Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co. was a German car manufacturer started by

Carl F. W. Borgward Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward (10 November 1890 in Altona, Hamburg – 28 July 1963 in Bremen (city), Bremen) was a German engineer and designer and the creator of the Borgward group, based in Bremen. Biography He was of modest origin, the so ...

and Wilhelm Tecklenborg in 1928, and was part of the

Borgward Borgward was a car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Goliath a ...

group. Goliath was based in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and specialized in

three-wheeler A three-wheeler is a vehicle with three wheels. Some are motorized tricycles, which may be legally classed as motorcycles, while others are tricycles without a motor, some of which are human-powered vehicles and animal-powered vehicles. Ove ...

cars and trucks and medium-sized cars. Their vehicles were sold under the Goliath brand.

Early history

The first models were three-wheeler trucks derived from the motorcycle based '' Blitzkarren'', '' Goliath Rapid'', and ''Standard'' previously built by Borgward. In 1926 appeared the Goliath K1 four-wheeler freight truck with open cab, followed by the 1929 Goliath Express, and with closed driver cab the 1932 Goliath Atlas, also sold as Hansa-Lloyd Atlas. The first passenger car was the ''

Goliath Pionier The Goliath Pionier is a small three-wheeled two-seater vehicle first presented by Carl F. W. Borgward at the 1931 Berlin motor show. It remained in production until 1934, by when approximately 4,000 had been produced. Origins Borgward was an ...

'' in 1931, which still had three wheels and a one-cylinder engine. Until 1934, 4,000 of these small cars were produced in various types of body. In 1933, '' Goliath F200 and F400'' three-wheeler trucks derived were derived from ''Goliath Pionier''. The ''Pionier'' was redesigned to its successor marketed under the brand Hansa as models 400 and 500 four-wheel passenger car with a sheet metal body. In 1938 also changed to a sheet metal body were the FW200 and FW400 as successor of the F200 and F400.

After World War II

Personal car models

These were front-wheel-drive two-door sedans, station wagons and coupes. * Goliath GP700 (1950–1957) — inline-two-cylinder, two-stroke, water-cooled, transverse engine (anticipating the

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

and many recent cars). In 1952 Goliath introduced Bosch direct fuel injection, around the same time as the

Gutbrod Gutbrod was a German manufacturer of cars, motorcycles and small agricultural machinery. The firm was founded in Ludwigsburg, Germany by :de:Wilhelm Gutbrod, Wilhelm Gutbrod in 1926. It originally built "Standard" branded motorcycles. In 1933 ...

Superior 600; they were the first two cars to use this technology. * Goliath GP900 (1955–1957) — inline-two-cylinder, two-stroke, water-cooled, transverse engine, available Bosch direct fuel injection. * Goliath 1100 (1957–1958) — four-cylinder opposed four-stroke water-cooled engine. Renamed "Hansa 1100" to shake the three-wheeled minitruck image. * Goliath Empress (1953–1961)

Light trucks

* Goliath F400

(1933–1937) * Goliath FW400 three-wheeler (1938–1939) * Goliath GD750 three-wheeler (1949–1955) * Goliath Goli three-wheeler (1955–1961) * Goliath GV800 (1951–1953) * Goliath Express (1953-1961).Ronan Glon, 20 June 2010, Goliath Express 1100, ranwhenparked.net
Retrieved 23 June 2016 A front engined, front wheel drive design offered in pickup, panel van and windowed van bodystyles. Available with the 688cc engine from the GP700, the 886cc unit from the GP900 and, from 1957, with a new 1093cc engine.

The end

From 1958, the Goliath 1100 models were sold under the brand Hansa; the Borgward group wanted to downplay the two-stroke engine and three-wheeler image. Three years later, in 1961, the Borgward group collapsed.

References

External links

Borgward-IG

Goliath Veteranen Club

Goliath Carworld

Goliath on 3-wheelers.com

Goliath Scale Models
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany Cars powered by boxer engines Three-wheeled motor vehicles Borgward {{Germany-company-stub