1957 BMW Isetta for sale $45,000

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/clt/2400800946.html
if the link does not work, the listing has expired

This seller actually has PROOF that this is a BMW Isetta, they sent the ID number to BMW and got confirmation that it is actually a 1957 BMW Isetta.

What really makes this car stand out is the configuration of the rear wheels and the type of engine that powers it. As previously mentioned in the eBay listing for this car that you can still see HERE, this car used to be a very very rare 1954 model.  The seller verified this because they “knew” someone else in the US that also had a 1954 model Isetta.  Also- “someone” from the BMW Museum in Munich stopped by to look at the car and confirmed that they did indeed have a rare beast. Never mind that the body was from 1957, this car had the PROTOTYPE ENGINE installed! Yes, prototype.  And that engine was a 2 cylinder engine. Additional photos sent by the seller show that the engine is stamped OMC.

click for larger version

Yes, that’s right, BMW had the Outboard Marine Corporation of Waukegan IL put a 2 cylinder engine in their early BMW Isettas.  It must be true because the seller said so!  This car is also advertised as completely restored.  You will not find a finer example of a BMW Isetta with a rare rare rare OMC outboard motor installed.

If that is what you are looking for, this is the car for you.

click for larger version

This engine is so powerful, they had to loosen one of the sprockets and remove the chain while sits because you never know when it will just take off and tear up the road.

These engine photos show the incredible attention to detail that was put into the restoration of this historic vehicle.

This is truely an amazing story.

Please don’t bother this seller with any questions, they only have time for serious buyers.

This rotary-powered Mazda with a BMW Isetta body appeared at the 2010 Grassroots Motorsports $2010 Challenge last weekend. Participants had to spend no more than $2010 on their vehicle.
(hat tip to Mark Becker for the photo, John Malcolm found the YouTube video of it in action)

This is not a Smart Car

Are you getting emails forwarded from people showing a car smashed between 2 large trucks like the one above?
And does the email say something like

“OUCH!”
and
“Here is a photo of a wreck in Jefferson Parish, LA (near New Orleans ) between two trucks and a Smart Car. Think I’ll pass on the Smart Car.

Do You Still Want a Smart Car? Not if you are smart!”

Here is some news: The car is NOT a Smart Car!
It is a Ford Escape as reported by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and confirmed HERE in Snopes. The photo is real, the car is just NOT a Smart Car.
(Only the passenger side of the vehicle was crushed, the driver survived with some injuries.)

It is relatively easy to spot the difference even if you can only see one wheel. The Smart has a 3-lug wheel:

3-lug Smart Car Wheel

The one in the photo of the accident has FIVE lugs:

not a Smart Wheel

In addition, all the body panels on the Smart are plastic and they would have bent or snapped, they would not look like crumpled sheet metal. Sometimes the email you get also has this photo attached:

also not a Smart Car

How many lugnuts are on the wheel of this car? Five. So is it a Smart Car? No.
So what is it? It is a VW Cross. Other photos on the web show this accident from a number of points of view and the VW logo is clearly visible in the wheel hub.

So if you get one of these emails, please don’t mindlessly forward it out of ignorance.

Something is wrong with this BMW Isetta.

Can you tell what it is?

(click the photo for a larger version if you need it…)