Photograph courtesy of the Buckle family.
With a long trip ahead of them, this truckload of Goggomobils is preparing for transport to the Finlay Brothers dealership in Melbourne. The truck is parked at the Punchbowl factory of Buckle Motors in Sydney, with the photograph taken 1959-61. The load of vehicles includes five Darts and one sedan.
Having designed and produced the classy fibreglass Buckle coupe at his Punchbowl factory, Bill Buckle discussed the idea of Australian production of the Goggomobil with Hans Glas in 1958 - the German producer of Goggomobils. By importing the metal chassis and mechanical parts, then assembling the vehicle with a fibreglass body, it proved to be cheaper than importing the vehicle pre-built.
The Punchbowl factory in Sydney was the only place of assembly of the Australian fibreglass models of Goggomobils. Many such truckloads would have left the Punchbowl factory for Melbourne.
As a distributor for Goggomobils, Finlay Brothers would have been responsible for supplying vehicles to numerous country dealerships, as well as sales from their own showroom.
With thanks to the Buckle family for the information supplied for this description. |