
Isetta - luu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta
======
pmcjones
In 1965 I took my driving test in a BMW 600, the two-cylinder big brother to
the Isetta. Here's a photo of the car and the rest of my family's fleet of
cars and motorcycles as of 1966:
[https://imgur.com/a/ria9buN](https://imgur.com/a/ria9buN)

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gregoriol
If you are into this kind of machines, there is a nice auction sale in a few
days: [https://www.classicdriver.com/en/auction/dorotheum-
sammlung-...](https://www.classicdriver.com/en/auction/dorotheum-sammlung-rrr-
roller-rollermobile-raritaten-10-july-2020) => most of those cars are really
surprising, even though I've already seen some in real life at car events,
it's engineering optimised and minimised!

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skim_milk
Wow, those are cheap in Europe. In the USA they go for $30,000+
[https://bringatrailer.com/bmw/isetta/](https://bringatrailer.com/bmw/isetta/)

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Theodores
My maths school teacher had one of these. It did not seem that unusual at the
time even though there were few on the roads. Nobody laughed at him for having
such a 'car' and we were well versed as school kids at picking on people.

I wish cars could be more like the Isetta and less like tanks. With driver
aids such as ABS and the like we could have electric cars like the Isetta with
safe roads. However the horse has left the gate on that and we are doomed to a
future of vehicles built like tanks.

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corty
Small vehicles have been killed by regulation. No chance to build a two-stroke
engine anymore, at least for a car. Expensive crash test regs. Noise and
pollution regs. And, if you do electric, heavy batteries.

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Xylakant
You may be correct about crash and other safety regulations, but the BMW
Isetta was powered by a 250cc single cylinder four stroke engine adapted from
a motorcycle. That class of engines is quite alive and kicking, they have
substantially increased in power output in the mean time.

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mellosouls
This immediately reminds me of the Top Gear feature on the smallest car in the
world: the Peel P50 - the relatively behemoth-like Bubble Car (Isetta) makes a
fleeting appearance in the introduction.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfSS0ZXYdo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfSS0ZXYdo)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_P50](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_P50)

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wazoox
Interestingly, there seems to be an obvious modern recreation, the Microlino:

[https://microlino-car.com/en/microlino](https://microlino-
car.com/en/microlino)

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usrusr
And less obvious ones, like [https://www.ellenator-
gmbh.de/](https://www.ellenator-gmbh.de/) which exists solely to exploit a
legal loophole to get something that is arguably more dangerous than a car
into the hands of people who are not licensed to drive a car.

~~~
zokier
Exploit loophole? L7e class seems very intentional, and the vehicles are
pretty much explicitly designed for those?

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indigo945

        > Der Ellenator ist der erste PKW, der mit 16 Jahren gefahren
        > werden darf, da er trotz 4 Räder als „Dreirädriges Fahrzeug“ 
        > Fahrzeugklasse L5e eingestuft ist.
    
        > The Ellenator is the first car that may be driven at the age 
        > of 16, because it is classed as a "three-wheeled vehicle" in 
        > vehicle class L5e despite having four wheels.
    

Registering a four-wheeled car according to regulations for three-wheeled cars
sounds like exploiting a loophole to me.

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nickt
If you want to see it in action, Jeremy Clarkson took one for a test drive.

[https://youtu.be/pwDZqAW8M4I](https://youtu.be/pwDZqAW8M4I)

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schwartzworld
also urkel [https://youtu.be/1hcvhXup2k8](https://youtu.be/1hcvhXup2k8)

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eganist
Notable auto-youtuber-now-ecommerce-founder Doug DeMuro has an in-depth tour
and drive with an isetta. It's one of his earlier videos.

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=k0dEzY-xld8](https://youtube.com/watch?v=k0dEzY-
xld8)

~~~
sn41
I didn't know that Doug DeMuro had done an episode on the Isetta. I love his
presentation. His geeky joy in driving any car, whether ultra luxury, or just
plain odd, is infectious.

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f6v
That's exactly what we need. It boggles my mind how most of the huge cars I
see on the road are occupied just by one person.

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stmw
Much of the extra weight in the modern car is due to safety and environmental
mitigation equipment. All of those crash cages, crumple zones, airbags and the
like add weight and size. So do things like complex fuel management systems
and catalytic converters. Of course, these are well worth it in added safety
and cleaner emissions, but they do limit the minimum size and weight. And
that's before one gets to all the "extra options", that are often not optional
any more.

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geofft
Yeah, that was my first thought on seeing the picture - does it _have_ a
crumple zone? Since the door is in the front and you're expected to climb out
through the sunroof in case of a crash, I imagine it's not the sort of thing
you want to ride anywhere you wouldn't ride a bicycle.

That said, city streets that only had dense electric vehicles that don't go
past 20 mph (maybe a mix of things like this and buses/streetcars) would be
delightful.

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saagarjha
I wonder how much of vehicle usage is "I want to carry big things around that
don't fit on an electric bicycle" and how much is "I want to get somewhere
fast".

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praveen9920
Reminds me of tango hybrid narrow car featured in silicon valley series.

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nabilhat
The manufacturer's website is still up:
[http://commutercars.com/](http://commutercars.com/)

The site hasn't been active in years, but if you've got $240k burning a hole
in your pocket and need a quirky kit car, can't hurt to see if anyone's home.

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gtk40
There is one on display the BMW Zentrum museum in Spartanburg, SC:
[https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/spartanburg/en/plant-tours-
ze...](https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/spartanburg/en/plant-tours-zentrum-
museum.html/)

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venti
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Kabinenroller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Kabinenroller)

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caycep
I vaguely remember a BMW marketing ad - I think these were used to smuggle
dissidents from East Berlin to West, at great personal risk to the owner of
the vehicles...

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rahimnathwani
Paul Carmody has a speaker design that I guess was named after this car:
[https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/isetta](https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/isetta)

