Shannons Goggomobil Dart Announced as the Targa Tasmania 30 Flag Car
One of the world's greatest tarmac rallies, Targa Tasmania, celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2022, and Shannons is honoured to have our Goggomobil Dart chosen as official Flag Car.
Targa Tasmania’s 30th birthday is cause for celebration, so too is Shannons’ dedication to the Apple Isle classic, support of which has continued unabated since the inaugural event of 1992. Shannons has proudly maintained a presence in the rally every year, and for 2022, the Shannons Team is honoured to have our signature 1959 Goggomobil Dart chosen as the official Flag Car.
The Goggo has long been ubiquitous with Shannons, appearing in our advertising, and at thousands of motoring events around the country. The famous Dart was the brainchild of Bill Buckle of Buckle Motors Pty Ltd, who combined the mechanicals of the Goggomobil microcar range from Hans Glas GmbH of West Germany with fibreglass bodies of his own manufacture.
Unlike the rest of the Goggo range, the Dart, manufactured between 1957 and 1961, was Buckle’s creation, thus making the two-stroke, zero-door roadster unique to Australia. With around 700 Darts built, many Aussies of a certain vintage will have a mischief-soaked Dart story to share, the car’s diminutive dimensions often lending it to easy relocation, naturally when the owner least expected it.
No such frivolities have befallen our own Goggomobil, but the Dart wasn’t always our mascot, as company founder Robert Shannon harboured a passion not for Goggos, but his glorious 1930 Invicta Type S 4.5L Low Chassis roadster.
Despite being one of only 77 examples built, Robert’s S-type saw regular use, truly embodying the spirit upon which he based this company. In 1998, he upped involvement in Targa Tasmania by not only becoming category sponsor of the Historic Competition, but personally driving the rare 1930 S-type Invicta, which was honoured as Flag Car for that year.
With Robert’s passing, the Invicta was retired and the Goggomobil introduced as our automotive mascot, but Robert’s commitment to grassroots motoring continued unabated via Shannons. We expanded our sponsorship of Targa Tasmania to include Classic Competition in 2000, a category that originally represented the largest proportion of entrants, cementing our place among staunchest supporters of Australia’s longest-running tarmac rally.
Since then, our love for Targa Tasmania has not abated; in 2011, the Super Rig attended the rally for the first time while more recent additions to category support include Classic GT and Thoroughbred trophies. We also sponsor the same categories in Targa High Country and Targa Great Barrier Reef, as well as the more leisurely Shannons Classic Rallye Tour, now open for vehicles 25 years and older.
While we love any car owned, driven, and cared for by enthusiasts, for Targa Tasmania’s 30th anniversary, our collective hearts look to 1959 and specifically the plucky little two-stroke roadster that means so much to us and our friends. Again, we’re honoured the Goggomobil Dart has been selected to take pride of place at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Launceston – where it all started 30 years ago – for the ceremonial start of Targa Tasmania, 2022.
