In the 50s, post-war Europe was a dark place. There was much to recover from. But people were still people and they always found themselves at A when the really wanted to be at B.
Cars were an expensive commodity and, despite all the rebuilding, space on the roads was at a premium. The first motorway in Britain, the M1, wasn’t built in 1959. Before then a journey would wind through every town, city and village on the route. Consequently, mass produced cars aimed for practicality in that environment – small, low cost, low speed vehicles. The sort of thing you could park in the tiny car park of every tea shop en-route. The perfect time for the Isetta.
The vehicle was designed by an Italian company, Iso SpA and unveiled at the Turin motor show in 1953. Not bad for a company that previously built refrigerators, eh?
It didn’t take long for the term “bubble car” to enter the vocabulary, and you can see why. It’s touched with madness but its cute, you really get the feeling it was assembled by hand in someone’s garage, the best they could do.
Its radical departure from the norm caused a stir. The 3-wheeler had its single door at the front. The steering wheel and instruments were attached to the door and swung out with it, giving the driver and a (slim) passenger easy access to a bench seat.
There was a cloth sunroof, and luggage room came in the form of a parcel shelf over the rear mounted 14 cu.in motorcycle engine. Before you ask, no, I didn’t miss a digit out there, fourteen cubic inches, about the same size as the smallest Starbucks coffee. The weight though was equally amazing, 750lbs (the car, not the coffee).
The low weight and small engine contributed to Iso’s success in the famous Mille Miglia. Yes, the Mille Miglia. I know this is usually thought of as an event for high powered sports cars, but the Isetta came in the economy category. It covered the 1,000 miles of winding Italian roads at an average 43mph. Pretty darn good when you think its top speed was only 52mph. Even better when compared to the pathetic 27mph that I average driving round DFW with its wide roads and freeways. Makes me wonder what we’re doing wrong … but I digress.
Iso developed a four wheeled version, with the rear wheels close together to avoid the expense and complexity of a differential. It was practical and it didn’t roll over as much (yes, they did that), but the cute seems to have gone.
In the end Iso wasn’t really interested in their creation, they wanted to make larger, faster cars. In order to finance their other aspirations, Iso licensed its products. Several companies started manufacture of the Isetta, but the most well known name was BMW.
BMW re-engineered the car in various ways, but kept the basic principle of small size, power and mass. One of the changes they made was to use a different engine and drivetrain. The Isetta was noisy because you were sat in the same box as the engine. BMW’s drivetrain was an improvement, but nobody could call the BMW variant a haven of peace, just less loud.
If you have ever heard of, or seen one of these cars, then you’ll know the joke with which they been saddled. If you drive it into your garage and park it against the far wall (which would be natural), you can’t open the door. What the joke then says is that you were stuck, because the car had no reverse gear, so you couldn’t back away from the wall. It’s kind of funny, and I’m sure Mr Bean could make a good skit from it, but it’s only partly true. You see, for dodgy tax reasons the BMW version did only have forward gears, but the other companies? No, they had no accountants making their decisions or their cars, they installed reverse gears with a wanton disregard for the pennies that could be saved from tax loopholes.
So, the Isetta. It’s seems hard to believe, but it’s a clear case of the Italians out-engineering the Germans. Probably the only example, unless you know differently … and I’m betting you do!
Cheers!
(Images courtesy of whirlingpool.com and High Desert Scooterist and Wikipedia. Thanks guys)
You lost the bet, Nigel. I do NOT know of another example. Pay up!
But, oh-wise-and-goofy-one (in a car history way only, of course)…
Was my first car* , a VW Bug, a spin-off of the Isetta? If yes, I owe the Italians an apology for naming the car Schutlzy.
*Inserted to avoid a long and convoluted sentence. S/B my first car that spent more time on the road than in the repair shop. I want to own a 1959 MGA Roadster again one day. Now, THAT was a fun car to drive.
Rats. I really must read my posts more carefully before making dubious bets.
The Bug wasn’t a spin-off from the Isetta. The Bug was developed by Ferdinand Porsche at the direction of Hitler just prior to WW2. It’s often referred to as the mass murders car, but that’s not really true. Hitler just charged Porsche with creating an affordable car, Porsche did the rest. They didn’t actually get to produce the car until after WW2 because the factory the built started making war equipment. Ironically it was the British who came to control the area with the factory and got the car production started. Either way, I’m sure Schutlzy is a fine name.
I used to love old cars when I was in UK and pinned for an MGA or B. Sadly I pinned for money more, and never had one. I suspect they might be tough in the Texas heat 🙂
Thanks for the comment my early-to-rise-friend!
Cheers
That 43 mpg is even more impressive when you realize a typical car on the road in the U.S. got 8 or 9 mpg.
Hi David. I haven’t researched figures to back this up, but I’d say the European mpg since then has gone down while US mpg has gone up.
Cheers!
I’m a girl and no nothing about cars…… but It looks like a handbag 🙂
Hi Donna
I’m a boy and no nothing about handbags, but you have a point!
Cheers!
I was beginning to suspect you were a girl, Donna.
Hi Nigel. Nice article. I had not seen a picture of one of htose things in years. I’m not sure I ever saw one up close. It mayy have been odd but I think that in that time and place it made perfect sense.
As for Italain creations between their clothes designers and thei parents I have to say that Italian beaches are evidence of great Italian engineering skills. Sigh….just remembering Italy in the 70s when Italian mothers and daughters were still at battle concerning bathing suits. Thank God the daughters won the fight. I did my best in the underground strugle to gain freedom for young Italian women.
You can compile all the stats you want and maybe my methods of analysis are not SAE approved but in spite of all the well designed products and young ladys in Germany I am going to vote for Italy. Viva Italia!
If you had included Spain in the debate then I would say that the fountain of design improvement is some place between Torremolinas and Malaga or between Estaca De Vares and La Coruna.
Hi Holmes. These were fairly common on the roads when I was young, essentially because they were cheap. They kind of made sense, but largely only if you had no other option, or a burning desire to “make a statement.”
I certainly have to thank you for your sterling (and no doubt sometimes dangerous) work in the struggle for Italian daughter’s bathing suit rights. It’s a much under-discussed topic, and I’m sure it was difficult, but I can attest that the fruits of your work have added immeasurably to the quality of Italian, French, Spanish and Greek beaches.
Cheers!
In support of Jay’s position, remember it was the Italians that designed Sophia Loren and Gina Lolabrigida
An excellent point and very well made, David!
Cheers!
I was out of town when I read your post, and it’s been driving me nuts ever since. I was *certain* I’d seen another car like this (actually seen it with my own eyes), but it wasn’t an Isetta. That’s what I get for going to car museums without my camera. Grrrr.
Now that I’m home, I’ve searched the internet, and I still can’t find the car I was thinking of, so maybe it was a fig newton of my imagination. I had lots of fun looking, though. I think my favourite was Messerschmitt’s cute little 1957 KR200 Kabrio convertible: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR200 🙂
Hi Diane
LOL. Yeah, I get that feeling often. The internet and goole etc are great if you know what you want. There were several versions of the Isetta, maybe it was one from the other manufacturers. I think Messerschmitt didn’t want to be outdone by upstart BMW and made their own design. Well, that an the fact they were an aircraft manufacturer that wasn’t allowed to manufacture aircraft. Thanks fort the wiki page, I’d completely forgotten they were tandem seating.
Actually you’ve reminded me of a “car” I saw a few years ago. I think it was made in the Netherlands. It was a three wheeler where the rear two wheels and engine remained upright, but the front cockpit/wheel leant into turns like a motorbike. Damn, now I’m going to have search the internet.
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers!