c1960 Goggomobil Dart

The Dart is one of the few cars genuinely designed in Australia. Bill Buckle drew a doorless fibreglass two-seat sports body and dropped it onto the chassis and running gear of the German Goggomobil, and Buckle Motors built roughly 700 of them in Sydney between 1959 and September 1961. At around 380 kilograms with a 293cc or 392cc two-stroke twin behind you, it is closer to a go-kart with numberplates than to any other car of its era.

You climb in over the side, because there are no doors. That is not a cost-saving — it is the design.

This car is a project and is offered as one. It is incomplete: it comes with its engine, gearbox, rear axle and wheels, the floorpan is complete and undamaged, and body restoration has been started. There is no interior beyond the dash and steering wheel. It is unregistered.

The upside is that Darts are simple, well documented, and strongly supported by a club network that knows them intimately — and unrestored cars emerging from long storage attract real interest when they surface, precisely because they so rarely do.