1955 - 1962 BMW Isetta 300
Posted by David Kinney
The post-World War II history of Bavarian Motor Works is intertwined with as many odd twists and turns as a good spy novel. With a lineup of luxury models ill-suited to a devastated economy, BMW teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Suitors such as the British Rootes Group and US-based American Motors were talking shotgun marriage.
Enter Renzo Rivolta, owner of the Italian firm Iso SpA; creator of the Rivolta, Grifo and Lele; producer of refrigerators and motorcycles; and the accepted father of the Isetta. With the introduction of the “little Iso” in Italy in 1953, it did not take long for the wags to notice it was an almost perfect amalgam of motorcycle (with its 237-cc motorcycle-based engine), car (enclosed, with full bench seating for two, four wheels and a windshield wiper) and refrigerator (the front opening door is an obvious styling homage). In 1955 BMW signed on as a franchised licensee builder of the Isetta.
A contemporary road test from the British magazine Motor shows its top speed to be 54 mph, with fuel consumption a thrifty 50 to 60 miles per US gallon. The 0 to 40 mph time could be recorded by an egg timer, with a recent report measuring it at 1 minute flat. An original brochure for the British version promoted the car by stating “Since its length is no more than average car width, it can be placed nose-on to the kerb, and is therefore the easiest car in the world to park.”
The Isetta 300 weighs in at around 770 pounds fully equipped (with heater and defroster). With your kneecaps acting as a safety bumper and your lungs as ai rbags, it is not exactly a paragon of crash-worthiness. They are highly entertaining ways to run around-town errands, though, so long as you don’t become too confrontational with a multi-ton SUV.
(From the May 2001 issue of Sports Car Market magazine.)