The Refrigerator Car That Saved BMW: Jay Leno’s Isetta 300 Drive | Jay Leno's Garage

[00:06] For how small it is, it's pretty

[00:08] comfortable going along. You're not

[00:10] getting rattled to death.

[00:11] >> Look what's coming up next to us here.

[00:13] >> Oh, nice Chevy.

[00:22] >> The horn's really above its pay grade.

[00:25] >> Yeah, it it screams like a big guy. I

[00:28] mean, it certainly gets points for

[00:30] originality.

[00:31] >> Oh, yeah.

[00:32] >> You don't you don't see many of them

[00:33] around. And if you do, typically not

[00:35] drive it.

[00:39] >> Just makes you smile riding along.

[00:43] >> It's a cartoon car.

[00:50] >> Welcome to the episode of Jay Lo's

[00:51] Garage. The car we're featuring today,

[00:53] 1958 BMW Isetta 300. This is the car

[00:58] that literally saved the company. It

[01:00] doesn't look like much of a hero, but it

[01:01] really did. You know, those of you that

[01:03] enjoy your BMWs and your MClass and your

[01:05] CLS coups and all the cool BMWs or even

[01:08] the motorcycles, you owe your success or

[01:12] at least what you have to this car.

[01:14] Because what happened was after the war,

[01:16] Germany was devastated. They were not

[01:18] allowed to build any automotive product

[01:21] that could be deemed war worthy, trucks,

[01:24] heavy equipment, that type of thing. So

[01:26] BMW really didn't know what to do. The

[01:28] Asetta was an Italian car. It was

[01:30] produced in Italy. BMW bought it and

[01:33] decided to produce it in Germany. They

[01:35] put a BMW four-stroke motorcycle engine

[01:38] in it. Single cylinder 300 cc's and

[01:40] using, I think, real good German

[01:43] engineering prowess. They made it a

[01:46] dependable family car. It seems silly

[01:48] thinking this is a family car, but it

[01:50] really was because Germany was just

[01:52] devastated. All of Europe was

[01:54] devastated. The Marshall plan was a plan

[01:56] where American companies went to Europe

[01:58] and without colonizing rather or or

[02:01] trying to take over we just helped them

[02:03] out. We gave money to Fiat, gave money

[02:04] this given to German companies and BMW

[02:07] produced this. This is how they made

[02:09] money. They sold over 160,000 of these.

[02:13] I mean, you know, you know how they say

[02:16] the uh SUV safe Porsche. How many 911s

[02:20] can you sell over the at the cost of

[02:22] $100,000? you know, so they produced the

[02:25] SUVs and that allowed them to grow as a

[02:28] company and produce more 911s and this

[02:31] allowed BMW to produce the high

[02:33] performance motorcycles and sports cars

[02:35] we see today. All right, let's meet the

[02:37] man who owns this one, Danny Paddling.

[02:39] Danny, come on in, my friend.

[02:41] >> You seem a little tall for this car.

[02:43] >> Yeah, very much so.

[02:45] >> These are fascinating. You know, the fun

[02:48] thing about this vehicle is this front

[02:50] door. The company that produced these in

[02:52] Italy, they also made freezers and

[02:55] refrigerators. That's why it has this.

[02:57] This is a freezer door. This is a door

[02:59] off a deep freezer. And you

[03:03] >> Etherm was Yeah. Just very funny, you

[03:06] know. Just use what you have, you know.

[03:09] I always like lowbudget movies because

[03:11] people are creative, you know. They they

[03:13] come up with ways to get things instead

[03:16] of using special effects or they really

[03:18] get good writers or good acting. And

[03:20] that's what this is. This is some real

[03:21] solid engineering in these because these

[03:23] were actually quite dependable. They

[03:25] came to this country and they were they

[03:27] were a hit here too.

[03:28] >> They were they they use them as yacht

[03:30] tenders a lot more here and golf golf

[03:32] carts in a sense.

[03:34] >> It would have been a little bit hard to

[03:35] go anywhere in the US with these other

[03:37] than in the city. But in Europe they

[03:40] really did well as a city car as a

[03:42] proper enclosed scooter in a sense. Now,

[03:45] when they built it in Italy and in

[03:48] Germany, often time it had four wheels,

[03:50] two in the front and two in the back.

