1955 BMW Isetta - Isetta Jagdwagen

Faithful recreation of Kurt Donath’s one-off hunting car

Formerly part of the renowned Bruce Weiner collection

Meticulously documented reconstruction

An absolute head-turner

Kurt Donath was one of the men tasked with getting BMW back on its feet after the Second World War. As Technical Director and head of the Munich-Milbertshofen plant, he was closely involved in the question of how a badly weakened company could once again become a viable motor manufacturer. Donath initially favoured the pragmatic solution of building an existing vehicle under licence rather than burdening BMW with the costly development of an entirely new model.

BMW eventually found just such a solution in Italy. Developed by Iso, the Isetta was extensively re-engineered for Munich and introduced as the BMW Isetta in 1955. Together with development chief Fritz Fiedler, Donath was involved in the negotiations with Iso. That the little bubble car should soon afterwards provide the basis for his own personal recreation is one of the more curious footnotes in BMW history.

Donath was a keen hunter. So in 1955, BMW built him a hunting car based on the Isetta. Chassis and running gear remained largely standard, but above them sat an entirely new body. In place of the enclosed cabin was an open body with a bench seat and room for two hunters, their equipment and – given sufficient luck in the field – their quarry. It was all rather removed from the Isetta’s usual duties between the bakery, the workplace and the Sunday family outing.

The one-off was powered by the familiar four-stroke single-cylinder engine from BMW’s motorcycle division. Vast reserves of power were not part of the package. What the Isetta did offer was compact dimensions, low weight and mechanical simplicity – qualities that, at least in theory, had their attractions away from paved roads. This was never intended to be a serious exercise in off-road engineering, however. The Jagdwagen was a bespoke creation for one man with a very particular purpose in mind.

The original is lost today. This Jagdwagen is a later recreation built on an Isetta 300 chassis as part of a student project at a technical school. The entire construction process was meticulously documented, including specially prepared technical drawings. It subsequently found a fitting home in Bruce Weiner’s Microcar Museum. Externally virtually indistinguishable from the original, this Isetta provides a wonderfully vivid reminder of just how delightfully unconventional BMW could be in the 1950s.