Vehicle Description
1959 BMW Isetta, Silver and Black, Concourse level Restoration.
Picnic Basket. $45.000 The car is period correct restored with
unique original finishes. With just 13 horsepower, every drive in
an Isetta is an adventure, and it is nearly impossible not to smile
when stirring the 4-speed gearbox and listening to the little
single-cylinder buzz of this well-sorted example. To many
collectors, it doesn't bother them that the car doesn't go very
fast. Small and unassuming though it may be, it is without question
a significant vehicle in BMW's history. Renzo Rivolta's Isothermos
company had begun life pre-war making refrigerators. Rivolta was
passionate about all things petrol-powered, and he began to expand
the company's range, adding motorbikes to the portfolio, renaming
the works Iso Autoveicoli S.p.A. After World War II. Introduced in
1953, the egg-shaped Isetta was like nothing seen before, boasting
a hinged front for entry, the steering column and instruments
swinging out with the door to facilitate easy access to the bench
seat. Power was provided by a 236 cc two-stroke engine, which drove
the closely spaced twin rear wheels via a four-speed gearbox. A
clutch-operated, four-speed motorcycle gearbox drove the twin rear
wheels, which were placed just 20.5 inches apart. In the 1954 Mille
Miglia, Isettas claimed the first three places in the economy
classification, the winner averaging over 70km/h. BMW approached
the owner of Italian company Iso and its designer/owner Count Renzo
Rivolta with the idea of purchasing the rights to build the car.
Rivolta sold not only the production rights to the Iso but much of
the body tooling as well. BMW debuted the Isetta at the 1955
Frankfurt Auto Show and fitted it with its own 12-horsepower,
247-cubic centimeter four-stroke engine, later upsizing it to 297
cubic centimeters with 13 horsepower, as this model has. The
tubular chassis provided for a light body, which weighed in at just
700 pounds. In combination with the motorcycle engine, it offered
miserly fuel consumption and a mere DM 2,580 purchase price, which
was just 500 more than the R25 motorcycle with which it shared its
engine.
