfect and that he could hardly wait. But just
then his wife interrupted and said that the date was not good. The husband
asked why not, and she responded that this was the day that the plumber was
coming to fix the toilet in their apartment!

Chas