The BMW Isetta Is the Strangest BMW of All Time

today I am filming with one of the most iconic BMWs of all time this [Music] yes that's right you know BMW from the m3 and the m5 and from luxury SUVs and high-performance sports cars but throughout the 1950s and 1960s they built this the Isetta it is by far the most ridiculous BMW ever manufactured and today I'm going to show you why first a little history lesson the Isetta was developed by ISO an Italian company that made scooters and refrigerator after making the Isetta I still wanted to make a sports car so they sold the rights and tooling to BMW who was interested because German rules at the time let people drive tiny cars like the I said I using only a motorcycle driver's license that's the same reason why Messerschmitt the airplane manufacturer built a tiny car of its own these days the laws of change society has moved on BMW has a called dramatically and you can't help but look at the eyes data and think that it is truly one of most absurd automobiles ever created now I've summed up the ice that is crazy quarks if you click the link below for my column on autotrader.com flash oversteer but today I'm also going to show them to you so here are all the ice Etta's weird quirks and features I'll start with maybe the ice that is most distinctive feature it's door yes door singular there's only one and it's in the front open it up and there's the feet that's how you get it and I set up so what happens if you get in an accident in an Isetta and the door is broken and you can't get out well what do you get the sunroof for speaking of the door another feature that I absolutely love when you open the door is the fact that the steering wheel comes forward to let you out a lot of modern cars do that you open the door and the steering wheel isn't were so that you can easily get into the eyes data it's just because the serum hose is attached to the door and since we're talking about the eyes that is door this doesn't shut or latch like a normal car door instead it shuts and latches like an old-time refrigerator you shut it and then you have to push the latch in order to make sure it's actually closed now in back I want to clear up one myth I often hear about the Isetta this is not a three-wheeled car there are two wheels in the front it's on and there are also two wheels in the back almost some companies who maybe I said a not BMW made a three-wheeled version the BMW versions all have four wheels for that added stability since we're back here let's talk about the stealing situation the fuel goes right here for this rear point of the car which I'm sure it's very safe in a rear-end collision to add fuel you twist this cool little pack with the BMW logo on it which I kind of wish all BMWs had an old-school feature not quite as cool the fact that the fuel tank can only hold about five gallons of gas although you don't really burn gas all that quickly in one of these obviously that raises a question which engine is in the Isetta well it's in here obviously that means it's not going to be very big and in fact it isn't this is a later Isetta model from when the engine size increase from 250 CCS all the way to 300 cc's which also came with a horsepower increase older ones had only 12 horsepower this one is a hot rod with 13 more engine hilarity comes we start talking about the I set of keys now few tight senna came with three keys there was one for the starter one for the door as if anyone was ever going to steal it and also one for the hood and they were all different now the home key is the strangest it's not even really a key it's more like a screwdriver and you stick it into the little hood lock and twist and twist and twist and twist and twist the serie here I guess was they didn't want anybody to steal your engine or parts from your engine as if there were multiple parts in this engine all right we got it off and now we can see the glorious 13 horsepower 300 CC Isetta engine back up front you might be wondering what the Isetta weighs the answer is 770 pounds this means a 200 pound person getting inside this thing increases the weight by about 30% another way to demonstrate exactly how light this car is look at it I'm moving it and I get to sensitive the handbrake was off I could just lift it up by these things and turn it around like a shopping cart alright now it's time to check out the Isetta interior quirks I'll do that by attempting to climb inside of it even though I'm 6 foot 3 [Music] nice and comfy actually there is more passenger room inside the Isetta than you might expect in fact you could probably get two people in here if they were fairly friendly with each other but you can't say the same about cargo room that's because the Isetta has no trunk and the only interior storage is in two places there's a shelf in back where you can put stuff completely unrestrained and also there's a little cargo pouch here on the door that's it beyond the storage situation climb into the eye side and you'll immediately realize there's a lot of interesting stuff to see let me take you on tour here's what the view looks like from inside the Isetta the first thing you do you look down and you see the speedometer and a rather helpful diagram of the shifter I say helpful because the shifter is on your left side it just sort of sticks there it's up to you to kind of figure out where everything is on the steering column itself you have controls for the headlights and there's the ignition let's also control a frontal wiper we'll get to that in a second now on the steering wheel this lever doesn't really do anything that we can figure out however the lever over here controls the turn signal which are just about the most pathetic turn signals you can imagine also when you put on the turn signal it's a little light comes on in here to let you know that the signal is on very helpful less common over here is the diagram that shows you how to work the choke some older cars have a choke and you have to put it on and then gradually put it off in order to drive it the choke diagram is right next to the heater diagram yes that's right the heat this car has one single heating vent and it's located under the seat and it pushes warm air out into the cabin there's also a little tab on top of the heating vent pull it out Loree push it back in let's see pull it out Rory back in my seat hey it means having no climate control at all just barely now the choke isn't the only unusual procedure required to start the car before you can start it you have to move the fuel switch and explicably located behind the seat from off to on when you run out of gas move it over to the reserve tank by the way the seat itself has a bit of an easter egg reach in and well you can bring it right forward and well there's your spare tire on the floor on your left side you'll also find the parking brake which works just like a parking brake and any normal car there's also a wee shield defogger it's shaped just like the heater and then unceremoniously shoots air right at the windshield for some modicum of comfort inside the SLA you can open the windows push this little button to release them and then they slide less generous is the size of the rear view mirrors the interior one isn't really all that big and the exterior one well reasonably sizeable it's only a single there is it one on the passenger side as for the Hornets normally located here but inexplicably a previous owner located it down here on the steering column which is a horrible place for it because my knee is constantly bumping into it as I shift and therefore the Hornet sounding as I Drive down the street but back to the windshield wiper in order to turn it on you press a little lever at the base of the windshield and well but the Isetta is absurdity can only really be touched on when it's sitting still to experience it in full you have to drive it and so I'm going to do that right now despite the fact that that 89 inches in length II I said it is two feet shorter than a smart fortwo with only 13 horsepower that means it has less power than every single John Deere riding mower currently in production I'm serious even the base model and now I'm going to take it out and drive it around on the roads here in the Philadelphia suburbs where this car was loaned to me by a viewer named David who runs a dealer called automobile II limited now this car comes from David's personal collection here goes all right I went for the seat belt [Music] come on the I said it was having some problem but eventually with a combination of the choke the ignition and sheer luck I got it running God be feel every single beyond the current and somebody so precious the greatest thing I've ever driven barred not divided with the section is about to tells a reform I've got three big speed [Applause] [Music] [Music] a lot of cars now great leave a lot to be desired a lot because on the steering column [Music] [Music] [Music] all right I would find out momentarily exactly how much the I said I hated Hill [Music] it's just too big just too big [Music] I got about a thousand cars stacked up behind me oh but there's no medical reason I'm in the lowest possible gear I'm going to give it a shot we're just a ton of gas I don't think it's going to work it just isn't going to happen [Music] I'm pouring it right now and the car is not moving a niche and that meant it was time to begin reversing down the hill to a turnout at the bottom with a small shoulder on the road it was terrifying I just got to hope that none of these people coming up hit me but eventually I got it down the hill and I said it was parked in a rather fitting spot next the Isetta was strapped to a tow vehicle and then I became the only person in world history ever to ride an and I said as it was being pulled behind a Range Rover classic [Music] and after just a minute the Isetta arrived back at automobiling limited [Music] so I survived driving the Isetta barely but did you see me in this thing it's crazy and ridiculous modern BMWs might have more performance and we're gadgets and more power and better equipment but this thing is by far the most unique car BMW has ever made I Drive a lot of cars in a lot of places good and bad and I rarely had the chance to drive something this crazy I'm thrilled I was able to experience the absurdity of the Isetta automakers take note you're trying to figure out a solution for your hood this is one [Music]

