from the "large" Goggomobil to the Glas Isar

The statement "English in front - in the rear Dingolfing" (quote: Roller, Mobil und Kleinwagen) should be refuted.

In 1960 the Isar received a thorough renovation. To stretch the rear on the sedan a bit, the tail lights were enlarged once again. They were now surrounded by sheet metal and the extension, viewed from the side was given a flush fit to the rear fenders. (Curiosity: This sheet extension originally was to be painted separately, because the car with them in place was too long to fit into the immersion painting bath. But by the start of the production this system was already abolished..)
The license plates were now illuminated from the bumper, and now could be mounted in the wide format.
The redesigned slightly higher roof in back provided more headroom for the back seat passengers. The rear window was enlarged considerably and swing out rear side windows (for an additional 49 German Marks) were available on request. The chrome letters ISAR now shone on the trunk lid.
The tire size was adjusted to the one used by the station wagon (5.20-12). The station wagon kept however the old taillights for some time.
For insurance cost reasons, the engine performance of the T 600 was reduced to 19 PS.

In 1961, the Isar was offered in two versions: Standard and the with a lot of chrome furnished deluxe version that came standard with two-tone paint job and whitewall tires. The deluxe version's side trim piece became for many Isar drivers a popular accessory.
The station wagon was now offered also as a "camper". This version had a bolt-in back seat, which gave the customer the advantage that they could register it as a sedan. The payload was 110 kg less than the wagon, but the buyer could save almost 100 German Marks in insurance premiums with the C 700. After loosening some bolts the rear seatback could lay flat. Together with the folded front seat, a 2 meter long and about 1.10 meter wide bed was created.
This option made it clear to the young family that a station wagon did not necessarily serve just for commercial purposes. And if you think about it: was this camper version the precursor of the in the 80's so popular the estate cars?

The performance of the Isar was demonstrated in motorsport

1962, only 12,000 vehicles rolled off the assembly line. The continuous design improvements and the finally by testers certified maturity of the Isar did not alter the fact that production figures steadily fell.
The durability of the engine was demonstrated in successes in motor sport. But that was unfortunately only registered by the public in passing. With their T 600, the drivers Bodmer / Pohl were repeatedly class winners at the Nurburgring. In the 12-hour race they drove, with 106 km / hour the fastest lap. They saw the checkered flag ten minutes (!) before their competitors.
Also in Austria the Isar left the competitors far behind. In the 29th Berglandfahrt won state champion Loisl Wiener in his T 600 the "up to 700 cc" class, and at the hill climb at Reichberg near Graz he won the gold medal with the best times in all disciplines.
100,000 km with the Isar was nothing special anymore. Since all their other engines were also very reliable, GLAS as the first German automobile manufacturer, gave starting in September of 1962 a one year warranty with no mileage limitation on the engines for all models. (The accepted timeframe in the car industry at this time was only six month)
But the successes in motorsports and the extended engine warranty could no longer turn the tide. The customers were more demanding and even flirted with cars, which were ranked half a class higher. These were the Ford 12M, Opel Kadett, DKW Junior, BMW 700 LS or NSU 1000th They were only slightly more expensive than the Isar. The Isar was now with the 700 engine 4,720 German Marks.
The pressure of the increasing competition was very noticeable, and a newer model would have been due. But in Dingolfing the focus was now on the recently introduced GLAS S1004.

A final attempt was made to adapt the Isar to the now higher consumer demands.

In 1963 the Isar was made even more attractive. The standard version existed only for a short time in the price lists. It was gradually supplanted by the "deluxe" version. This version received once more larger tires (5.50-12), as well as individual front seats and the steering wheel from the 04 series. The dashboard was covered with dark vinyl and the passenger grab handle was now standard. Instead of the fabric type head liner, an ivory-colored, washable plastic material was used (same as on the station wagon).
Also there were mechanical changes. Among other changes, the modified rear axle from the S1004 / 1204 was used and the oil pan got a deeper oil sump. Station wagon and Camper got the same improvements. In addition, they now also got the big tail lights of the sedan. Since the luxury version was now offered as the standard version, the price was lowered by 240 German Marks.
These last changes were enhanced by the fact that the car after this facelift was allowed to carry its new name on its fenders. The name was now "GLAS Isar". But the time for small cars with limited passenger space was finally over, the production numbers remained very low.
In a final road test in January 1964 the magazine "MOT" wrote: "The Isar feels like a solid piece of craftsmanship"
As positive points were noted: "Very good workmanship - large luggage space - good handling characteristics - for the type and class a quiet motor and a very good heater - a low price for the level of features."
This was offset by, among others, the following negative points:
"Rough running motor when accelerating - tight leg and head room and uncomfortable entering and exiting of the rear seat passengers - badly illuminated speedometer - vibrations when braking from high speeds - quality of customer service locally varies - outdated maintenance requirements"
The factory-prescribed maintenance intervals (after 3,000 km lubrication, after 6,000 km inspection with oil change) were indeed out of date.

In 1964 there were no more significant improvements on the Isar. The car was now technical sound and as reliable as the buyer were hoping for from the beginning, but it no longer was attractive. The end of its production run was in sight. Production fell this year to less than 5,000 units (15 cars per day).
In Dingolfing the focus was now on the production start of large sedan, the GLAS 1700 and the GLAS 1300 GT coupe.

The end

In August 1965 the production line, after almost 87,600 vehicles built, was shut down. Thus, the Isar reached after the GLAS Goggomobil sedan the highest number of cars produced by GLAS. The Isar was (next to the scooter) the only vehicle produced by GLAS were the Hans Glas GmbH actually stopped the production. In addition, the Isar remained the only model in the GLAS family of cars, which had been given a unique name.
The in the planning phase projected target of 100,000 units was not reached in Dingolfing, but the Isar was still a success: in Argentina, the car was produced under license for the Latin American market. Here alone, up to the end of 1962 more than 14,000 vehicles left the assembly buildings. For comparison, the numbers of competitors: Lloyd sold about 170,000 Alexander models and NSU from Prinz I to III about 94,500 vehicles. The production figures of the BMW 600 with 34,800 and the BMW 700 - short version - with 79,600 remained below the Isar.