I passed my test in one of these in England at 17 years of age. The guy testing me couldn't face the prospect of giving me a retest. It jumped out of third gear every 20 seconds, and when it hit a pothole, developed a vibration that grew and grew and would not stop until you reduced speed to 3 mph. We got three teenagers in this car -- 2 side by side, and one between sitting on the parcel shelf with half his torso out through the sunshine roof. The car had a yellow interior and a matt brown (hand painted) exterior. I used it to go to school. One day the headmaster called me in and asked me to never park the car near the school again. The local residents had complained it was reducing the value of their houses! It ended its days when the engine blew up as I was pushing it at top speed going down hill. Max speed turned out to be 55. My father rowed me home and we gave it a decent funeral.
The way your Isetta saw it’s last days sounds like the final days of the ‘74 Super Beetle I drove my last semester of high school. By then the engine had very little power left and the last trip I took it on was to our local mall to pick up my prom tuxedo. I’m surprised it made it there and back. Top speed was a cruising 55mph.
This is the last video I watched with my dad before he passed away the same night. He used to be a car mechanic before he became a policeman and eventually retired so it was interisting for him. He couldn't understand English so I had to translate for him but he was astonished by this vehicle and explained to me in full how the choke mechanism actually worked. We had a few laughs because of it and the video always brings out quite a few fond memories when I go back and watch it. Thank you, Doug!
Not german engineered. It was produced under ISO licence. They just ruined the beautiful original bubble shaped window, and saved themselves from bankrupcy. Basically, it was the Smart car concept: cheap to run, minimal sized twin seater citycar.
The Reasons grocery store near me sell these really cool car coolers. It's basically a small-ish version of an old car that's really a cooler. Now I want to get the frame on one of these & somehow turn it into a cooler for really fancy parties. Maybe make it so you open the door to access the cooler part. But unfortunately I have none of the technical skills needed to make it. Otherwise I just might. I bet there's people out there who would rent it for big parties. I was going to suggest car show but they might just beat you up for it. Still buying your beer or in my case soda from an actual old car cooler would way more fun than those $200 ones Reasors has.
"What happens if you get in an accident in the Isetta and the door won't open?" Well unless the other vehicle was a bicycle, you'll be dead so it won't matter.
A small, but true Isetta story from the cold European winter of 1962/63: A woman in a small village came into labor, and her husband drove her in his Isetta into the town to the clinic. The child was born on the way (while driving over a railroad bridge, about 1 mile from the clinic). As they arrived at the clinic, the clinic staff decided it was too cold outside to open the car, so they ordered him to drive directly into the bed elevator. Arrived at the 2nd floor, they now opened the front door and got mother and healthy child out of the car.
at the time this car was made world war 2 ended buildings roads were destroyed people needed small cars to drive around so bmw purchased the isetta from another automobile.
@@avdcrx5441 That exactly was the reason for the existance of this car. The US industry provided jobs in abundance during WW2 and emerged from the war undamaged, and could continue to produce to rebuild Europe, which raised the incomes for the people considerably during the fifties, and car ownership was a normal thing even for the blue collar worker in 1950s USA. Europe on the other hand was rampaged by war, not much of industry was left intact, roads and railways destroyed, and many people lost their houses. The second half of the 40's and the 50's were essentially a period of repair, and therefore wages didn't rise much as money was mostly needed for repair of the industry and everything else in fact, it was a time of austerity. Car ownership was very low, most blue collar workers travelled by foot, bicycle or public transport, look up photographs of 1950's suburbs in European cities and you will see streets with almost no cars, in fact less than 15% of households in the UK owned a car in 1950 while it was almost half of the households in the US that owned a car in the same year. So these cheap small cars were developed to offer an affordable alternative to the normal cars of the time.
Daniel Sanchez You guys take this video way too seriously. I bet the owner had a blast looking at this video, because if he’s crazy enough to own one he knows exactly what it is. A stupid but absolutely hilarious car.
@@dr.albantross1686. Well, this was not the only brand of "stupid" microcar of its era. They were built in post-WW2 Europe when times were hard. They smartly disappeared when prosperity returned.
My uncle drove the Isetta from Germany to Italy taking the old Gotthard road in the 1960ies. He managed to store my aunt and my cousin, a big tent, an inflatable boat, clothes and what else was needed for a two-week-holiday inside (!) the car. He did this four years in a row except that in the second year he got a luggage rack that was placed on the spare tire on which he put the boat on. These guys were real adventurers!
When I was a kid in the early 60's, our next door neighbor stored his Isetta in our garage. As I remember it looked just like this one. Great memories...
Perhaps I ought to explain. I remember those days. To many people those laughable vehicles were a step up from walking or taking a bus. Better than a motorcycle if you wanted to stay dry (not as cool but that's another matter). To defeat Hitler we destroyed the entire infrastructure of the German economy. It took a while before BMW could produce vehicles approaching today's standards. Messerschmidt also produced a bubble car (as they were called) even smaller than this Italian design and closely resembling the cockpit of a fighter plane.
@@Ferret1900 On one hand I totally agree that you have to take into consideration the times and economy of the day......but at the same time this is still the most laughable car I've ever seen. They literally built a car out of a refrigerator including the door.
