How The Isetta Saved BMW From Bankruptcy
Since cars first started rolling off Henry Ford’s meeting strains in 1913, the arena has been serious about vehicles. In 1926, the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, greater generally called BMW, started its lengthy and storied records of making excessive-stop luxurious cars and motorcycles.
As a success as BMW has been, it determined itself in monetary problem withinside the mid-1950s. It turned into teetering on the brink of financial ruin due to the fact bike manufacturing turned into faltering, and it turned into stricken by losses because of excessive manufacturing fees related to its 503 and 507 fashions. According to Axel Klinger-Köhnlein, an professional at BMW Group Classic, “the primary precedence turned into to position a vehicle into manufacturing that might make us cash proper away.”
The German-primarily based totally organization turned into determined to get a brand new version into manufacturing that would not price quite a few time or cash. BMW determined precisely what it turned into searching out at — of all places — the sales space of an Italian fridge maker on the 1954 Turin Car Show.
The bubble vehicle that have become an icon and stored BMW
Iso Rivolta now no longer handiest made fridges however mini vehicles as well. It had a three-wheeled version on show known as the “Iso Isetta,” with a big swinging door withinside the the front that gave the impression of a fridge door. Executives from BMW now no longer handiest bought the licensing rights for the Isetta however the manufacturing device as well. It started making the automobile immediately, with the primary BWM Isetta 250s rolling off the manufacturing ground in April 1955, handiest a yr after the carmobile show.
Until then, BWM turned into recognized for its luxurious overall performance vehicles, however this turned into a massively one of a kind kind of car altogether. The first fashions got here with a changed 250 cc four-stroke engine pulled from its R25 bike. That unmarried cylinder turned into handiest able to producing a trifling 12 horsepower. While the German organization stored the authentic Italian name, it delivered a fourth tire to its version, with the rear wheels handiest set 19 inches apart. This “microcar” turned into handiest 4.five ft extensive and 7.five ft lengthy, with a unmarried door on the the front for its occupants — and handiest occupants — to enter. The vehicle turned into so small that humans handiest wished a bike license to power it around.
BMW bought 10,000 vehicles withinside the first yr of manufacturing and it have become the very element the organization had to stave off monetary ruin. A general of 161,728 Isettas have been bought all through its 8-yr run, making it the top-promoting unmarried-cylinder vehicle withinside the world.