[03:52] But when they built it in England, this

[03:54] is the one we all know because it's a

[03:56] three-wheeler. See, in England, anything

[03:58] less than four wheels did not pay the

[04:00] oppressive car tax. You had this huge

[04:02] car tax, which doesn't seem like much in

[04:04] hindsight, but at the time,

[04:06] >> half of what the car tax would have been

[04:07] at the time for a motorcycle.

[04:09] >> That's what it means. So, that you could

[04:10] register this as an enclosed motorcycle

[04:13] or whatever they want to call it. So

[04:14] that's why that's why they produced it

[04:16] with the three wheels and and put the

[04:18] steering wheel on the other side and did

[04:21] all that all that kind of stuff. Now, as

[04:23] I said before, when these were built in

[04:24] England, they built as three wheels to

[04:26] save money. But in Germany, France, even

[04:29] in America, that was not an issue. So

[04:30] they built them a little more stability

[04:33] with the four wheels. But it's basically

[04:36] the same problem that you have with the

[04:37] three-wheel. You got the two inboard

[04:39] wheels like this. If they building this

[04:42] today, it would just be one big wide

[04:43] wheel probably. Probably. So you got to

[04:45] So if if there's a pothole in the road,

[04:47] you're going to hit it with something

[04:49] because it is like an equilateral

[04:50] triangle. Like it's, you know, you guess

[04:52] like it's like like a Dorito. It's like

[04:53] this. You're going to hit it with

[04:55] something. The back.

[04:57] >> Yeah. Hilarious. Very funny. But this is

[04:59] this will probably be a little more

[05:00] stable than one of those three-wheeler

[05:02] ones. So because when I first saw this

[05:04] come in, I just assumed it was a

[05:06] three-wheeler, but now I realize no,

[05:07] that's not true. And it's a chain

[05:09] transmission, basically like a

[05:10] motorcycle.

[05:10] >> Chain drive straight to the axle.

[05:12] >> And this is would have been a family

[05:14] car. Dad comes home with a new car. Hey,

[05:16] take a look at that, kids. That's for

[05:19] the man who carries success with ease.

[05:21] Yes. S Bob, this is this is the future.

[05:24] Yeah, it's really funny.

[05:25] >> Yeah, they really had to go through a

[05:26] lot of work to redesign it to switch it

[05:28] over to right-hand drive, but that would

[05:30] have been um Brighton Railway Works, I

[05:34] believe, is the producer that car.

[05:35] >> Yeah. Yeah. So, there's kind of a fun

[05:38] story behind these. BMW beefed it up a

[05:41] little bit. See this? These big I guess

[05:43] this is part of the frame, but this

[05:45] keeps it

[05:46] >> that would be what bumper what you could

[05:48] call a bumper on this. I don't know what

[05:50] it would stop.

[05:51] >> Yeah. Yeah. I look, you get hit in this.

[05:53] I'm sorry. Yeah.

[05:55] >> Yeah. Not making that one, that's for

[05:57] sure. That's This wasn't a luxury. This

[05:59] was your escape hatch right here

[06:00] >> because Yeah. When you get hit, you're

[06:02] not getting out that door, you know, you

[06:03] get hit in this thing. But Yeah. But

[06:05] they're funny. I'm I'm anxious. You

[06:07] know, in all the years I've been doing

[06:08] this, we've never driven one of these.

[06:10] So, I'm I'm excited about it. But it

[06:13] just looks very German. You know, I had

[06:16] to say that even though it's Italian,

[06:18] it's Well, the Germans do well with

[06:20] Italian stuff. You know, they bought

[06:22] Ducati, they bought Lamborghini.

[06:24] >> They they seem to reinvent the wheel

[06:26] pretty good over there.

[06:28] >> Well, they're they're real good at

[06:30] wiring and engineering. I mean, you

[06:32] know, being Italian myself, I know how

[06:34] that is. I got a lot of Italian cars and

[06:37] let's put the wires. They're fine.

[06:39] They're beautiful to look at. They

[06:42] >> underneath maybe not so much.

