Private company

Glass Sport Motors

South African motor manufacturer

Glassport Motor Company (GSM) was a South African motor manufacturer based in Cape Town, active between 1958 and 1966. They produced the Dart and Flamingo sports cars. The name Glass Sport Motors is due to their use of fiberglass.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1958Founded1
  • HeadquartersCape Town1
Gsmdart
Photo: CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons4

Glassport Motor Company (GSM) was a South African motor manufacturer based in Cape Town, active between 1958 and 1966. They produced the Dart and Flamingo sports cars. The name Glass Sport Motors is due to their use of fiberglass. GSM narrowly missed being South Africa's first sports car maker, beaten by the GRP Protea. A Dart, a Flamingo, as well as a Protea can be viewed at the Franschhoek Motor Museum in South Africa. The company built 266 cars in South Africa, along with an additional 76 Darts ("Deltas") built in England.2

The story

The company was founded by Bob van Niekerk and Willie Meissner in 1958 after Meissner went to England and stumbled upon fiberglass, a new technology at the time. He wrote a letter to van Niekerk asking him to come to England and further study fiberglass crafting. They came into contact with South African designer Verster de Wit (who was working on the Sunbeam Alpine) who helped them style their first car design and taught them the design process. The pair finally decided on an attractive design and built a clay model. A mould was created and one body was made and sold in England to fund Bob's trip back to South Africa. On returning to South Africa, they built the first prototypes of the GSM Dart. GSM's were mainly sold in South Africa and England although several seem to have made it to Canada.

From Wikipedia’s article on Glass Sport Motors, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1966Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1958Founded Founded1

Sources

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