Bmw Isetta Coupe... 56k? talvez...

[Bullitt]

Que lindo ese carro por dios ...

Un carro que definitivamente me gustaria tener.



1958 “Polizei Edition” BMW Isetta 300.
Please note the Pattie Wagen (sic) and the prisoner in tow.
The car has functioning blue lights and siren.
Kenneth Winter Tazewell, TN



Seeing double? Here we have two members of the Central Texas Micronuts' armada of Isettas, Bruce Fullerton's car in the foreground and John Wallace's with the door open, ready for a quick getaway. John was running errands on a beautiful Spring day and decided to drop by for a visit. Of course, a few shots from LadderCam were in order. John's departure was captured in yet another amateur video by the Isetta Tech video staff right here.



Our latest entry comes from up Ohio way. Isetta Tech associate, Tom Bosano, sends us this shot of his solid barn-find Isetta. Unfortunately, the owner died. Tom bought it from his wife who knew very little about it so he's in sort-through-boxes-of-parts mode getting everything back where it belongs. Check back for updates on Tom's progress as we follow one more Isetta headed back out on the asphalt where it belongs.





Our compadre from Montevideo, Uruguay, Leonardo Correa Luna, sent along this shot of his car at the beach in Punta del Este and one in the driveway prior to blasting off on a 100 mile run. Leo explains that one more reason he loves his Isetta is that with the surfboard installed, there's no room for his girlfriend which, in turn, allows him to surf as long as he wants to. Whatever you say, Leo.





Starting off 2005 we have a couple of shots from long-time Isetta guy Hector Orlandi who has relocated to San Antonio. If you follow Jesse James and his Monster Garage escapades, you might remember Hector's red and white Isetta from the Mini/snowmobile episode from 2004. Check out his Web site right here.



Looks like Central Texas Micronut John Wallace successfully made the trip from out west of Austin, down the big hill and on over to Cecil's Auto Trim for a new sunroof. We're talkin' a 45-50 mph asphalt scorching run. The Isetta Tech video crew shot this shamefully amateur clip for your viewing pleasure. Here's part two of the action out on Ranch Road 2222 just west of Austin, Texas. What the heck, here's one more.

Achtung! These are 2, 4 and 7MB mpeg files. If you're on a dial-up connection, downloads could represent a career change.



Greg the Isettadude sent Isetta Tech this great shot of his car at the 2004 Microcar and Minicar Nationals held in Long Beach this past summer. Make careful note of the slick supercharger he installed. And check out that rear wing! Once you've restored a dozen Isettas, it's time for something a little different. Nice job and thanx again for getting in touch, Greg!



From our Wichita, Kansas office comes Jim Rader's super clean white unit. Jim's a street rodder at heart but his Isetta gets plenty of his and his wife's time and attention. Jim shot the beautiful white pearl paint. And finally, someone ponied up and tinted those windows. This is a truly beautiful car! Thanx for the pix Jim.



This entry into the Isetta Tech gallery comes from Bill Hornick over West Virginia way. The amazing thing about this car is that Bill has owned it for 29 years! Bill's car is one of the better resto candidtates we've seen in a while. We'll stay in touch and see if we can't get him to send us some progress shots and paste 'em up here for you to see.



Another long-distance Isetta friend of ours, Lisa DePlume, sent this shot of her sharp red and white unit. Lisa terrorizes the geography north of the Chicago area.



Coming in for a landing are a sharp white Isetta and Corvette Stingray owned by Leonardo Correa Luna in Montevideo, Uruguay. Leo is a pilot for Uair Airlines and has quite a corral of cars on the side including multiple Isettas. Leo is also translating the Central Texas Micronuts newsletter, "A Little Car News", into Spanish for distribution to his South American microcar amigos. Thanks for the pix and the effort, Leo!



Here's a beautiful blue and white Sliding Window Coupe that is almost completely restored. And by restored, we mean restored. The proud owner is Rich Plavetich out of Laguna Beach, California. Click here for four more shots of this beauty. Thanx again for sending these to us Rich and good luck in your search for set of pristene side glass too! If we can get our hands on any, we'll let you know.



Jerry Zabin was kind enough to send us this shot of him in his British 250 up in Skokie, Illinois. This car runs like a top, just like his Isetta convertible that we should be getting a pic of in the very near future.



