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Weird car of the week 16th April 2006 |
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Sunday, 16 April 2006 |
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This weeks weird Car of the Week is the BMW Isetta
The BMW Isetta bubblecar had it origins in Italy where a company known as ISO, who previously made scooters, started to produce a micro car in 1953 based around their scooter motor. Originally intended to be a 3 wheeler there were 4 wheels altogether with the rear wheels spaced close together. Entry to the car was via a single door that was hinged at the front. The steering wheel swung out with the door to provide access to the bench seat that could seat 2 people. A parcel shelf was directly behind the seat with their spare wheel and tiny 236 cc engine below the shelf.
BMW were in a bit of financial difficulties around this time most of their factories were lost during the war to either bombing of to being located in East Germany. The simplest way for BMW to rebuild was to license the Isetta’s design and start producing them in Germany with a improved design and BMW’s own motorcycle engines.
Several version of the BMW Isetta were produced there was a 250 a 300 and a 600 (referring to their engine size). The last car came off the production line in May 1962 with a total of over 132000 made.
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