[06:43] >> Yeah. Yeah. Not so much. Yeah. So,

[06:45] that's where you need the Germans. And

[06:46] they do and they do just a wonderful

[06:48] job. I mean, this looks like something

[06:50] right out of Volkswagen. That's a

[06:52] beautifully made steering wheel.

[06:53] >> Really?

[06:54] >> It really is.

[06:55] >> You know, there's nothing cheap looking

[06:57] about this car. I mean, it looks like

[06:59] all quality stuff. Look the way this

[07:01] door opens. Got your freezer unit right

[07:04] here. You put your frozen peas and stuff

[07:06] right in there. Yeah. Yeah. It's just

[07:09] It's just such an odd automobile. It's

[07:13] just It could only come from Italy. This

[07:15] would not come from the mind of a

[07:17] German. Why would the door open this

[07:18] way? It does not make sense for a door

[07:20] to open this way. You know, when I

[07:22] worked in Mercedes as a kid, cup

[07:24] holders, why would you drink in the car

[07:26] while you're driving? It is silly to

[07:28] have you do not a cup. You should not

[07:30] have a cup in your car. Well, of course,

[07:32] Americans want their 44 ounce big gulp

[07:34] and they eventually succumb. And when

[07:36] they come up with a you ever see the the

[07:38] the the cup holder, the German you press

[07:40] it say it turns, it goes this way, it

[07:43] comes around. Um you Yeah. Hilarious.

[07:46] >> They don't they're not so much a cup

[07:47] holder as a can holder in those. I have

[07:49] a I have a Porsche Cayman and that is I

[07:52] don't really use them. They never really

[07:53] pop out. So,

[07:54] >> Right. Right. Yeah. It's very funny.

[07:56] >> It's an afterthought. It's a single

[07:57] cylinder 300cc's.

[07:59] I would get that to be what, 12, 13

[08:02] horsepower?

[08:02] >> The earlier cars would have been 12

[08:04] horsepower and 250 cc's. The later cars

[08:07] had 13 with 300. And it didn't really

[08:10] add to the top speed. It was more torque

[08:12] to get up those.

[08:12] >> So, this is the big block.

[08:14] >> This is the big block.

[08:15] >> Okay. So, you got the big block. If it

[08:17] sounds like it's running on one

[08:18] cylinder, that's cuz it is. It's only

[08:20] got one cylinder.

[08:20] >> Very lumpy.

[08:21] >> Yeah. Very funny. Well, let's show

[08:23] people the engine. Can you open that up?

[08:25] >> Here. Let's pop the key out.

[08:28] It is an air cooled motor. Yes, it would

[08:31] be air cooled. And it's not a motorcycle

[08:34] motor, but it is designed off the the

[08:37] R25, I believe.

[08:38] >> Right. Okay. And the key is really just

[08:42] a uh

[08:43] >> just a a little wrench in a sense.

[08:45] >> Just a little wrench. Yeah. Okay.

[08:46] >> See, and this acts as a fan that throws

[08:49] cool air up to the cylinder head. Ammo

[08:51] carburetor, I think, isn't that? Yeah.

[08:53] Yep. Motorcycle carburetor. Very very

[08:55] simple.

[08:56] >> Yeah. Interesting. And you put the kids

[08:58] back here, which makes me laugh. Yeah.

[09:00] >> That or you know, you could squeeze them

[09:02] in between you, but it might be a tight

[09:04] fit. They'd have to be some really small

[09:06] kids to get more than two people in

[09:08] there.

[09:08] >> But here's your fan. This spins.

[09:10] >> Yep.

[09:10] >> And that throws cool air up into the

[09:13] sill. Yeah. I never heard about any of

[09:15] these overheating, so I guess it works

[09:17] quite well.

[09:18] >> It seems to. I mean, they they didn't

[09:20] really have too many revisions. The ESOs

[09:22] came as two-strokes and then BMW decided

[09:26] to make it a little bit more reliable

[09:27] with the four- stroke and the torque of

[09:29] a four- stroke.

[09:30] >> Right.

[09:31] >> So, that helped it out a lot.

[09:33] >> Only they didn't make too many changes.