Want to have some fun on the Interstate? Just hook up a trailer and park your Isetta on it. The rest will take care of itself. That's what John Wallace did. This shot was taken out of the rear window of the F-350 just south of downtown Dallas on I-35. The car is now safely in his garage in Austin.

[Bullitt]

Here's fellow Austinite and Isetta owner Carl Jensen with two of his cars. Both the Isetta and Messerschmidt are driven on a regular basis around the Austin area. Carl was a major help during the restoration of our car. And yes, he fits into both cars just fine.



Here's Wayne Graefen from over in Kerrville, Texas sitting in his Isetta for the first time. Wayne is an authority on vintage Chrysler 300's, has written a restoration manual on the 300C and, among other things, owns one of eight 300F's ever built. It's a natural that he had to snap up "the other 300". Once you're hooked on hemi power, always hooked.



Linda Noland's Googly Eye-setta from Dallas. A real looker!



Don't tell Levi Regier that the Isetta is a commuter car. That is unless your idea of a commute is from Henderson, Nebraska to Dallas and back. Levi drove his car to the 11th National Microcar & Minicar Meet in Duncanville, Texas this past September. With the exception of having to bolt the carb back on the engine once, the Isetta performed beautifully. That's a 1,500 mile round trip in four days, 50+ mpg.



Elvis bought an Isetta for Colonel Tom Parker once upon a time. Here's an excerpt from The Last Train To Memphis<EM> about it. On November 30, 2002, Elvis returned to Austin, Texas in an attempt to reclaim The Colonel's ride at the 13th Annual Chuy's Children Giving To Children parade. This Isetta's owners, Andy and Janie Amescua of McDade, allowed the photo-op but sent The King packin' in a Cadillac.



Robert "Bubba" Mace and his Cyber Green 1958 Isetta at the 2002 National Meet in Duncanville.



Here's our car in driveway getting a few last minute parts installed prior to a trip to Duncanville, Texas to the 2002 National Microcar & Minicar Meet.

[Bullitt]

The title pretty much says it all.
We've gathered up some classic shots that have been taken of various Isetta configurations, goof-off shots and stories about the various uses that Isettas have been tasked with.

If you have any Isetta-related pix you think would be appropriate to post here, please email them to us via the Feedback link along with the story behind them and your permission to use it. That shot on the left of your screen is Firemarshal Bill Waite's car carefully situated under Izilla.

Revised March 2004



Isetta John Wetzel explains what's going on in this shot:

"Here's a photo of Chris Farley in my car I rented to Saturday Night Live for a skit that was never seen because it wound up on the cutting room floor. It was called Tortoise Man. It was filmed on location at a closed down fast food place in Queens, New York. The story idea was that here was this little boy who eats alot and later in life he got so big that he became trapped in his car much like the tortoise trapped in its shell and he lives in the car forever".

"To make Chris look bigger they took the windows out of the car, put Chris into a BIG foam rubber suit and put another person in the suit with him! This way when the car was shown there were two arms sticking out of the side windows like he's this really huge person filling up the entire car. I always was going to go back to get Chris to autograph the pictures, but shortly after this filming he left the show so I never got the chance" ... JW

If the car looks familiar, it is the same one that's in the picture down the page with “Helga” standing in it. The same car was also used in a Comedy Central show with comic Jeff Ross in his rap music video parody titled I've Got a Little Penis featured thru the entire video. It was used one last time for a music video in NYC with German recording artist BODO for his song Before You Wave Goodbye. It might be the most commercially used Isetta around other than the Urkel car from Family Matters which was really 4 or 5 Isettas that were used during the show.



These two are no dummies when it comes to their taste in cars.



No jack? No problem.



Speaking of Jak's, if you're ever in the Canyon Lake, Texas neighborhood, here's a culinary tip worth looking into.


Hmmm ... let's see here, hooded babe hits on dude with ladder and hula hoop while parked on tarmac at airport by cool plane while he's trashing her paint job with bottom of ladder and ... This could be a still from a REALLY bad movie.



Speaking of babes, here we have our lovely assistant Helga conducting a stress-test on a pair of size 8 undies. If that thing ever lets go, someone's gonna get killed.

