Originally made in Milan, Italy by a company named Iso and designed by a man that made refrigerators, the BMW Isetta is a very unique car. BMW from Germany bought the license to make the car and then made a few improvements. It was made just after World War II (launched in 1955 to be exact) and although I don't know the exact selling price it was suppose to be very affordable.
I remember the first time I saw the BMW Isetta at LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM, I looked with fascination and gave a little chuckle. It is such an unusual car with the door on the front of the car with the steering wheel attached to the door.
I found it interesting that they advertised the car as a family vehicle and I have watched some early footage of them squeezing in a man and wife with a child all into the front seat might I add!
The Isetta contained a 13 horse power motorcycle engine and it can go up to around 50 mph but the video that I watched stated that it was also a scary 50 mph.
* Interesting Facts*
The car was four wheeled in Germany but the English version was three wheeled to avoid the car tax and instead be taxed as a motorcycle.
There are many versions of this particular car and I found a good portion of them on
www.microcarmuseum.com - Be warned though this website is very addicting!
My personal favorites that I have seen so far is the one at the LeMay - AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM, which is a 1959, the 1961 300 which features a small bed in the back like a toy pick up truck and the 1959 BMW Isetta WHATTADRAG which actually has a small Hotwheels version of it ( I might have to go looking for it!)
Here's a fascinating video on the Isetta done by BMW Web TV on youtube including what seems to be a original commercial that the company used.
Below are some links of where I found my information:
Isettas - they are fun, cute, adorable, compact, unique and very valuable!
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