[09:36] One of the significant ones, the ESOS

[09:38] had the headlamps in the in the wings

[09:40] right there.

[09:41] >> BMW then brought them up, mounted them

[09:43] on the side side windows. They slid so

[09:45] you didn't get hot boxed in there in a

[09:47] sense. And

[09:48] >> And what did this cost in America? new

[09:51] >> little over $1,100, I believe.

[09:52] >> Okay. Well, yeah, that's about what a

[09:54] Volkswagen was.

[09:55] >> Yeah.

[09:55] >> Well, the Volkswagen got three extra

[09:57] cylinders.

[09:58] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[09:58] >> But that was probably 13 or $1,400.

[10:02] >> Little I think

[10:02] >> you have to think of hundreds as we

[10:04] would think of thousands. Very much so.

[10:06] >> So, $100 is really $1,000. That's Oh my

[10:09] god, that's a third of the price of the

[10:10] car, you know, by the time you add it

[10:12] all up. Okay.

[10:13] >> And they had a optional heater. I don't

[10:15] know how much that was extra, but

[10:17] >> couldn't have been more than 40.

[10:18] Probably a gas heater. You light it with

[10:20] a match and Yeah,

[10:21] >> probably.

[10:22] >> And look at the minuscule. Look at the

[10:24] little gas pedal and the brake and

[10:26] clutch. And it's it's a four-speed

[10:28] transmission correct?

[10:29] >> Yes. It's a

[10:29] >> No skimping there.

[10:31] >> Four-speed motorcycle gearbox. And it is

[10:33] a reverse

[10:34] >> backwards. Yeah. Yeah. Cool.

[10:36] >> All right. And it's got this optional

[10:38] sunroof. Paid a little extra for that, I

[10:40] imagine. Yeah.

[10:41] >> It's not luxury. It's a necessity. It's

[10:43] your escape hatch right there.

[10:45] >> Oh, I get So, did they all have it?

[10:46] >> Yes, they all have it. So

[10:48] >> if you get hit in the front, you're

[10:50] without that, you're in a situation.

[10:52] >> Oh, I see. No, you're in a tin can is

[10:54] what you're in. Yeah. Yeah. All right.

[10:56] Very good. Okay. And do you have do you

[10:59] have to tickle a carburetor to start it?

[11:01] No, you can just start it, right?

[11:02] >> Yeah. It started right up. Yeah.

[11:03] >> The other day today gave us a little

[11:05] trouble, but it starts for a single

[11:08] cylinder 13 horsepower car that you

[11:10] wouldn't think on the road, it does

[11:11] pretty good.

[11:12] >> And there's no provision to kickstart

[11:13] it, right? It's electric starter.

[11:15] >> Electric start. Uh generator start. D.

[11:17] They call it a dino start system.

[11:19] >> Oh, so it's when it's not starting the

[11:21] car, it's charging the system.

[11:23] >> Yes.

[11:23] >> Okay. So, it's always connected. All

[11:25] right. Very good. All right. And there's

[11:27] no trunk or anything. No.

[11:30] >> The back shelf. That's it.

[11:31] >> Well, let's get in. Let's take it for a

[11:33] ride. Let's put this the door back on

[11:35] here. And it's rear wheel drive, right?

[11:37] Not frontwheel drive.

[11:38] >> Yes, it is a rear wheel drive. And it is

[11:41] there's no differential on it. The

[11:43] reason the track is so skinny is so it

[11:45] can just chain drive right to the uh

[11:48] axle.

[11:49] >> And the advantage is with this, if

[11:51] there's a pothole in the road, you'll

[11:52] hit it with at least one wheel. If you

[11:54] don't get it with two outer wheels, then

[11:56] you'll hit it with the inner wheel. I

[11:57] got a Morgan three-wheeler. And you

[11:58] cannot avoid if there's a pothole, it's

[12:02] either here, here, or here. So,

[12:03] >> oh yeah,

[12:04] >> you're hitting it in one of the three

[12:05] wheels.

[12:06] >> Yeah. You got the equilateral triangle

[12:07] there where you're going to you're just

[12:08] going to hit anything that's in the

[12:10] road.