If and when Helga ever gets through with her "presentation" and turns that ignition key on, this is the next sound you'll hear. Note: This is an 8 MB audio/video download. The mpeg runs around 90 seconds. High volume (sounds awesome on 11) and a cranked-up subwoofer will greatly enhance the experience. This clip is the same one posted in the Services section under Perry's Motorcycles and Sidecars.



Planning a bank heist? How about this for a low profile getaway car? For some strange reason, this looks like it oughta be Helga's car.



We don't need no stinkin' Surburban!

As obscure as the Isetta is, part of the fun of owning one is the never-ending stream of stories people come up with. There are stories about the family Isetta, the junior high teacher's Isetta that always ended up sideways on the loading dock, and on, and on, and on.

One good one we were told concerned a US Military installation in Germany back in the '60's. Seems like a bridge had washed out and was being guarded on one side by US troops and on the other by German troops. Out of nowhere, here comes one of the locals in his Isetta running flat out on the US side. A couple of the guards jumped out of the truck and waved him down only to see him hit the brakes and skid down the river bank and stop, door-first in the mud. The guy was OK, as was his Isetta. They hitched the wench on the duece-and-a-quarter up to the chain drive and pulled him back out. After collecting his thoughts, the driver thanked the Yanks, did a 180 and took the long way home.



Another yarn came from a lady that lived next door to the location where we were dismantling our car. She always dropped by to watch the progress. Seems like a couple of weeks before her daughter's (now in her early 60's) 16th birthday, she and her husband asked their daughter what she wanted for a present. Her reply? "An Isetta!". Well, the folks weren't about to part with $1000, or ANY amount of money, for a car for her. The morning of her birthday, she got up and shot straight out to the garage ... no Isetta. Then she went running out the front door to look in the driveway ... no Isetta. In a state of total disbelief, she announced that she was not going to school and spent the rest of the day in her bedroom sobbing. She never got her Isetta but lived to tell about it.

Here's a wacky one that has that 'old wive's tale' sound about it. A guy was talking about his Dad's Isetta and the fact that a friend's Isetta had a dead battery at work one day. His Dad agreed to jump start it but only had one good jumper cable. They parked their cars facing each other, hooked up the one cable to the positive side of their respective batteries, touched the doors together for the ground side and cranked the dead car right up. Sounds like some quick thinking but you be the judge.

Then there was the guy that smuggled no telling how many people out of East Berlin during the Berlin Wall days. Apparently, he had clearance to come and go on a regular basis over a long period of time. People hid in a secret compartment under the parcel tray in his Isetta, balled up over the chain drive. His demise? As the story goes, he had an elderly lady he was sneaking into West Berlin. While at the guard house, the lady tried to resituate herself and in the process, grabbed the exhaust pipe to steady herself. The ensuing yell alerted the guards to what was going on.

By the way, there's a show on PBS called Rick Steve's Europe. If you get a chance to see the Berlin episode, there's footage of this Isetta in the program along with the story.

Click here for a screen shot of a copy of the original patent document submitted to the US Patent Office by Renzo Rivolta. This one was up for grabs on eBay.

Firemarshal Bill sends this one along ... While at a car show earlier this year, a man told me how his wife had run out of gas in her Isetta 300 along the side of a country road. A thunder storm was brewing but she managed to walk the 3 miles to home just before it started to pour down rain. He grudgingly picked up a gallon can of gas and headed back up the deserted road to the Isetta. It wasn't until after he had poured the gas into the tank that he realized his wife had left the parking lights on and the battery charge was so low it wouldn't turn the engine over. Sitting behind the wheel, he was wet, cold, and thoroughly disgusted with his wife. He had resigned himself to walking all the way back home in the blowing rain, but when he went to climb out of the car, a gust of wind caught the front door and almost blew it out of his grasp. This gave him an idea. Putting the car in neutral, he opened the door just enough to catch the wind at the optimum angle and soon had the Isetta rolling fast enough to slip the transmission into second gear, pop the clutch, and jump start the little engine on the first try.

Try that with your piece of Detroit Iron.

