I...had no idea

"Just Jeepin'" (macintux)
04/15/2020 at 21:20 • Filed to: None

I’ve never heard of Isetta or front clamshell doors. This is insane.

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DISCUSSION (22)

Chariotoflove > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:30

You might enjoy this then.

lone_liberal > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:31

There’s even a museum dedicated to those and similar cars like the Messerschmitt http://www.bubblecarmuseum.co.uk/the-bubblecar-museum-and-its-collection/

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facw > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:32

You can read Torch talk about them here:

https://jalopnik.com/i-drove-about-five-decades-of-bmws-in-one-afternoon-1657674675

Note that the 600 has at least one normal door, the original Isetta just had the front door.

shop-teacher > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:34

In m y home town there was a guy who drove one in this exact color scheme. I would see it pretty regularly on nice days.

getFuckedHerb > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:35

you didn’t watch family matters?

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:35

I t boggles my mind that you’ve never heard of Isettas before! Have you never watched Family Matters before? :P

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Urkel

Just Jeepin' > getFuckedHerb
04/15/2020 at 21:40

I’m vaguely aware of who Urkel is, but from looking at Wikipedia that show’s timing exactly overlapped with what could charitably be called my lost years. Never saw it.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:43

In 2008, when BMw was the main sponsor of 50 years at Lime Rock, they had one as the official parad e car. They set it off, and waited till it was on the final corner, till they gave teh green flag for all the LMP1s to take off.

thatsmr > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:43

http://www.microcarmuseum.com/info.html

This used to be a thing and to think it was only 30 min away from me at the time. Pretty sure it was appt only. At the time, ny CRX was probably the smallest car you could buy!

Just Jeepin' > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
04/15/2020 at 21:44

As I replied to Chris, I never saw it. I know who Urkel is, vaguely.

Those were not good years for me.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:51

And you found the more obscure BMW Isetta 600, the larger version of the (slightly) more well known 300.

These were actually very important for BMW and Iso for making it in the cash strapped post war European market. Fuel was expensive and microcars were in, so the two companies teamed up for a small fuel efficient car.

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getFuckedHerb > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 21:57

Oh man some things I just take for granted, like everyone had seen Urkel’s car!

Just Jeepin' > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
04/15/2020 at 22:03

Fuel was expensive and microcars were in, so the two companies teamed up for a small fuel efficient car.

I absolutely love constraints. I think being forced to find a solution that fits within hard constraints maximizes your chance for creativity.

Blank pages are hard. Give me a motivation and limits.

Svend > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 22:34

I can’t get over that. You’v e never heard of Isetta or clamshell doors.

The classic 300

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300 cabrio

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300 pickup

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Oh man, I wish I was in the room to see your face when you saw this Zundapp Janus 750 for the first time.

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The driver and front passenger sit forward facing, while the rear passengers sit rear facing.

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An earlier one had lift up doors.

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Jim Spanfeller > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 22:35

What? You’ve never heard of it before? That’s surprising. Well, welcome to the club, I guess! They are wonderfully weird and interesting cars. Also, Doug Demuro reviewed one once:

And if you wanna see something REALLY crazy, there was another car called the Zundapp Janus that was mostly symm etrical and had TWO doors like that!

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Just Jeepin' > Svend
04/15/2020 at 22:48

Janus is such a great name for that.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 22:51

No worries mate, just pickin’ atcha :)

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 22:52

For reals? Watch this, Jezza explains:

Svend > Just Jeepin'
04/15/2020 at 23:14

The Zundapp Janus was originally designed by Dornier in Germany after the second world war as the Dornier Delta , but wasn’t cost effective for them to actually build the car as they didn’t build cars, they came to a commercial agreement for Zundapp to produce and market the car and make further design changes.

There are so many quirky cars out there from around the 1950s, way too many to list for me now.

The BMW Isetta started out as the Italian designed by a company called Iso, BMW later bought the rights to the car from Iso. (Isetta means ‘little Iso’).

Iso Autocarro 500 (Italian built Isetta)

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