[12:10] >> Hilarious. Okay. It it's how it's people

[12:13] believe how devastated Europe was. There

[12:15] was just no money.

[12:17] >> There was nothing.

[12:18] >> The French car industry decimated. They

[12:20] used to build the most beautiful luxury

[12:21] cars. Nothing. There was no no money to

[12:24] buy any of this.

[12:25] >> They went I mean they went from making

[12:26] Bugattis to making the douche. Yeah.

[12:29] >> It was really Europe had to completely

[12:32] change everything that they were doing

[12:34] to survive. I mean, the way we think of

[12:37] Middle Eastern wealth now with the oil

[12:39] was the way people in Europe thought of

[12:41] people from Texas. They had oil, the big

[12:44] Texas guy with the cigar and the

[12:45] Cadillac and he would go to Europe and

[12:48] buy up all these great works of art and

[12:50] take them back to his ranch and and they

[12:51] built well over cuz I continued to build

[12:54] it also, didn't they?

[12:56] >> Oh, they sold it after.

[12:57] >> They sold the licensing. They produced I

[13:00] think it was some somewhere along the

[13:01] lines of 5,000 cars. They sold the

[13:04] licensing to BMW and then at the same

[13:06] time they sold the tooling to ROI in in

[13:09] Brazil and they produced a ton.

[13:12] >> So did Volam in France. They produced um

[13:15] some with a little bit of variation.

[13:17] >> So there are hundreds of thousands of

[13:19] these out there.

[13:20] >> About 203,000 is

[13:23] >> how many remain?

[13:25] >> How many? 25% I'd say give or take.

[13:27] >> Yeah, cuz I see them all over the place.

[13:29] You know, a lot of rich guys like to

[13:31] have these in their collections up near

[13:33] the front. You know,

[13:34] >> every good museum has one in their

[13:35] collection.

[13:36] >> Well, let's take a ride. Can we give it

[13:38] a shot?

[13:38] >> Yeah, let's go right ahead.

[13:40] >> Let's get inside this baby. Well, this

[13:42] is hilarious. Okay, let me see here.

[13:44] Just step in here.

[13:46] >> Yep.

[13:48] >> Well, it's easier to get into the

[13:50] mirror.

[13:52] >> Don't have to bend down as much.

[13:53] >> Oh, look at that. There you go.

[13:56] >> We'll just scoot over and squeeze on in.

[13:58] Good thing I'm skinny.

[14:00] >> Here we go.

[14:03] >> Then we just close the door.

[14:04] >> Here we go.

[14:09] >> That's closed.

[14:10] >> All right. Gee, it's not claustrophobic.

[14:15] Well, this is hilarious. Here we

[14:21] Oh, boy. All 13 horsepower.

[14:26] There we go.

[14:37] It goes pretty good.

[14:39] >> Yeah.

[14:42] >> Does make you smile. It's pretty fun.

[14:44] >> It does.

[14:48] >> Now, once again, this has a 300. So,

[14:50] this is the big block motor.

[14:52] >> This is the big block. All 13

[14:54] horsepower. Not the not the two not the

[14:57] 250.

[15:03] >> There we go.

[15:08] It feels pretty good.

[15:09] >> Yeah.

[15:10] >> It's a car.

[15:11] >> Yeah. Pretty nice.

[15:13] >> It's two people moving.

[15:16] >> I mean, going downhill, you can get some

[15:18] real speed with it.

[15:19] >> Oh, yeah. You I don't know if you'd want

[15:21] to get real speed, but you could. might

[15:23] be a little bit scary, but

[15:24] >> you know, for around town, it's

[15:25] perfectly fine.

[15:26] >> Yeah. For LA, it's the perfect car.

[15:29] >> Yeah. For LA. Yeah.

[15:30] >> You know those tiny parking spaces that

[15:32] everyone messes up on? You just pull

[15:34] right in and unload right onto the curb.

[15:38] >> And you get by long horizontally or

[15:40] whatever you want.

[15:41] >> Oh, yeah. 7 and 1/2 ft long. That's how

[15:43] long the whole car is.

