By Jim Brennan

UDMan

It was closing time at the SEMA show on Tuesday evening, and they were telling all the attendees to vacate the show, but I bagged a 24 Hour all access pass, so that I could wander around (within reason) on the show floor. And look what I found, this little copper colored BMW Isetta. Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "One Cool Little BMW Isetta" »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

If you’re familiar with the specs of the Isetta microcar—three wheels, anemic two-stroke engine, nonexistent crash protection—you might not think it’d be the best choice for autocross. And guess what? You’d be totally correct! From this clip, I can’t tell whether this is a BMW model or one of numerous other versions made in Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, or Britain. But what anyone with functioning eyeballs can see is that it goes up on two wheels while navigating one of the turns, and that it’s completely hilarious. Hopefully the little commuter didn’t sustain any damage during the ordeal.

Auto Express reports that BMW may be offering a redesign of its iconic postwar microcar, the Isetta, to compete with contemporary micros such as the Smart and the Fiat 500. The original Isetta was powered by a rear-mounted motorcycle engine that delivered about 12 horsepower, and on the base model the only door was its swing-away nose panel. Modern safety regs would prohibit this front-entry design, but the new Isetta would retain the egg-shaped silhouette of the original. The redesign is only in the earliest conceptual stages at the moment, and BMW may not make a decision on it until 2010.