John Hollowell sent us this one:

"Of the 3 Isettas we have the best story came from a 60 year old truck driver who originally got his first Isetta when he was working in a gas station. The car had been dropped off for repairs. When the owner never came back for the car the truck driver talked his boss into taking $10.00 per week out of his check and the Isetta became his first car".

"Our blue Isetta was purchased at a garage sale. My son was 15 at the time and he restored it over a 6 month period working after school. Now that he is 18 he is driving a 1976 BMW 2002 with air dams,body skirts and a Mekur turbo that has more than doubled the power".

"When It came time for him to write his essay to get into school he wrote about the Isetta restoration and I think his story might be the reason that he was accepted to his school".



For the man who has everything.

Of course, no Isetta storyboard would be complete without getting the football team involved. My cousin Nina graduated from Beaumont (Texas) High School in 1959. There was an extremely overweight girl in her class and who received an Isetta for her graduation present. Even with lookouts posted, no one ever figured out how her car was moved from the parking lot to the front steps of the school ... every day for a week.



Babe Magnet!

While stopped at the filling station one night, a guy and his wife made a U-turn and stopped to check out our car and shoot the bull. Turns out, his Dad had been in the Army in the late 1950's through the early '60's. His job was to inspect containers of soldier's personal belongings that had been shipped back to the US from Europe. One container he opened had the usual stuff in it but as they got towards the rear, here sat an Isetta full of belongings. Checking his manifest, seems that the Lieutenant had listed his Isetta as a "household appliance". The explanation to his CO must have been an interesting one.

Isetta Tech. Live from Austin, Texas. Copyright 2002-2005.

[turboed]

seria intereante manejar uno y ver las reacciones del manejo

es una pieza de la historia en el automovilismo eso no cabe duda

saludos

[purebmw]

si no fuera por el isseta, ninguno de nosotros podria disfrutar de un serie M....


gracias al isseta tamos felices....alsdjfñl

[spike]

un accidente en esa mierda

[Signo]

esta bonito, pero puta aqui un bus te pasa llevando

[Peibol]

Y pretendes que leamos todo eso en ingles?

PD. Lo siento pero no me gusta, pura tortolita sin forma!

[Bullitt]

Iniciado por Vico

Y pretendes que leamos todo eso en ingles?

PD. Lo siento pero no me gusta, pura tortolita sin forma!

Es para que practiques ...

[purebmw]

Iniciado por Bullitt

Es para que practiques ...

añsdkfjñalskdfjñasldkfjañsldkfjñasldk* 1 x e^e& (invertido 180 grados sexagesimales) ñalskdjfñlaksjdfñlkasjdñ

[SLC]

como dice el purebmw

El Isetta, el salvador de BMW

La historia lo erigió como el modelo que le dio una nueva oportunidad a BMW. Luego de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la marca alemana introdujo en su país el pequeñísimo Isetta para evitar su disolución. Un éxito que por estos días cumple ya 50 años.


+ ampliar El Isetta no tuvo una larga vida. Sin embargo, sus escasos años de existencia gozaron de una actividad constante y fundamentalmente contribuyeron para que BMW no desapareciera. Por eso siempre será recordado. Y más aún cuando se cumplen 50 años de su salida a escena. Todo un ícono de la marca bávara.

Corría 1955 y Alemania resurgía de las cenizas. Luego de la Segunda Guerra Mundial la calma retornaba y con ella una serie de necesidades que dieron vida a múltiples soluciones. Y este fue el caso del Isetta, un vehículo pequeño y práctico, creado para recorrer los caminos de una nación por entonces emergente. Durante sus siete años de vida, BMW produjo un total de 161.728 unidades del Isetta.

BMW estaba a punto de ser absorbida por Mercedes-Benz. Las escasísimas ventas de la firma bávara la ponían contra las cuerdas. Sus costosos y espaciosos vehículos ya no eran deseados. A raíz de esto, la marca encontró la vuelta de tuerca para esquivar un magro futuro y a su vez hacer historia.


El modelo era de origen italiano. La marca de scooters Iso lo presentaba en el Salón de Ginebra de 1954 cuando fue visto por un integrante de BMW. Luego de conseguir la licencia para fabricarlo en serie, la compañía alemana adaptó su diseño y le incorporó un motor de un cilindro.

