Pages of History. The BMW Isetta as the last chance

That’s something you wouldn’t wish on your enemy. After World War II, BMW, one of the leading German companies in the car market, was left empty-handed. The honest communists took away the company’s four complete factories along with the blueprints. The plants went to the German “red zone” (Brandenburg industrial area). What was not taken away was bombed and robbed. Thinking about new models was just pointless. If not for the BMW Isetta.

Bayerische Motoren Werke after the war. A depressing scene

Today we are accustomed to the fact that BMW does not leave the covers of automotive publications. The Bavarians have the most advanced mass-produced electric car, the BMW i3, or the best autonomous driving system. The market leadership strategy was established back in the 60s and 70s with the release of the 2002 and 2002 Turbo, and when queues lined up in front of dealerships for the BMW E30 in the early 80s, it was a sign of final victory. We will not specify who over whom.

Still, to understand what conditions the company with one single plant in Germany found itself in, let’s go back to the end of the 1940s. Military orders and aircraft engines were vetoed, only motorcycles with engine volume up to 250 cubic centimeters were allowed to be produced. After the war, the Bavarians were left with a great vehicle that they managed to salvage. It was the model 328.

Even after the war, it was giving its competitors, both local and foreign, a lot of peanuts. Justly believing that wins in motorsports give bonuses to sales in dealerships, BMW squeezed the last juices out of the 328. It couldn’t go on like this forever. Especially since this car was a niche car, a two-door coupe even with the best pre-war engine could remain sporty, but not mass-produced.

At that time Hans Grevering was at the head of the company, determined, competent, and as indestructible as the Berlin Wall. He decided that the surest way to save the company would be to build a four-door premium sedan. It is not clear, who whispered this con to him. Nevertheless, the 501 was put into production in 1952.

It was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in ’51. The public received the luxury sedan very well. But it is one thing to cluck your tongue and praise trendy design with options, and another thing to sell an expensive car in the ruined after-war country. Even the base model of the 501st cost 11,5 thousand deutschmarks. At that time, only the municipal police could afford such a sum, which, in fact, is where almost the entire sedan circulation went.

It became clear that there was nothing to do in the luxury segment yet. The public demanded an accessible, reliable and not too frightening-looking car. By the way, the simple Jewish engineer from Frankfurt Josef Ganz understood it very timely. His ideas and achievements have led to the occurrence of the bestseller Volkswagen Beetle. Here is a detailed study on the subject.

In short, the situation was almost stalemate. It was urgent to find a way out in order to stay afloat in the merciless ocean of capitalism. And then the Italians came to the rescue.

The Adventures of Italians in Germany. ISO Rivolta Isetta

The economic situation in Italy was similar. People did not have a lot of money in their hands, but they had to get around somehow, develop their business, and go to the bakery on something. As a rule, the Italian public used scooters for this purpose. They were built with great success by businessman Renzo Rivolta.

One sunny day he felt the strength to produce almost an automobile, a four-wheeled wagon with a minimum-sized motorcycle engine. Especially since there was no problem with motors and transmissions. Rivolta produced them in sufficient assortment. All that remained was to find an engineer who would design an appropriate body.

Two aviation engineers with hard-to-pronounce names, Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi, took on this difficult task. It all took two years. At the 1953 Turin Motor Show, a futuristic, to say the least, car that looked like an oxygen bubble perch was presented.

Even today, it’s hard to imagine how these two engineers were able to squeeze two seats, a two-cylinder engine of 236 cubic centimeters into a metal-plastic bubble. At the same time the car was only 2.29 m long, reaching about 80 km/h in the tailwind. You have to give them credit – the design looked very attractive, was functional, and for the right to drive Izetta (small ISO, if you translate from Italian) you needed only a motorcycle license.

The spherical body was designed to create maximum space in the cabin, to maximize visibility. Just look at the glazing area. During the development, there was one big problem – how to get inside. Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi suggested making one door, but one that wouldn’t cause any problems getting in or out. That’s right, it’s the door from the refrigerator.

The only door hinged along with the steering column, giving the driver and passenger full access to the interior. In the back, there was a symbolic trunk, fuel tank and engine compartment. These three components would play a huge role in many people’s lives, but more on that later.

During the presentation of the Iso Isetta at the Torino Motor Show, a certain Herr Drenowatz, a Swiss BMW dealer and a close friend of Hans Grevering, the head of the company, appeared. He didn’t show up for nothing. For several years in a row, he studied European premieres in search of a model that would save the Bavarian company. When he saw the bubble on the wheels of the Iso Isetta, Drenowatz realized, this was what he was looking for. All that remained was to convince the chief.

The next day, Drenowatz took the first train from Turin to Grevering’s office. In Bavaria, there was only one supporter of buying the license for the ” covered motorcycle “, the technical director of BMW. The chief hesitated to the last. He said it was not proper for such an advanced company with roots and lots of victories in motorsport to trade with ” covered motorcycles “. However, healthy pragmatism won. In two weeks, ISO and BMW signed the contract.

