So which side of the fence do you sit on? Do you pronounce it “Ee-zetta” or “Aye-zetta”? The thing is there are two variants of the BMW Isetta: the three-wheeler, which was sold (and assembled) in the UK, and the Bavarian-built four-wheeler. So there’s not one fence to sit on, there are two. The three-wheeler can use the English pronunciation – Aye-zetta. What we have here though is the Ee-zetta. Four wheels, two headlights, one door and a lot of innovation.
We’ve already seen the Isetta on CC though, so let’s keep this post short and (hopefully) bubbly. Sometimes, I see people driving things that just make no sense. Hummer H1s. Lifted Toyota Tundras. Just about all Lamborghinis. You know, things that literally can’t fit on most streets here.
But the Isetta, no matter the wheel count, has to be one of the most Tokyo imported cars ever. It can out-kei the smallest kei.
Is this the smallest rear axle used in a regular production automobile? We’re talking 52cm (20.4 in.) of track back there. Enough room to attach two leaf springs and the chain drive, but only just.
And that’s just one of the many extreme measurements boasted by this most unconventional BMW. We might as well just display the whole lot (in units many of you will find easier to relate to). Looks like they want you to pronounce it Aye-zetta, though. Hmm…
Here’s one data point that the brochure page did not cover: with over 160k units made, counting all variants (250 and 300cc, three- and four-wheeler, “cabriolet,” “coupé” and pickup, etc.), the BMW Isetta is the top-selling single-cylinder car in history by a mile.
Nice to see a Tokyo classic that hasn’t had an aftermarket A/C added to it, for once. Refreshing, almost. More cars should have a door on the front end.
And by the way, that was my theme for the week: rear-engine cars in decreasing order of displacement and/or number of cylinders. It could also have been called the “Week of Single-Digit Amounts of Comments on Every Post,” but I’ll reserve that for my planned pre-war extravaganza.
In the meantime, let’s celebrate our lilliputian friend here. It might have been a bit embarrassing –and it certainly was both underwhelming and under license – but it was the most iconic car BMW produced in the ‘50s. Yes, yes, the 507 was beautiful, but nobody bought one. On the other hand, 160k Ee-zetta buyers can’t all be wrong.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1961 BMW Isetta 300 – BMW Lays An Egg, by T87
Vintage Ad: 1957 BMW Isetta 300 – “The Hottest Profit Item Since Henry F. Backed The Model T”, by PN
I sent this to a fellow I correspond with in the UK who has one. I’m sure he will find this very interesting, and….a nice looking lil car…..literally! 🙂 DFO
Excellent post, many thanks! Never heard the name pronounced Ee-zetta, but now I come to think of it, since there were connections with the Iso company (which I’ve always heard pronounced Ee-so), Ee-zetta makes sense!
For me, it’s the opposite. In German, “I” is pronounced “Ee”, so that’s all I’ve ever called it and of course that’s how all Germans pronounced it. For that matter, I’d quite forgotten (or not noticed) that their US market ads had that pronunciation prompt on them. I guess they wanted to make it Eesy for Americans. In any case, it does not have anything to do with BMW buying a license from Iso.
But it is Italian in origin, so it would be pronounced “Eye Zetta”. The name means “little ISO”.
ISO were better known for their late 60’s, early 70’s GT cars, such as the Grifo, powered by the 5.4 Litre V8, used in the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C3.
Cute, but enough of those silly “roundels” all over the place! A bad habit that persists to this day.
Single-digit comments this whole week, really? We need to do something about that!
I always enjoy your write-ups btw, but I rarely comment – usually they’re just excellent and I feel there’s not much I could add to what you’ve already said.
Although your Isetta post is just a short one, I did learn something new from it – I didn’t know about this being the bestselling single cylinder car of all times. It makes me wonder how many of these did Iso build? Probably just a few thousand? Fiat 600 must have wiped it away in Italy after 1955, that’s probably why they passed it over to BMW. Iso also built an Isetta truck, the Autocarro which remained in production for a few years longer – there must have still been a market niche for the commercial version.
I guess it doesn’t happen very often that a licence-built copy proves to be so much more popular than the original version.
Keep up the good work, T87!
The bubble car/micro car phenomena didn’t ever take off in Italy. Italy’s economic development and income levels just didn’t allow the average worker to afford one in the ’50s. A Vespa, perhaps, but not a four wheeler. But Germany’s explosive economy at the time did very much make it feasible for an average worker to afford such a thing, and these and the numerous other micro cars really put Germany on wheels. It’s important to remember that the VW was not affordable to a typical worker in the ’50s; that only happened in the ’60s.
The best-selling single-cylinder car ever? So it outsold the King Midget? 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Midget
King Midget started as a bit of kit car and I don’t believe they sold anywhere as many total. You might be still more likely to come across a King Midget in North American but total production is still much higher for the Isetta.
Most people in the UK pronounce it eye-setta with an ‘s’ rather than a ‘z’.
Yes and most in the UK would pronounce the word water with a “t” not a “d” as we do here in Canada.
