Having the collection available to search on line, featured in TV shows like ‘The Collectors’, and in the media, has seen many people contacting the museum with information about our objects. Sometimes they are researching their family history or the object was previously owned by them or their ancestors.

Curator, Margaret Simpson got a call from a very excited couple in Queensland who caught a fleeting glimpse on TV of our Goggomobil Dart when it was featured in the Museum’s Modernism exhibition. We have little history about the use of this gorgeous little Australian-made sports car and Margaret jumped at the opportunity of showing them the car to see if we had found its early owner from the 1960s. They flew down especially to visit our Powerhouse Discovery Centre where the Goggomobil is now in storage. Margaret asked if the husband could put pen to paper to make some notes about driving the car and he was delighted to oblige. Unfortunately, the Goggo wasn’t his, but the following recollections will bring it back for all those who were teenagers in the 1960s fanging out to the beach with the wind in their hair in an MG, Triumph, Morgan, Austin Healey, Lotus or even a Nota Fang. He recalls:

"It was 1965, or thereabout, that I first saw my bright red sports mini “E-type Jag”, as I called it. I was 18 at the time and it was the last of many cars I had in my short driving life, before I got married, and a necessity if I was to keep going out with my then girlfriend!

You see, I was a bit of a Fonzie from “Happy Days” except with red hair, more like Ritchie. I rode a very noisy 250CC Honda Scrambler bike around town, dressed in flying boots; a real pair of Levi 401s bought from the only shop that imported them from America; a Bond’s see-through T-shirt and a black flying jacket. This did not impress the future father-in-law, who made me push my bike around the corner and well away from his place, before I was allowed to start it up! So hence, the need for some wheels!

The Goggo was my first car with seatbelts and it was even fitted with double roll bars, one behind the seat and one on the bonnet in front of the windscreen. This meant I could race my friends, who drove Morris Minors and Austin A40s, and thrash them from the lights when we drag raced down Church Street, Parramatta on Friday nights. Being a western suburbs boy from Parramatta, I thought the Goggo looked like a hot racer! A real perk for me was that my father used to be the groundsman on Parramatta football oval and we lived in the small house on the gate. This meant after dark, I had access to the roads when the park was closed, so I used to race around Parramatta Park at night with the roof down!

It is hard to believe, but I would often fit my girlfriend’s sister and one of my mates in the back seat for the run up to K14 lookout for a bit of a smooch and a milkshake at the local hangout. I can’t remember the name of it now, but the lady who owned the shop always stuck up for us when the police came in looking for the kids who had just sped past them up the hill! People would go into hysterics when we pulled back the roof and out squeezed four people!

A surfie mate of mine from work gave me an old long board with a broken nose, so one day we brought it down with us to Wollongong for a surf. While we thought we looked really cool, the surfie chicks were not impressed. We were the Parramatta boys surfing in our jeans, or should I say, trying to surf in our jeans!

The Goggomobil had some bad points. Firstly, no fuel gauge (although a great excuse if you got the girlfriend home late!); it oiled up the spark plugs if you thrashed it too hard and you would have to get out and change them yourself and the gear lever worked sideways. You were also below the sight of truck mirrors and I remember one day driving through Parramatta when a large semi-trailer decided to change lanes when I was alongside him. I frantically tooted my little horn as I passed between the front and back wheels of the truck – luckily he heard me, but we almost became a red pizza! But, on the good side – the seat backs lifted off and you could turn it into a double bed. This was great at the drive-in and once the roof was locked on, no one could get out! The Goggo is also really light and one day while driving down Lane Cove Road, we lost a wheel! Three of us just picked the car up and carried it to the side of the road while we located our wheel and some of the bolts.

It’s great to reminisce, but I honestly wonder how I survived those days and I must have been the worry of my mother’s life! The Goggo was one car that survived me and I cannot remember for the life of me what became of it. I was excited to see the car the Museum has and for a moment thought it might have been my old car, but it does not seem to have the roll bars. I often see the insurance ads on TV about the Goggo and have a bit of a chuckle to myself. I would love to get my hands on another one, but the problem is I would probably not fit behind the wheel and have a lot of difficulty getting out again! Old age can be sad!

- An old Goggo owner

Note: this article was written for the Museum's "Object of the Week" Blog. "Object of the Week" can be found under Online Resources on this site.

+ Motor cars
+ Buckle, Bill
+ Driving

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