Glas (company)

Originally a maker of farm machinery, Glas evolved first into a producer of motor scooters, then automobiles.

It was purchased by BMW in 1966, mainly to gain access to Glas's patents; they were the first to use a timing belt with an overhead camshaft in an automotive application.

In 1905 Andreas Glas' company built their first crop sowing machines (seed drill).

1908 Glas production moved to Dingolfing to overcome the mandatory rule which forbade non-local factories from participating in the important local agricultural machine exposition.

1933 Hans Glas bought Glas Werke by the shareholders After World War II, the market for seed drills was declining, and the company began building little carrows and later working machines for bakers along with seed drills.

However competition, mostly from British cars, was tough and in 1966 they released the 2600GT powered by a SOHC V8 engine, with a volume just under 2.6 litres.

The popular four-door compact's success exhausted the production capacity of the Munich plant.

[2] Most of Glas' existing lineup was retired, while some models ended up being badged as BMWs until the company was fully absorbed.

However, this factory was outmoded and BMW's biggest immediate gain was, according to themselves, a stock of highly qualified engineers and other personnel.

Glas Goggomobil 250
Glas 1700 GT Cabriolet, 1965
Goggomobil TS 250 Coupe.
Glas Goggo scooter with sidecar
A 1966 Glas 2600 with Glas logo, nicknamed Glaserati
A 1968 BMW Glas 3000GT . Notice the BMW logo in the front, but that it otherwise doesn't look like a BMW.