RUMCars Forum
General Category => Sales & Auctions => Topic started by: DrewS on March 17, 2012, 09:26:03 pm
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Hi Folks,
Saw this Isetta on Ebay, it looks a pretty good little car;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Isetta-Bubble-Car-Melts-Hardest-Heart-/290685230037?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43ae309bd5#ht_553wt_1396
But a few details have thrown me, am I correct in my thinking that UK Isetta Production ended in 1962? and the seller is stating this car is a 63', also the steering wheel doesnt seem quite right..... I thought Isetta wheels were three spoke? Am i right, or totally misinformed?
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Hi Folks,
Saw this Isetta on Ebay, it looks a pretty good little car;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Isetta-Bubble-Car-Melts-Hardest-Heart-/290685230037?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43ae309bd5#ht_553wt_1396
But a few details have thrown me, am I correct in my thinking that UK Isetta Production ended in 1962? and the seller is stating this car is a 63', also the steering wheel doesnt seem quite right..... I thought Isetta wheels were three spoke? Am i right, or totally misinformed?
Not sure about the year, but the wheel is wrong, its a goggo one. I prefer it!
JP
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My bad, they stopped in 1962
"In 1962, Isetta of Great Britain also stopped production of the little cars but continued to produce Isetta engines until 1964"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta#BMW_Isetta_.28United_Kingdom.29
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That's Jeff Wearings old Car.
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There are Isetta about with smaller diameter steering wheels. If you are built to an ample style the standard one hits your tummy. Therefore in the days of driven Isettas there was a secret trade in smaller but similar steering wheels, of which I found a good source of same style and taper but some inch less in circumference. Its amazing what used to get sold behind the beer tent at rallies in days of old.
Not sure a Goggo is one of these but two spokes were fitted to other machinery to. A better style I agree.
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That's Jeff Wearings old Car.
I dont think I know Jeff Wearing, is it a good car? It certainly looks it.
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Membership secretary of the IOCGB (in 2006).
I think it was a good restoration at that time. Yellow seems a bit bright to me.
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Yes the colour is a bit "in your face"! Could be a good buy for someone then. I know all the logic tells me I'm better off with a LHD but I still feel I may have been happier with a RHD like this one, its what I had as a teenager so presses all the right nostalgia buttons and you get the gear sequence the right way around! Still, Thumper is a good little car despite what al says.
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Perhaps I should buy your LHD and you buy the RHD?
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You cant get out of restoring your old Isetta that easily Barry!
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Always one step ahead of me Bob. Just bought a Kawasaki Z1R 1000 so my mind is on other things. Wondering how I can fit the 1000cc engine in the Messerschmitt.........................
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Dont even think about it!
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That's Jeff Wearings old Car.
I dont think I know Jeff Wearing, is it a good car? It certainly looks it.
It's Wearing well!
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Dont even think about it!
Oh do. They need upsetting.
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Yes the colour is a bit "in your face"! Could be a good buy for someone then. I know all the logic tells me I'm better off with a LHD but I still feel I may have been happier with a RHD like this one, its what I had as a teenager so presses all the right nostalgia buttons and you get the gear sequence the right way around! Still, Thumper is a good little car despite what al says.
A RHD Thumper would be Lumper?
Nostalga is a big motivator when it comes to Classic Cars and why not. Strangely inherited bias is also. My father hated Rootes cars for some reason. I have rarely had a Rootes car due to that seed planted when I was a lad. I have no doubt my Isetta thing comes from having a succession of bad ones.
Colour, no worries as for a driving car you can see this little chap coming. Much better than silver or grey, dullard blue which was pretty common on Isettas etc etc. I only found out the other day that the other low miler Silver Schmitt was shunted after Simon Frost bought it and drove it. Silver is not a great colour for a small car. Now that original car is no longer an original car as it is restored. Bummer. Simon must be a mite teed off as he paid a premium price for something now taken away though it is apparently immaculate now. Bright colours are good.
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I had a great Isetta in the 80's, we used to race them around our derelict farm. I like having a Schmitt but there is a lot of microcar snobery that goes with it which I am not interested in. I think I would prefer to have an Isetta on the road now. Not as frantic.
I was thinking of fitting a long aerial on the Schmitt with a red LED on top. Driving around the local winding country roads is particularly dangerous as you are well below the hedge line and most cars drive in the middle of the road assuming they can see the roof of any oncoming cars. Sinclair C5 style.
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Schmitt is not helped by something of a closed shop mentality. It is a selfish car though, isn't it? Driver sat on his own, car needs to be thrashed a bit to get places and does not have the performance to run happily with the four stroke bubbles, which tend to be more friendly as you sit side by side driving more like a car. So when the Schmitts go belting off down some hill to get speed up for the next one you can almost sense some of the Treinkettas giving a 'thank goodness they've gone' thought bubble. And yes folks do drive in the middle of the lanes these days. What used to be good for two normal 60's saloons at speed is now a single carriageway.
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Just got my Morris Isis 2600cc back on the road (six seats if you accept the bench seat). I noticed that a modern Mini is probably a bit wider than the Isis.
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But a few details have thrown me, am I correct in my thinking that UK Isetta Production ended in 1962? and the seller is stating this car is a 63', also the steering wheel doesnt seem quite right..... I thought Isetta wheels were three spoke? Am i right, or totally misinformed?
This type of steering wheel was used in the German sliding window Isetta. The German bubble windows had the three spoke wheel. There may have been some overlap, but it is roughly the case in most German Isetttas encountered these days. I have never seen the two spoke wheel in British Brighton built Isettas.
According to my records British Isettas were manufactured 1957 - 1964. At some stage around 1962 BMW took over and moved the assembly line to Portslade where British chassis had been built all along. Historic records are remarkably unclear with regard to manufacturing dates. The last Isettas were assembled from left over parts. There are plenty of A- and B-registered Isettas still in existence. According to my records the last registered Isetta still in existence is the late 'Jim'll fix it's 1965 (C-reg) model.
Of course there is always the discrepancey between date of manufacture and date of first registration. I cannot find any records for any Isetta's manufacturing date, so every Isetta is now listed according to the date of first registration. And as has been pointed out in a previous thread, many vehicles spent a long waiting time in a dealer's showroom before they were sold and registered.