That Isetta was extremely badly maintained. I owned one back in the early 1960s, so I know a bit about them. First, that steering play was due to badly worn out bushes in the horizontal steering linkage. Steering should be taught and immediate. Second the brakes should be super sharp, and I used to have to be careful not to brake too hard because it would splat my passenger against the windscreen. Maybe that's because the British version was fitted with the same brakes as a Mini, but the Isetta was much lighter. Third, it should have no problem with that hill. There are two very steep hills in my town, and my Isetta could get up them in low gear and with a passenger on board. Top speed on the flat should be 50 mph also, so I guess yours has a worn out engine. The British version had only one rear wheel to comply with British law. The 4 wheel version required a full car licence. I bought mine because I had only a motorcycle licence, and was fed up with getting wet in our rainy weather. I just did not earn enough at the time to afford to buy and run a proper car. I loved that little car that was so much fun to drive, and have considered getting one as a second car, but in good condition they change hands now for £15,000 (19,000 USD) or more as collectors items. I'm sure that if you tested a1960 Cadillac with a knackered engine, shot streering bushes, and seriously faulty brakes, you would be just as unimpressed.
I agree with most of the above, try a properly maintained sample. Mine was the three wheel version, would touch 70 MPH go up any hills, including the steepest in Sheffield England, and handle pretty well. One of the best handling 3 wheelers made. Wish I still had the Isetta, was terrific fun to own and drive.
But a lawnmower does not have more horsepower than it the average push mower has around five horsepower and some riding mowers can be as low as 8 horsepower
@ANONYMOUS IDENTITY I actually know of one case where this happened. Back in the 60's, our neighbor's son owned a '57 Belair with a 409 Hemi, Hurst "rock crusher" transmission, modified exhaust - and an electric fuel pump. He had it parked near his dormitory at college, and one day when returning from class, he saw a thief trying unsuccessfully to start it. He sauntered up to his car and asked the "driver" if he was having trouble. The thief replied, yeah, I can't seem to get it to start. So the owner said, scoot over a moment and let me try. While the thief wasn't looking for a moment, he reached under the dash and flicked the fuel pump power switch on, then started the car. The very surprised thief asked, "How did you know how to start it?" The owner replied, "Because it's MY car!" The thief bailed very quickly.
Here in Germany, people used to call the Isetta (hint: pronounced ee-zetta) "Schlaglochsuchgerät" - Bump detector device, because the different width of the axes meant you'd inevitably hit any bump.
A tip: You should pull the choke and wait for the engine to reach a certain temperature, and then ease the choke a little (or release it completely, if it's a hot day and the idle speed is maintained), then you can drive around . When you accelerate taking the car without inertia, the engine drowns, if the choke is activated, because the engine is very small. If you leave with the vehicle before the engine is at the right temperature, it will have no power, and it will stop. Here in Brazil there were many cars that ran only on ethanol, and even in a tropical climate, cars with ethanol needed to be throttled to warm up the engine for a few minutes before being able to drive around. There are still cars with ethanol, but they work in an automated way (our gasoline has a large amount of ethanol included, and it sucks).
The Chrysler dealership my father worked for in So Cal sold these as a 2nd line of cars. My dad drove one as a "demo" and I made a shift knob for it in school that he used until it was sold after reaching a certain mileage. Kids at school got a kick out of it when he drove me there. They also sold the larger model with a rear seat (if you could call it that.)
@@KeithM-ds1cf He wants to do something with it. Hopefully he can do something with BMW to re-launch it. twitter.com/jaleelwhite/status/932774062291435520
Good look at the car, but there was a 3 wheeled version made by BMW specifically for the UK market as regulations in Britain were different to the rest of Europe at the time regarding the use of a motorcycle license.
It was classed as a tricycle, or the same as a motorcycle with sidecar, for licence and tax purposes. To meet that specification it was allowed only 3 wheels, must weigh no more than 8 cwt (896 lbs), and have no reverse gear. The Isetta did have a reverse gear, but in the British version a pin was fitted in the gearbox to prevent engagement. The canvass sun roof helped it meet the weight regulation. During the time that I owned mine the pointless reverse gear legislation was changed, probably due to protests from owners. All I had to do was unscrew a plug in the gearbox casing, pull out a steel pin, and replace the plug, et voila, reverse gear.
In UK everything with less than 4 wheels was taxed as motorcycle and much cheaper then. The Isetta sunroof was necessary in Germany to be road legal. You need to come out of or inside the car after a frontal crash. No luxury, just the emergency exit.
Okay, whatever. I still think one of these would be fun with some decent amount of power. Heck, It would likely be easiest (and most effective) to mount the body onto a custom frame or maybe a golf cart or ATV frame, perhaps with 4 wheel independent suspension.
FYI: my grandmother owned one back in the late 50s, and she managed to drive it with herself as the motorist, two nannies and 4, yes, four small children. She took us to the park. Probably 1959... she then sold it and purchased a Renault Dauphine. All this is Sao Paulo, Brazil. Cheers
As an Isetta owner, I enjoy pulling into a car show and watching the people leave the muscle car area and come to see the Isetta. The best part is letting the kids sit inside it with their parents .
