Iso Isetta
The front of the Iso Isetta is the car door. It hinges to the side; the steering wheel and instruments swing out with the door to facilitate easy access to the car.
The car seats two and the most popular accessory was a luggage rack fitted to the rear, seeing as luggage space is seriously limited. The two (!) rear wheels are powered through a four-speed gearbox.
‘Isetta’ means ‘small Iso’, and refers to refrigerator manufacturer Iso, owned by Italian Renzo Rivolta. At the end of the 1940s he starts with the manufacture of scooters and cars, including this Isetta. Rivolta entered seven Isettas in the 1954 Mille Miglia road race and won the economy class. BMW, who at that point only manufactured expensive cars, acquired a licence to manufacture the Isetta. As a BMW the Isetta was a roaring success. By 1962 they had produced over 160,000 units. In that same year Renzo Rivolta set up a sports car factory and went on to produce prestigious models such as the Grifo.