[15:45] >> Yeah. It It was actually designed so you

[15:47] could just pull straight into the curb

[15:49] and just open up the door and walk out.

[15:51] All right. It's kind of the most

[15:52] well-built micro car of them all. Why it

[15:55] was so popular.

[15:58] I mean, the Mesher Schmidt, you had a

[15:59] little canopy like a, you know, fighter

[16:02] plane. You had to climb in and that had

[16:04] the uh the yolks

[16:06] >> and that had the bigger motor. Was that

[16:08] a 500?

[16:09] >> I actually believe that was a smaller

[16:11] motor. I think it was still only 250.

[16:13] >> Oh, yeah.

[16:17] >> Let me drop down a third. Yeah. I get a

[16:20] little more power.

[16:21] >> Yeah. Fourth is the downhill gear.

[16:24] >> Yeah. You know, this is all right. It's

[16:26] pretty good.

[16:27] >> Yeah.

[16:28] >> And everyone smiles at you.

[16:30] >> Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[16:33] >> The horn throwing above its pay grade.

[16:36] >> Yeah. It It screams like a big guy.

[16:42] >> For how small it is, it's pretty

[16:44] comfortable going along.

[16:45] >> It's quite comfortable.

[16:49] You're not getting rattled to death.

[16:50] >> Look what's coming up in excellence

[16:52] here.

[16:52] >> Oh, nice Chevy.

[16:59] I

[16:59] >> mean, it certainly gets points for

[17:00] originality.

[17:02] >> Oh, yeah. You don't you don't see many

[17:04] of them around. And if you do, typically

[17:06] not drive it. They typically, you know,

[17:08] sit in a museum and they're eye candy.

[17:11] >> And this was this was in a you know, in

[17:13] a shop for a long time.

[17:14] >> I mean, it's really an enclosed motor

[17:16] scooter. Yeah, very much so. It's a it's

[17:19] an in between. You know, there's not the

[17:21] full creature comforts of a car, but

[17:23] it's not, you know, open and out in the

[17:26] elements like a motorcycle.

[17:27] >> Yeah. I mean, if you want to go look at

[17:28] Christmas lights, it's perfect.

[17:30] >> Yeah.

[17:34] >> Just makes you smile riding along.

[17:36] >> Yeah.

[17:38] >> It's a cartoon car.

[17:41] >> Well, I like that era when you could

[17:42] just design anything you wanted and you

[17:45] could put it on the road. Nowadays, the

[17:47] headlight has to be this high. The

[17:49] wheels are too close together because

[17:51] there's just all kinds of reasons why

[17:52] you wouldn't even be allowed to build

[17:54] it.

[17:55] >> Yeah. This was a time when the idea was

[17:58] to get Germany back on its feet. People

[18:01] had to go from one point to another as

[18:03] cheaply as possible,

[18:05] >> you know. So,

[18:07] >> it was a war torn nation and, you know,

[18:09] war torn Europe in all honesty. And this

[18:12] is why so many people this work this was

[18:15] the perfect car for them.

[18:17] >> I mean 160,000 that's pretty amazing.

[18:21] >> It really is. I mean I I don't know the

[18:23] measurement production numbers but I

[18:25] know ESO with their original version

[18:27] didn't even come close to that. None of

[18:29] the other licensed built copies did

[18:31] either.

[18:32] >> BMW makes up a good 34 of the production

[18:36] of my

[18:44] Yeah, you you can keep up with traffic.

[18:46] Almost.

[18:48] >> Almost.

[18:49] >> You wouldn't want to go on a freeway,

[18:50] but around LA, you don't get up to

[18:52] enough speed to

[18:54] >> No, I don't even think this engine is

[18:55] big enough to be allowed on the freeway.

[18:59] >> I I don't think I'd ever test it. I

[19:01] would be too scared with the semiis and

[19:03] pickups but

[19:03] >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, my 1909

[19:07] Baker electric car, I would take when I

[19:10] drive it sometimes to NBC, I would take

[19:12] it on the freeway, but only if the

[19:14] freeway is bumper to bumper cuz the top

[19:16] speed was 22 mph. So, I could get on and

[19:19] go to exit to get off.

[19:20] >> Yeah.