By the way, Renzo Rivolta also hesitated, because the Iso Isetta also took part in several races, quite successfully, but without a furor. And then, in his native Italy, the car aroused interest, but no more than that. The climate, you know. It did not rain in fact, and to pay extra money for a roof over the scooter the economical Italians did not want. Those who wanted a car bought a Fiat 500, the rest had enough scooters for pizza delivery.

Germany is a different story. The snow, rain, and architecture of the Iso Isetta suited the Germans much better than the Italians. As a result, Rivolta sells not only the patent for the Isetta, but also all the assembly equipment. Interestingly, the Iso Isetta experience in Germany was not a revelation. It also sold ” covered motorcycles” by Goliath, Lloyd, and, a little later, Messerschmitt, Zündapp and Heinkel.

Game of Va-Bank. BMW Isetta 250

No one could reliably predict the success of this venture. However, already in 1954, the Germans set up a full-fledged assembly line, modernized what the Italians had under-modernized, and quietly, without pathos, presented the new BMW. Izetta was presented to the automobile boom of Germany on a rainy day on March 5, 1955.

What journalists saw was that the BMW Isetta 250 was a somewhat reimagined Italian bubble. From a technical point of view, the Germans did not trust the Italian motorcycle engine. They preferred it to the German four-stroke, 250cc, air-cooled 12-horsepower engine from the BMW R25 motorcycle. The drive to the rear wheels was not chain drive like the Italians, but with a drive shaft.

Technologically, BMW has greatly advanced the Izetta. First, the engine is more powerful (well, not 9 powers, as in ISO), secondly, the propshaft drive of the rear axle, and thirdly, the cabin heater. Yes, yes, there was a heater, which worked and warmed. The distance between the rear wheels was only 500 mm, so it was possible to do without differential, and to save on brakes: one brake drum was enough for the rear axle.

As soon as the BMW Isetta 250 went into production, the public received it coolly. The Germans cannot be suspected of conservatism, but the brave design made itself felt. Experts in marketing were frantically searching for a target audience and obvious advantages of the car. The main of them was prompted by the time – the fuel crisis, caused by the Suez quarrel in 1956.

Everything related to transportation became more expensive. And, of course, gasoline. The BMW Isetta 250 only asked for 3 liters of gasoline per hundred. Wasn’t that a reason for its growing popularity? Moreover, in 1957, the Bavarians replaced the plexiglass-blown panoramic windows with ordinary ones, thus making the car even cheaper.

BMW produced the car in several modifications and 45 (!) color variants, and since 1956 they began to offer the Izetta with a more powerful and tractive 300cc engine with 13 horsepower. What do you think would have happened if the Izetta had driven at full throttle into the rear bumper of some Mercedes? Nothing good, because there was only one door, the front one. And a hatch for emergency evacuation. They only thought about safety when the BMW Isetta 250 became in demand in the United States.

For the American markets, the Izetta has been fitted with more efficient bumpers. More efficient than nothing. Nevertheless, in the States, the car was a great success. Moreover, from 1955 to 1962, more than 160,000 copies of various modifications were sold, including the four-seater BMW 600. There was one door on the starboard side for rear-seat access.

Isetta was produced under license by Velam (France), Isetta in Great Britain, Metalmecánica (Argentina) and Romi (Brazil).

The most elegant escape in history in a BMW Isetta

Even from the heights of today’s automotive industry, you can see that the BMW Isetta 250 was ahead of its time in many disciplines. It was not only the world’s first city car, but also the first single-volume compact van. Although historians would dispute this, take the legendary 1936 Stout Scarab, for example.

And the first car in the world that managed to take at least nine people from East Germany to the FRG. One at a time, of course. This is the real story, recreated by BMW in the four-minute video The Small Escape only in 2019. Here it is.

For obvious reasons, life in East Berlin was not easy. Everyone who could, by all means possible, tried to move to the West, away from the Berlin Wall. A few years before it was erected, in 1958, Klaus-Günter Jacobi still managed to move to the side of the Federal Republic of Germany by hook or by crook.

The bloodthirsty capitalists allowed him to house his entire family and even earn money for a small car, a BMW Isetta 250. But Jacobi still had friends and relatives in East Berlin, and it became increasingly difficult to escape as the years passed. So the German devised an ingenious escape plan.

Izetta is so tiny that it is physically impossible to arouse suspicion of smuggling by Communist border guards, much less illegal transport of people. Jacobi threw out the heater, air filter, spare tire, and regular gas tank. In its place he installed a two-liter canister. As a result, there was just enough room to pack a medium-sized person.

Thus, Klaus-Günter crossed the border of the “red zone” nine times and successfully transported his friend Manfred Koster, his entire family and several other people.

What about the BMW Isetta? The ’60s have passed the equator, the company had money to develop new models. One of the first after the Isetta (partly based on its units) was the 700 and 700 Coupe, which we told you about not so long ago. Not counting the licensed copies, more than 162,000 copies of the car were sold.

Statistics give the Isetta the largest sales in history among single-cylinder four-wheelers. And we are glad that there are enthusiasts who cherish their remaining cars as a reminder that even in the most difficult situation it is possible to find a decent solution without sacrificing reputation.