People tend to forget that germany lost the war and was in Ruins. .. and most of the cars of that time were very small very cheap and used little fuel... A average german father Who survived the war and earned a little money to buy such Micro cars were happy to conquer europe again peacefull to visit Italy and make summer holidays there
@@jackgrimaldi8685 East German families went to Hungary in a Trabant and that's more than 10 hours of driving; some families went to Italy post-war in a VW Beetle. So yes, this was a thing.
Europe it self was in ruins. I remember cringing when I saw old clips/movies shot in Europe bc the cars were so off. I thought that was the style not bc the economy wasn't okay.
The Isetta is not so laughable as it may seem today. In the 50s, with Europe still partly in ruins and people craving for individual transport, the concept was so successful that is was licensed to Spain, France and Brazil. It also helped BMW to get back on their feet. The concept of a tiny car came back 30 years later with the Smart and is here to stay apparently. The Isetta was based on available resources, infrastructure and market requirements of the 50s in Germany. Therefore it probably made more sense than any electric vehicle we see today...
The concept of a small car was never really gone in Europe. We had the VW Beetle (VW Käfer) which was produced up until the 80s until it was replaced by the Golf, which itself was later replaced by the VW Up (Golfs are still produced, but they are bigger now), then there was the Fiat 500, which is still produced today (in a newer generation, though), The Ford Ka in the 90s/early 2000s and of course a British icon, the original Mini... And those are only the ones I can think of.
Simon Lu. He might also consider that without the Isetta there wouldn’t be the M2, “The best BMW ever”. A car that saved a car company is more significant than one with 400+ HP...
the fact that it was significant more than half a century ago probably because of it being the least expensive doesnt change that except for its singular advantage it wasnt a very good car, even back then so i think its fine if hes honest after all its quite difficult to get how it was so important without actually knowing all the facts
The real question is: Does it use blinker fluid just as rapidly as their more modern vehicles? They still even haven't added a guage for it, so the driver never knows.
We need to call Clarkson, Hammond and May and have them put these in a race: Yugo, Isetta and Lada! I don't know who will ask for which car but I think May would prefer the Isetta, Hammond the Lada and Clarkson the Yugo.
10:05 UPS Truck Driver: Ahh, what a beautiful day, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, the boxes behind me aren’t breaki- _Isetta passes by_ UPS Truck Driver: *Wait wut....*
adrian simental dude you're getting so worked up over a simple joke which clearly flew way past your hollow head. Nobody's hating on shit bud, quit being an asshat.
This thing is way too high and tight to br able to handle a track like that. But I agree, it would be hilarious. They could call it "The Clowny Car 500".
Ojars, you're saying that someone paying $30k-$50k for this car is a reason NOT to make fun of them? That's the main reason I make fun of them, if they were reasonable they wouldn't get made fun of.
Well, watch the video again, especially the part where the fella opens the cover of the engine. You see that the engine is just IN FRONT of the rear axle, so this in fact is a mid-engined car. Rear engined cars have the motor BEHIND the rear axle, like the VW Beetle (the original one), the original Fiat 500, the NSU Prinz, the Porsche 356 & 911, the Tucker 48 & the Chevrolet Corvair to name a few.
When I lived in Colorado some 25 years ago I saw a bright yellow Isetta outside the Boulder BMW dealership and my head just about swiveled off of my neck. I stopped and asked about it and one of the salespeople, a nice German lady, took a few minutes to talk to me about 'Izzy' and show her to me. She said that Izzy had been restored several years prior and was fully driveable, though she only drove in parades and the occasional BMW show (after being driven to the event in an enclosed trailer). She said that her parents had owned a couple of them when she was growing up in Germany, as it was all they and many others could afford at the time. She also informed me that many of the European Isettas had single rear wheels to take advantage of lower tax rates for motorcycles (the Reliant Robin three wheeler was also classified as a motorcycle as it also had three wheels). It was a delightful conversation about a neat car, and I appreciate that the saleslady took the time to talk to a scruffy looking college student who loved cars.
If the cop is an actual Petrol head (Gasoline head for all you Yanks, like Jay Leno) he’ll go “Is that an Isetta? Cool!”. Jay Leno has a Isetta, as well as a Gas Turbine motorcycle.
All BMW dealerships have the "isseta bar" named after this car, it's just the coffee stand for waiting customers but it proves they are proud of this car lol
The Isatta was 50 years ahead of it's time. The ideal town car. Cheap to run. Cheap to own. Simple mechanically design. Was a stepping stone for the next generation. Please be reminded the '50 were the years of reconstruction after WWII. Cute and very practical.
@@CaptHollister I agree it was a small car of the 1950's. I remember when my parents and me drove a Fiat 500 from Germany to Italy for vacation... wow was that a ride. 60 years later we still produce high Tech small cars. I keep wondering if there is a genius who can make an electric version of the BMW Isetta..Full circle...😎😎
This is the only car that Yugo, Skoda and Trabant owners from that era could laugh at, but only because they had an extra tyre and a radio. I’m assuming they all had a radio.