[A320-232]

Iniciado por SLC

como dice el purebmw

El Isetta, el salvador de BMW

La historia lo erigió como el modelo que le dio una nueva oportunidad a BMW. Luego de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la marca alemana introdujo en su país el pequeñísimo Isetta para evitar su disolución. Un éxito que por estos días cumple ya 50 años.


+ ampliar El Isetta no tuvo una larga vida. Sin embargo, sus escasos años de existencia gozaron de una actividad constante y fundamentalmente contribuyeron para que BMW no desapareciera. Por eso siempre será recordado. Y más aún cuando se cumplen 50 años de su salida a escena. Todo un ícono de la marca bávara.

Corría 1955 y Alemania resurgía de las cenizas. Luego de la Segunda Guerra Mundial la calma retornaba y con ella una serie de necesidades que dieron vida a múltiples soluciones. Y este fue el caso del Isetta, un vehículo pequeño y práctico, creado para recorrer los caminos de una nación por entonces emergente. Durante sus siete años de vida, BMW produjo un total de 161.728 unidades del Isetta.

BMW estaba a punto de ser absorbida por Mercedes-Benz. Las escasísimas ventas de la firma bávara la ponían contra las cuerdas. Sus costosos y espaciosos vehículos ya no eran deseados. A raíz de esto, la marca encontró la vuelta de tuerca para esquivar un magro futuro y a su vez hacer historia.


El modelo era de origen italiano. La marca de scooters Iso lo presentaba en el Salón de Ginebra de 1954 cuando fue visto por un integrante de BMW. Luego de conseguir la licencia para fabricarlo en serie, la compañía alemana adaptó su diseño y le incorporó un motor de un cilindro.

this info......

[Mhm]

jajajajaja

[Eurolover]

que historia que lindo el carro, creo que yo no pudiera manejar esa onda porque no quepo pero en si que lindo el carrito

[VWBetoGT]

por mil!

y ver los Messerschimdt en la calle es para cagarse de larisa

[h4ck7er]

Iniciado por Bullitt

Es para que practiques ...

jaklsjdfla a no va esque aquel solo frances jajsfdajklsd

[Ignition]

Lindas esas miershitas!!!

[Mickey]

Que deahuevo un carrin de esos. Solo el que llevaba una tabla larga si me cagó de la risa, old school...

[ALNred]

q linda esa mierdita, me encantaria tenerlo para fines de semana.


PD. FUCK VICO

[less_n]

que cague de risa esta mierda


se te chinga el hummer y solo bajas el bmw y a echar verga.... me da risa esa mierdita

[ROCKFORD DRIVE AXLE]

En El periferico, antes de Villa Linda II, sobre el carril auxiliar hay una empresa de repuestos usados para transporte pesado, y tienen un Isetta 300 que venden, pero hay que meterle su cacho de plata....

Les voy a averiguar la direccion, porque solo se llegar.

[Bullitt]

Iniciado por ROCKFORD DRIVE AXLE

En El periferico, antes de Villa Linda II, sobre el carril auxiliar hay una empresa de repuestos usados para transporte pesado, y tienen un Isetta 300 que venden, pero hay que meterle su cacho de plata....

Les voy a averiguar la direccion, porque solo se llegar.

Con el Telefono suficiente

[less_n]

Iniciado por ROCKFORD DRIVE AXLE

En El periferico, antes de Villa Linda II, sobre el carril auxiliar hay una empresa de repuestos usados para transporte pesado, y tienen un Isetta 300 que venden, pero hay que meterle su cacho de plata....

Les voy a averiguar la direccion, porque solo se llegar.

me queda cerquisima ese lugar

[Juan Fer]

Iniciado por ROCKFORD DRIVE AXLE

En El periferico, antes de Villa Linda II, sobre el carril auxiliar hay una empresa de repuestos usados para transporte pesado, y tienen un Isetta 300 que venden, pero hay que meterle su cacho de plata....

Les voy a averiguar la direccion, porque solo se llegar.

Esta pegado, cabal saliendo del naranjo, alli en el auxiliar como a 2 o 3 ventas y talleres q hay... es facil llegar

[Bullitt]

Iniciado por less_n

me queda cerquisima ese lugar

A vos no te va, a mi si...