MICROCAR NEWS Online

This piece from ITV IOM (Isle of Man) news has Ernie Leece discussing the “new” replica Peel P50s and Tridents that are being made and allegedly sold in the UK. Now it’s time for the perspective of someone who worked at the actual Peel Engineering Co on the Isle of Man.

In addition, here is a link to the episode of DRAGON’S DEN broadcast on the BBC that is referred to in the video. Watch the hosts of the show rip their business plan to shreds.”Half-Baked” is what they call it.  Also- while you watch the Dragon’s Den episode note how they try to make it appear as though they “bought the company” from the Isle of Man, just as Ernie Leece says in the news video.

perhaps this ad from a 1960 Playboy magazine will help you make up your mind.
This is what happens when you let everyone from marketing have their own line of text.
Not sure what kind of woman is supposed to be attracted to those balloons though…

And they’re off!

Who do you think the winner was in this drag race between the 1956 BMW Isetta and this 1964 CHEETAH?
(don’t you know that Cheetahs always win?)

This was in Las Vegas during SEMA at the Clean Tools booth, makers of the ABSORBER and GLOSSER products.

The annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is one of the world’s biggest trade shows devoted to cellphones, smartphones and mobile gear. Wired covered the show and found that devices apparently don’t seem to sell themselves, they need Microcars!
That is a nice Spanish ISO Isetta on display
(note the oval sticker in the corner of the rear window: Vintage Microcar Club!)

GARMIN seems to have an affinity for using microcars to help attract attention, they also have a BMW Isetta on display in the front window of their flagship store on Michigan Ave in Chicago.
read more about the show at:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/gallery-mwc/all/1

Wally sent this in after poking around in the Apple iTunes App Store.

Click the pic to see it full size.

What could be more cozy on Valentine’s Day than you and your honey in a Microcar?

This video pretty much sums it up. What other car could you make a video like this with?

What is a bit astonishing is that this was made by the BMW Museum in Munich.
Listen to the lyrics and in particular to ” …without you I would never rise again”

Does this mean BMW is finally acknowledging the Isetta’s place in their history as “the car that saved BMW”?
Maybe it is just coincidence but this commercial is all stop-motion animation with KinToy Isettas zipping about, having fun and mixing it up with all the other BMW marques as well as modern day traffic. To think they just randomly selected a song to run in the background is difficult to believe.

What do you think?

A French Yellow Pages ad with what appears to be an Italian SPANISH-built ISO Isetta driving around!
great footage and the car is a featured player, not just background.
(thanks to John Malcolm for digging this up…)

watch for the other microcars at the end.

On February 14 2008, we got a call from Marcus Wiedenhoeft, the design director for FLOR, a catalog and web-based seller of upscale flooring products. They were looking for a Microcar to feature in their Summer Catalog and had contacted The Vintage Microcar Club to see if there were any local owners who might be interested in renting their cars out for a photo shoot.

This was going to happen in the dead of winter, with 2 feet of snow on the ground!  I explained it was going to be difficult to find an owner willing to let their car out with the weather conditions being what they were.  After providing them with some photo examples of what was available locally, they were immediately drawn to Jerry Zabin’s (Skokie, IL) Red Isetta Cabrio.  Even though the car is unrestored and has original paint, they said it was perfect for what they had planned. (more…)