Channel: Doug DeMuro

Views: 6,015,431

Rating: 4.841156 out of 5

Keywords: bmw, bmw isetta, isetta, iso isetta, microcar, bubble car, steve urkel car, steve urkel, tiny bmw, small bmw, old bmw, crazy bmw

Id: k0dEzY-xld8

Length: 14min 46sec (886 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 23 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/FightGar]

This might be my favorite Doug video of all time. The clips of that tiny little thing driving on the road are so comical and the constant beeping from hitting the horn had me cracking up. And of course having it die on the hill at the end in front of all of that traffic was absolutely perfect.

It's insane to think that this thing is only 9 inches longer than the Ford Raptor is WIDE.

[u/DdCno1]

Great video once again, Doug!

There were a ton of strange microcars built in Germany at the time. People were happy with just about anything that had a motor and more than two wheels, so there was plenty of creativity.

Doug has already mentioned the Messerschmidt Kabinenroller, but by far my favorite microcar of this era is the Kleinschnittger F 125, a tiny sportscar that weighs less than half as much as an Isetta, which means it's - as far as I know - the only car in existence that is light enough for a rubber-band suspension. I recently collected a few images and facts about this car, because I like it so much:

https://imgur.com/a/xo5wx (mobile users: enable captions)

Just look at it! It's gorgeous, despite its ridiculous size.

[u/MotorboatingSofaB]

Steve Urkel Car!

[u/buckmonaco]

I'm genuinely surprised Doug Was able to fit so well in this car.

[u/FarhanAxiq]

I remember driving a 9bhp 2cv at a classic car fair, but it isn't as worse as the isetta lol

[u/[deleted]]

So what broke? I thought you would've been able to drive it back to the dealer if you got off that hill.

[u/MDA123]

This is the first video where the car provided more comedy than /u/Doug-DeMuro. Hilarious.

[u/Fellow_Minnesotan]

Legend has it Doug is still stuck on that hill.

[u/WebtheWorldwide]

When I saw the title I thought "Doug now has to follow up with a Messerschmidt Kabinenroller". Glad you pointed at one.

Another nice tidbit: They received several "colloquial" names in Germany:

-Knutschkugel ("Smooch-Ball")

-Schlaglochsuchgerät ("Pothole Searching Device")

-Hallelujah-Auto (as the door opens "upwards")

I wonder if we outgrew previous generations by such a large margin or if the relative size of automobiles (not exterior but seating space) ratio changed so much. Couldn't imagine to go on longer trips in an Isetta, R4, Fiat 600 or similiar like my parents did with theirs. Even the Käfer feels cramped...

Amazing video as always. There isn't any automobile quirks program out there that rival yours! Furthermore I love the mix of "sensible" cars and extraordinary ones, a good mixture of entertainment and infotainment value!