1957 BMW Isetta--The Ultimate Driving Machine--lol The first BMW I ever saw was an Isetta back in 1957 when I was 11 years old. We had just moved to Sacramento and my father had taken a job as manager of a shopping center here. One of the, merchants had a blue and white Isetta and drove it to work. I saw it in the parking lot. I thought what a weird little car it was, and I didn't believe I would ever want a BMW. As far as I knew as a kid then, this was what BMWs were, weird tiny cars. The Isetta was BMW's first mid-engine car the 300cc single just ahead of the rear axle. It hardly looked anything like a precursor to the classic M1 that came decades later. Little did I know that 37 years later I would buy a BMW, a 1994 325iS, my first BMW and I've had BMWs ever since including my current car, a 2015 M4. The Isetta made (barely) enough money to keep BMW going until the Quandt family bought the company in the late 1950's and invested enough money to design and build the Neiu Classe sedan. That car saved BMW and led the 2002 which established BMW as modern builder of performace cars around the world and especially in the US.
Ah yes my favorite car! I’ll have to stop by and look at it
1957 BMW Isetta--The Ultimate Driving Machine--lol The first BMW I ever saw was an Isetta back in 1957 when I was 11 years old. We had just moved to Sacramento and my father had taken a job as manager of a shopping center here. One of the, merchants had a blue and white Isetta and drove it to work. I saw it in the parking lot. I thought what a weird little car it was, and I didn't believe I would ever want a BMW. As far as I knew as a kid then, this was what BMWs were, weird tiny cars. The Isetta was BMW's first mid-engine car the 300cc single just ahead of the rear axle. It hardly looked anything like a precursor to the classic M1 that came decades later. Little did I know that 37 years later I would buy a BMW, a 1994 325iS, my first BMW and I've had BMWs ever since including my current car, a 2015 M4.
The Isetta made (barely) enough money to keep BMW going until the Quandt family bought the company in the late 1950's and invested enough money to design and build the Neiu Classe sedan. That car saved BMW and led the 2002 which established BMW as modern builder of performace cars around the world and especially in the US.