1962 BMW Isetta - Isetta 300

Rare English licence-built version

A highly attractive colour combination

Visibly and lovingly restored, both inside and out

Parking space queen in the city centre

Impossible to not fall in love with

After the war, BMW was left with next to nothing. Motorcycles kept the factory gates open, cooking pots helped balance the books – but automobiles remained a distant dream. The first attempt came in 1952 with the 501, followed by the 502, 503 and 507. They were prestigious, elegant and expensive – and all of them spectacular failures. Every example cost more to build than it brought in, pushing the Bavarian coffers ever deeper into the red.

The light at the end of the tunnel seemed to appear in Turin in 1954. At the motor show, the men from Munich discovered the little Isetta – a perfectly rounded motocoupé, more scooter than car and exactly what they believed the times called for. A licensing agreement with Renzo Rivolta’s company Iso was quickly signed. BMW fitted the design with an engine of its own, borrowed from the R25/3 motorcycle, added the blue-and-white badge and, in 1955, the first Isetta rolled out of the factory.

A more powerful 300 cc version followed in 1956, and later came the revised Isetta known as the »Export«, with full-length side windows and without the playful wraparound rear glass. The motocoupé conquered the cities and became the German economic miracle in miniature. In England, however, the Isetta met with little enthusiasm from official BMW partner AFN. The fear of competition with its own Armstrong Siddeley and Standard Motor Company products was simply too great. BMW consequently awarded the licence to »Isetta of Great Britain Ltd.«, newly founded by Ronald J. Ashley in 1956.

By 1957, a right-hand-drive Isetta made its debut at London’s »The Dorchester« hotel, and from Brighton the company supplied not only Great Britain, but Scandinavia and the entire Commonwealth of Nations. On British Isettas, the steering wheel and gear lever moved to the other side. Gears were selected with the right hand, making a continental European feel almost at home. Since the engine sat on the right as well, 70 kilograms of ballast were fitted on the left to keep the little bubble in balance. For that reason, British Isettas were available only with the larger 300 cc engine. And because three wheels brought tax advantages in Britain, just as they did in Austria, most British Isettas were three-wheelers. Production continued until 1964, two years longer than in Germany. When production ended, so did the company.

This Isetta 300 is one such British bubble from Brighton. It was first registered on 15 May 1962, by which time production in Germany was already drawing to a close. In 2014, it made the journey from England to Austria. That its most recent owner was by no means its first enthusiast is evident wherever one looks at the blue-and-white Isetta. After a lengthy period off the road, the mechanicals may be asking for a little attention, but that rather fades into the background. After all, an Isetta has always had a way of winning hearts – and among connoisseurs, the rare British-built examples all the more so.