Gatso - The brand no one knows
#Blogpost

Gatso was a Dutch car company founded just after the Second World War in 1948 by Dutch racing driver and inventor Maus Gatsonides.

Originally he wanted to call his company Gatford, but, according to Ford, this name was too similar to the French word “matford”; so they forced Gatsonides to change the name of his company.

Because the company went bankrupt after only a couple years, they only managed to build two models: the 4000 and the 1500 (the car in the picture above).

Gatso 4000

Just like the 1500, the 4000 was designed by Jan Apetz. The 4000 was Gatso’s first creation, and it used the chassis from a Mercury.

The car was initially meant to compete in rally championships. Due to the car being very sturdy, it was ideal for the big and tough rallies where cars often had to drive for several days straight. The car was powered by a big 4.0L V8.

Gatso made the cars exactly how the customer wanted them. Because of this, no two Gatso’s were the same.

In the end. only 9 Gatso 4000s had been built. But, as far as we know, there are none left. The last two were wrecked in a rallycross event in the late 1950s.

Gatso 1500 Sport

Gatso’s other model was the 1500 Sport. Due to bankruptcy, they only built one prototype.
Because the car was so low, it’s often nicknamed “Platje” (with “plat” meaning “flat” in Dutch). The 1500 was powered by a 6 cylinder engine designed by Fiat. Gatsonides used the car in a couple of races. In one of them, he crashed. Fortunately, they were able to fix the car.

The 1500 is the only Gatso left in working order. It’s currently located in a classic car museum called “The Gallery” in Brummen, The Netherlands.

What most people actually don’t know is that Gatso also built a third car, called the KWIK. You can’t really find any information about it though. All we know is that it doesn’t drive; and that in 2012, the 1500 and KWIK were reunited for the first time ever.

That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day :D

Marijn M.