Filed under: Euro, Hatchbacks, BMW
BMW may bring back Isetta!
Auto Express is reporting that BMW is currently considering bringing back the Isetta, the three-wheel mini car with a door where the hood should be that achieved pop-culture celebrity status as the personal whip of Urkel on the sit-com Family Matters (did I just date myself?). Unlike the original, the modern interpretation will have four wheels and two doors on the sides (damn safety regulations), but it will retain the rear-engine layout of the original. While BMW has not corroborated any of this speculation, there are many reasons why resurrecting the Isetta would be a good move for the Munich-based automaker. For one, the minicar segment is a robust one around the world, especially Europe where the new Isetta would do battle with the Fiat 500, smart fortwo and Volkswagen's up! lineup. Secondly, the Isetta would be powered by a clean engine that, coupled with its light weight, would yield the most eco-friendly BMW of them all. Its inclusion in the propellor's line up would serve to bring down the average emissions of BMW's entire fleet. Finally, the Isetta brand is eminently bankable thanks to the cult status it's achieved in car culture and the generally fun and jolly nature of the original. Hopefully, however, Urkel didn't damage the brand too much back in the '90s.
[Source: Auto Express]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
the meev 12:32PM (11/28/2007)
didn't it have four wheels?
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Bob 12:33PM (11/28/2007)
Yes! They need to bring back the front door though. I dont see how they could get it to pass safety tests that way but still. Here is my Isetta! www.IsettaBob.com
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Bob 12:34PM (11/28/2007)
Most did have four wheels, but there were some three wheelers made in Brighton England for the British market.
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Lemmiwinks 12:40PM (11/28/2007)
y'all ain't *that* old, Neff.
HEE Hee hee /snort /snort
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RobZ4 12:45PM (11/28/2007)
Is all good but I will wait for the M version to come out ;)
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Iris 12:48PM (11/28/2007)
The Isetta is not a three-wheeler!
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The Penguin 12:53PM (11/28/2007)
Now would be the time to bring it back.
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Eric Biran 12:53PM (11/28/2007)
Did everyone just completely forget these two important words:
Mini Cooper?
While that vehicle is slightly larger than the original and the Smart (with its 2 person capacity), it is certainly the benchmark competition for the Fiat 500. Why not just have a mini-er Mini?
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TBlueMax 1:26PM (11/28/2007)
I agree that there would likely be some segment infringement/cannibalization between the two but the drivetrain layout, FF for Mini vs. RR for Isetta, may help differentiate the two and line it up against VWs up!.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/10/frankfurt-2007-volkswagen-reveals-rear-engined-concept/
Throwback 1:10PM (11/28/2007)
What is the point of the Mini brand if you are going to brand mini cars as BMWs?
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k.w.a 1:16PM (11/28/2007)
o my goodness, no!
unless they're bringing back "Family Matters" and Steve Urkel they need to just leave the isetta in the past
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BILL 2:43PM (11/28/2007)
Or BMW could name it the Poinsettia. That could give us such road test remarks as "the Poinsettia really feels planted as it goes down the road".
ckm 1:16PM (11/28/2007)
Besides the mistake that Isettas were 3-wheeled (most of them had 4 wheels), there is also the point that three-wheeled vehicles are considered motorcycles in the US and don't need to meet crash standards....
As an aside, my mom learned to drive in an Isetta....
Chris.
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jim 1:24PM (11/28/2007)
"three-wheeled vehicles are considered motorcycles..."
How quickly do you think the Feds would revisit this little loophole if a major manufacturer started selling a vehicle that appeared in every way to be a car as a motorcycle to sidestep some regulation.
Not to mention the product liability lawyers who would be lined up waiting for the first accident.
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Gary Blomquist 1:31PM (11/28/2007)
When I was in Junior High School (Warren E. Hyde Junior High, Cupertino, California) in California back in the early 60's, we had a female teacher that commuted to our school in her Isetta. A bunch of us 8th grader boys got together after school before the teachers had left the school in their cars to go home, and tried a little prank on Miss Isetta owner/teacher.
I can't remember how many of us there were, but enough of us 12/13 year old boys to encircle the Isetta and all grab the bottom of the car and lift it off the ground in unison. It was amazingly easy to lift for us guys!
We proceeded to carry the Isetta out of the parking lot, and down the street, and then deposit it in the parking lot of the Presbyterian church next door.
Anyway, I can't remember what the teacher's reaction was, and didn't know I was involved in Auto-Grand-Theft and the age of 13! :)
We didn't end up in the principal's office over the stunt. So I don't know if the teacher reported it, or shook it off as an innocent prank.
It made the years-later, first Honda Civic seem like a beast. Actually the Austin Mini Coupe came on the scene before the first Civic, and it was big when compared to the Isetta.
If I recall, the teacher's Isetta had one rear wheel and not a double, and that was a U.S. imported one from Germany.
We all thought at the time, it was one weird little car. The front door opened, and I believe the steering wheel was on the front door when it opened.
Boy, I don't know how that set-up could be duplicated, and pass safety standards of the NHTA, or any other country's safety standards for vehicles.
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Guenther 1:35PM (11/28/2007)
I actually like the styling of this thing. it would be sweet if they just used the R-drivetrain with a 2 wheel swing-arm.
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DP 1:38PM (11/28/2007)
I think this is great!
Especially to have another funky, fun, small car. This, along with the smart fortwo and Fiat 500 and hopefully VW Up! will help us to get over 'bigger is better' etc.
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rick 1:47PM (11/28/2007)
I love the idea, however the bureaucrats in this country would kill the spirit of the original (hence the door on the side). So I doubt it would ever arrive here in the states. :-(
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Brett 2:36PM (11/28/2007)
Build it, make it look like this, and bring it. And as far as branding goes, slap a Mini badge on it and the bulk of people won't know the difference.
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KazO 2:41PM (11/28/2007)
This sorta makes sense if this is how BMW intends on reusing the MINI platform under their own brand, a rumor that's been floating around for a few months. That of course makes the front door not doable since the motor'll be in the way. But there were 4-normal-wheels Isettas (600) with side doors, though as back doors, not replacing the front one.
But even if this happens, we won't see it in the US, not because of safety or whatever issues, but because BMWNA is so pig-headed about not wanting to sell
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