Glas V8

Vehicle Overview

The Glas V8 shared its wheelbase with the company’s existing 1700 sedan, resulting in long overhangs at each end which some commentators felt compromised the aesthetics of the striking design and the car’s road holding. The manufacturer took the decision in 1964 to build on the popularity of the existing Glas GT and produce a six-cylinder GT coupé. The intention was later to add a sports saloon to the range based on the new coupé. However, the company’s finances were already precarious and in order to save on development costs it was decided instead to use the manufacturer’s 1290 cc four-cylinder engine as the basis for a new V8 engine, which is why the size of the new engine, at 2580 cc, was precisely twice that of the existing engine. The engine had two overhead camshafts — one for each bank of cylinders — and these were driven using two cam belts. The contract for the car’s design again went to Frua of Moncalieri , with the proviso that as far as possible they should avoid the requirement to design new components where existing parts might be obtained from other manufacturers. The resulting design, therefore, featured, among its many “borrowed” components headlights from a Setra bus, window winder mechanisms from a Mercedes-Benz 230SL and the door locks of a Porsche 911. The Glas V8 bodywork was built by hand by coachbuilder Maggiora, with moving parts such as the doors and bonnets as well as the chrome trim stripe at top of the grille, being made to fit each individual body. All such parts thus carry the chassis number of each car and mean that they are not directly interchangeable between cars. The design presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1965 was seen as sensational, its similarity to the Maserati Quattroporte (another Frua design) earning the new Glas coupé the sobriquet “the Glaserati”.