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BMW Isetta

Whilst today we consider BMW a strong automotive brand with a keen following, the situation was very different in the mid 50s whereby the company was facing bankruptcy.

The company had created beautiful vehicles like the 503 and 507 which were luxurious, head turning motors; but here’s the thing, they were making losses on every sale.

So to survive, BMW had to change their tactics entirely. They needed to come up with a cheap car which would be an instant success, make the company money without years of investment into design and needed little in the way of development.

I bet nobody in those initial meetings thought a fridge maker would save the day, but that’s exactly what happened at the 54 Turin Car Show where Iso Rivolta were debuting a three wheeled car with a giant door on the front which they’d named the Iso Isetta.

BMW immediately realised it was the exact car they were looking for, despite being a world away from the luxe cars loved by customers and from 1955, the Isetta was produced under license.

In the early days, the slightly refined design was fitted with a modified version of the 250 four-stroke engine which had been used in the R25 motorcycle, giving 12 horsepower. However, by the point this particular example was sold, BMW had introduced a 300cc engine - which still retained a top speed of 53mph.

It’s also worth noting that the gearbox on this is a four speed manual with reverse - the onus was on the owner of the vehicle to blank off reverse if they were only driving on a bike license! No automatic transmission units were ever fitted to these as standard.

Whilst they were cheap as chips at launch, roughly 1500 dollars, 1300 euros or 1250 great british pounds today - in today’s modern world with them being a cult collector vehicle, prices are easily 10 times that in the UK alone.

Like many mid century classics, the Isetta has a lively club and social scene through the collective microcars groups and parts are still obtainable to some degree, making them despite their small stature, a very usable classic and one which can be maintained and enjoyed. Nigel the owner of this has even been to Europe in it!

The Isetta was in production for eight years and over 160,000 of them were sold worldwide making it the most popular one cylinder car in the world.

It might seem a gimmick today to some onlookers - but in a world where there was a need for cars but not much cash to spend on them, bubble cars served a valid and worthy market position. Plus, the bubble car market was open to everyone - not just those with a car license!