page_title: Isetta
section_title: BMW Isetta (United Kingdom)
hierarchical_section_title: Isetta / BMW Isetta (United Kingdom)
caption_attribution_description: English: BMW Isetta 300 (1961) Astley Park (Chorley) Classic Car Show 14/05/2017
context_page_description: The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car, a name also given to other similar vehicles.
  In 1955, the BMW Isetta became the world's first mass-production car to achieve a fuel consumption of 3 L/100 km. It was the top-selling single-cylinder car in the world, with 161,728 units sold.
  Initially manufactured by the Italian firm Iso SpA, the name Isetta is the Italian diminutive form of Iso, meaning "little Iso".
context_section_description: In 1957, Isetta of Great Britain began producing Isetta 300 models at their factory in the former Brighton railway works under licence from BMW. The factory had no access by road, therefore components were delivered by rail and finished cars were shipped out the same way.
  The British cars had right-hand drive with the door hinged from the right hand side of the car and the steering column moved across to the right as well. Right-hand drive meant that both the driver and the engine were on the same side, so a 27 kg (60 lb) counterweight was added to the left side to compensate. Dunlop tyres were used, and Lucas electrics replaced the German Hella and Bosch components, with a different headlamp housing being used. Girling brake components replaced the ATE brake parts.
  The Isetta was not popular in the UK until a three-wheeled version was introduced. Although three-wheeled vehicles are more prone to rolling over, there was a financial advantage: they could evade automobile legislation and taxation by being classed as three-wheeled motorcycles, and could be driven with a motorcycle licence. Isetta of Great Britain continued to produce four-wheeled Isettas, but only for export to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
  In 1962, Isetta of Great Britain also stopped production of the little cars but continued to produce Isetta engines until 1964.
caption: British-registered RHD 3-wheeled Isetta
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "BMW Isetta 300 (1961)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "600", "Image YResolution": "600", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2017:05:21 11:08:41", "Image ExifOffset": "260", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1014", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6457", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:05:14 11:24:01", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:05:14 11:24:01", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1120723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "9/2", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "501/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "45", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "80", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1325", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "67", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "6377632", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[16, 85, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "16.0-85.0 mm f/3.5-5.6"}