Water not wadder. I would suggest the UK was is the correct way. However I will stick with wadder.
But I digress. Cute little Eye-zetta.
Afternoon all, this is as good an opportunity as any for a first comment. I would pronounce the name ee seTTa with the emphasis on the ts.
On a different note I discovered the site earlier this year while tackling a serious health issue which thankfully I seem to be coming out of the tail end of. I’m looking at a couple of COALs potentially from the perspective of sunny Cornwall, England. In the meantime I’d like to thank all of you, posters and commenters for helping keeping me entertained and distracted through a tricky time.
Have a good weekend everyone, Ed
I’ve enjoyed this week’s theme, more than a little.
Great Isetta. There are many things to recommend these vehicles, but perhaps the best is that I don’t think it’s possible to meet one and not walk away with a smile upon one’s face. Every vehicle could learn from that.
I have to imagine that Japan is probably the best place to find one on the road. Most that I’ve seen over here have arrived at their current destination on a trailer (or inside a van) as driving them on the road wouldn’t be prudent.
Oh, and I’ve only heard the name pronounced “Ee-zetta”.
Seeing this reminded me of Top Gear’s feature on the Robin Reliant. As with the Reliant, I assume this car was taxed as a motorcycle in England.
I also thought “what if you could attach a lawn mower blade underneath so it could double as a lawn mower”? Then I remembered the engine size.
No matter how you look at it, it seemed to be the right car at the right time
Only if it had three wheels so the UK market models from the Brighton factory were three-wheelers, though they did build four-wheelers for export. Once you had four wheels you’d need a car driving licence rather than a motorcycle one and would pay more road tax each year.
Pretty neat .
In 1959 or so our neighbor had one and I remember riding in it going for ice cream .
These were still found here and there into the late 1980’s in Los Angeles, usually long parked .
-Nate
I’m with Ed Stuchberry regarding pronunciation as I learned in in The States. I have seen them on the street of New York City back when they were new, but I had no desire to ride in one with the likes of America’s large cars. Ed, wishing you continued good health. Although we were unaware of your sickness prior to now, please keep us abreast. At my present age, were I to endeavor to enter an Isetta, I would first need to go to Contortionist’s School!
Looking at the specs, it’s surprisingly “real-car-ish”, not just a four-wheel motorcycle. Four-stroke engine with pressure lubrication, real transmission.
I always pronounced it to rhyme with Miss Etta, not EE-ssetta.
The spec sheet says it has a 12 volt electrical system with a 130 amp generator. What we call a “12-volt system” nominally operates at 13+ volts, so it’s a 10 amp generator, give or take. However, the reason cars switched from generators to alternators (AC generators, really) is that DC generators have lower-than-quoted output at idle.
I’m not sure <10 amps is even enough to run the lights and wipers at idle.
Not to be pedantic but it’s a Reliant Robin, Reliant is the manufacturer Robin is the model. In Only Fool And Horses programme the van is a Reliant Regal Suupervan. Reliant had a weird duality, on the one hand working class transport, on the other high end recreational vehicles like the Scimitur as driven by Princess Anne.
Iso Autofurgone
Iso Autocarro
Iso Autocarro 500
BMW produced a very detailed diecast of those things that actually has a BMW part number, My BIL scored one for his collection.
I’ve never heard it pronounced at all, but assumed it was ‘Ee-‘ not ‘Aye-‘.
Try putting an air-conditioner in that and it would be totally immobile!
I’m curious that a sub-kei car is running a regular ’53’ registration plate, and not a yellow Kei plate. Did the special Kei plates come in after this car was imported, or does it somehow not qualify for one?
Indeed. I thought it WAS an air-conditioner, a wheeled one, and further then thought, “Why on earth would an air-conditioner need cooling?”
160k buyers couldn’t be wrong? No, but they simply couldn’t afford something bigger and better. And they were aware of numerous non-reliable, cheaply made two stroke micro cars, some even made from wood.
As soon as possible most folk switched to something better. My late father-in-law called his BMW Isetta “pothole finder” and sold it after two winters w/o heater…
Joe
A heater was standard in US market Isettas and available as an option elsewhere. Not particularly efficient though. “Dog breath” comes to mind.
I’ve always pronounced these Isettas as “bee-emm-double you”, thereby obviating the need to decide upon “Aye, what a pile!” and “Ee, we’re gonna die!” as choices of prefix, not that the former or latter are either of them inapt.
I really do not like these little haemorrhoids, squeezed out (as it were) by the vagaries of post-war European necessity. Ugly, slow, dangerous, and, to me, even now, charmless. A cheap cardboard suit one could drive, necessary for the times – necessary 160K times over, apparently – but still no more covetable than their awful disposable selves 70 years on.
Still, like anything sat upon, they ultimately underpin the immense wealth of the Quandt family to this day, who, despite their secretiveness, have ended up resembling any of the cheating super-rich – much like that upon which they sit.
A Swiss company called “Microlino” as just launched an EV version of the 4 wheeler.