The Goliath Goli was a

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

panel van A panel van, also known as a blind van, car-derived van (United Kingdom) or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind the B-pillar. ...

built from 1955 to 1961 by the

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...

division of

Borgward The former Borgward car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, was 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, Go ...

in Bremen, Germany. It is the successor of the

Goliath GD750 The Goliath GD750 was a three-wheeler pickup truck built by the Goliath division of the Borgward Group in Bremen from April 1949 to 1955 in various body variants. In the early 1950s, low-cost vans were popular with small craft businesses. In 194 ...

and the last German built three-wheeler truck. Only 9,904 vehicles of this model were produced.

Technology

With its three wheels and a water-cooled two-cylinder

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

engine, the ''Goliath Goli'' continued a design principle that had long been a thing of the past for other vehicle manufacturers. Decisive for the use of only three wheels was the vehicle's approximately 30% lower production price. The ''Goliath Goli'' incorporated a sophisticated design. The engine was mounted behind the front wheel and provided a low centre of gravity, and the 6.40×13 tires ensured an optimum of stability and drive safety for a freight tricycle. Initially, an air-cooled engine rated 12.5 kW was used, but it had thermal problems. From 1957, a different 465 cm³ engine with water-cooling was used. The power of this engine was 11 kW. It was deemed too weak for a 0.75 t freight vehicle. Maximum torque was only 34 N·m at 2500 rpm. At full load, the vehicle had a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...

of 160 kg/kW. To avoid further bad criticism, Goliath offered replacing the air-cooled engine with a passively

thermosiphon Thermosiphon (or thermosyphon) is a method of passive heat exchange, based on natural convection, which circulates a fluid without the necessity of a mechanical pump. Thermosiphoning is used for circulation of liquids and volatile gases in heat ...

-cooled one for free. The Goli had a U-profile ladderframe, a

control arm In automotive suspension, a control arm, also known as an A-arm, is a hinged suspension link between the chassis and the suspension upright or hub that carries the wheel. In simple terms, it governs a wheel's vertical travel, allowing it to mo ...

with a quarter elliptical spring for its front wheel, a solid rear axle with progressive

leaf springs A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, ...

, a

worm drive A worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm (which is a gear in the form of a screw) meshes with a worm wheel (which is similar in appearance to a spur gear). The two elements are also called the worm screw and worm gear. The terminolo ...

steering system, a hydraulic three wheel braking system, a parking brake for the rear wheels, and an all-steel cab. The 6 volts electric starter did not have a magnetic switch, instead, it was manually connected to the engine using a hand lever. The Goli's top speed was 60 km/h (37 mph). Fuel consumption was 7.5

l/100 km The fuel economy of an automobile relates distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel consumed. Consumption can be expressed in terms of volume of fuel to travel a distance, or the distance traveled per unit volume of fuel consumed. S ...

(31 mpg). Climb rate limit at full load was 23, 12, 7, 3% (depending on the gear). The turning radius is 11 m (36 ft).

Variants

The flatbed version was available in a low and a high variant. The lower variant offered a capacity of 6 m³ (211 cft). There was also the full-metal panel van and separated freight box body variant. The vehicles external dimensions of the freight box variant were 2200 × 1460 × 1230 mm (68 × 58 × 9 inch). Depending on body and tires, the payload was 750 to 950 kg (1653 to 2094 lb).(German) ''Aus dem internationalen Kraftfahrzeugbau – Goliath-Dreirad-Kleinlaster mit Zweitaktmotor.'', ''Kraftfahrzeugtechnik'', July 1959, p.289 Goli_Cockpit.JPG, Dashboard of the Goli Goli2-Bj1959,500 ccm,15 PS-Foto2005-08-26.jpg, Goli with panel van body Goliath Goli (2014-08-29 6578) Radaufhängung.jpg, Wheel suspension and steering

References

External links

List of remaining Goliath vehicles
, retrieved February 2019 {{Borgward timeline 1945 to 1970 Three-wheeled motor vehicles Pickup trucks Goliath vehicles Vehicles of Germany Vehicles introduced in 1955 Pages with unreviewed translations