Cars

The first appearance of the Irat name was in 1914 but there is no record of car production until 1921. Building on the front-drive theme of their successful 6CV, Irat based the sporty 11CV on the driveline of Citroën’s 11CV, a two-liter saloon. 

The Frua-designed 1300 and 1700 Coupe and Cabriolet were halo vehicles for Glas. Even though Glas was one of Germany’s smallest automakers, the GT series were very influential, marrying Italian design and German engineering in a marketable, successful package for arguably the first time. 

Hans Glas and his son Andreas began producing scooters in their agricultural repair shop in Germany shortly after World War II. Their first product, the Goggo scooter, named for Hans’ youngest son, was an instant success as it met a demand for low-cost vehicles in the economically depressed country.

Considering that Borgward, parent company of Goliath-Werke, was a pretty small player on the global automotive scene, the Goliath GP900e was quite an influential automobile, setting in place much of the design vocabulary seen to this day.

An unconventional car throughout, this is a car constructed by a Frenchman, Monsieur Grataloup, for his own personal use.  The small motorcycle engine is placed next to the driver so that the majority of the weight is in the center of the car to improve handling.

Ben Gregory was from Kansas City, Missouri, and he believed that front-wheel drive was the preferred method of propelling a car. The roadster you see here is the only one he made, and he also managed to make a couple of sedans.

This German company was producing cars as early as the 1920s but they struggled financially through that decade. In 1931, Hanomag had 25% of the small-car market in Germany, trailed by DKW (19%) and BMW (17%).