Finished in teal with a black rollback sunroof, white roof and white nose stripe, this 1957 BMW Isetta 300 received a professional, comprehensive nut-and-bolt restoration and a modern black California license plate reading, “G8DESGN.” Powered by a 298cc air- cooled, single-cylinder engine with a 4-speed manual transmission and a manual choke, it rolls on four 10-inch cream-colored steel wheels with polished BMW hubcaps and blackwall tires. The interior is fitted with a black leather bench seat with black and white plaid inserts, black floor matting, a teal-colored three-spoke steering wheel, a heater, sliding side windows and reverse-sweep 60 MPH VDO speedometer. The body features the famous front-opening door, which is equipped with vents and dual windshield wipers. Fitted with chrome bumpers and overriders, a chrome driver’s sideview mirror and twin side-mounted headlights, this Isetta presents very well. The Isothermos company, producing small, electric heaters and coolers, was located in Bolzaneto on the outskirts of Genoa, Italy. Renzo Rivolta, an engineer, bought the company in 1939, renaming it Iso and moving it to Bresso after a bombing raid destroyed the offices. With Europe in ruins at the end of World War II, Renzo focused the company on the production of motorbikes, specifically the Isoscooter, which competed with Vespa and Lambretta, allowing Italians inexpensive transportation. But in the early 1950s, Iso engineers Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi designed a diminutive, egg-shaped car powered by a motorcycle engine and called it Isetta. The concept was brilliant, filling the void between a motorcycle and the Fiat Topolino, Italy’s most affordable car. Introduced at the Turin Auto Show in 1953, the Isetta captured a lot of attention from both the press and public alike, as it was unlike anything ever before seen. Truth be told, for inexpensive, city transportation, the Isetta was remarkably revolutionary. Iso created a licensing program for other manufacturers to produce them in their home countries, and BMW was by far the most influential. While the basic look remained very much Isetta, BMW employed its own engines and largely re-engineered the car so that it was very much a BMW and less of an Isetta. By the time production ceased in 1962, over 160,000 had been built.