[19:21] >> Had to be middle of a middle of traffic

[19:24] though, rush hour in LA.

[19:28] >> That would have been a sight to see. I'm

[19:30] surprised there's no tachometer in this

[19:31] thing just to give you some idea what

[19:34] your revs are.

[19:36] >> It was a very basic car and I guess you

[19:38] know they weren't worried about somebody

[19:40] damaging it.

[19:50] We're doing all right now. Look at this.

[19:52] And today's a perfect day cuz in a hot

[19:54] California day you burn up in this

[19:56] thing. Very true. I mean, when you have

[19:58] the Yeah. You target your roof there,

[20:01] hold back,

[20:02] >> the necessity, not a luxury.

[20:04] >> Yeah. Walk here is really almost an

[20:06] overdrive. You got to be going flat out

[20:08] on it.

[20:10] >> I mean, it's fun to drive. And if you

[20:13] live in a little village in Bavaria to

[20:15] go from here and your factory is like 5

[20:18] miles away, it's perfect, you know.

[20:20] >> Yeah.

[20:20] >> You know, put your basket eggs in the

[20:22] back that you take home pick up on the

[20:25] way home and you're good to go.

[20:29] I think I think your t I think your

[20:31] tachonometer is right here. See

[20:36] red ready for each gear.

[20:37] >> Yeah.

[20:43] >> Yeah. It's not bad. It's all right.

[20:46] >> It goes and it stops. Keeps up. It's

[20:49] about the speed of my Topelino. And

[20:51] that's a fourcylinder.

[20:54] And that had 500 cc's, right?

[20:57] >> Yeah, about that. I got 6 on the

[21:01] job done as a city car.

[21:03] >> Very very well. Yeah. Couldn't ask for

[21:06] anything more.

[21:08] >> Well, actually, you could.

[21:09] >> You could, you know, then you just been

[21:11] picky.

[21:12] >> You wouldn't have gotten it, but

[21:13] >> yeah. All you get was a heater.

[21:17] >> And Germans are pretty big, so they put

[21:19] a lot of leg room in this thing, you

[21:21] know.

[21:22] >> Yeah. A lot lot of area for it to

[21:24] collapse into your knees.

[21:25] >> Right. Right. Yeah.

[21:27] >> The nice thing with this car is you have

[21:29] an accident, you're the first one on the

[21:31] scene because it's right here.

[21:33] >> Yeah.

[21:33] >> It's a foot away from you.

[21:35] >> Yeah. There you go. Right here. Yeah.

[21:36] >> It's quite good ventilation, too, with

[21:38] these sliding windows.

[21:39] >> Not bad. Not bad.

[21:48] Look how many cars. Look how many cars.

[21:53] I guarantee you we're in all their days,

[21:54] though.

[21:55] >> Look at that. Jesus.

[21:57] Where did they come from?

[21:59] >> I know.

[22:02] Sounds about right.

[22:09] >> Here comes the first real test.

[22:11] >> Yeah. And we're climbing the hill. Okay.

[22:14] >> Yeah.

[22:14] >> Not struggling yet.

[22:16] >> I don't think we could climb in fourth

[22:18] gear, but third gear are okay. for this

[22:21] more of a downhill overdrive.

[22:23] >> Yeah.

[22:28] >> Took that pretty good for having two

[22:30] people on it.

[22:31] >> Yeah, it's usable.

[22:34] >> We're going for the speed record here.

[22:44] >> Honda Civics look like Peter build

[22:45] trucks going by.

[22:46] >> Yeah. really makes you realize how big

[22:50] cars have gotten over the years. You

[22:52] feel dwarfed.

[23:14] Actually,

[23:18] a climbs hills okay. It's not great, but

[23:21] you can climb the hill.

[23:22] >> Yeah, with one person it would do a lot

[23:24] better, but it was all right. It gets

[23:28] you there, just not quickly.

[23:30] >> I mean, the two of us together probably

[23:32] almost match the weight of the vehicle.

[23:34] You have to think like an ant carrying a

[23:36] cube with sugar, you know?

[23:38] >> Yeah. It's carrying twice as in between

[23:41] >> and it's doing it pretty well, I got to

[23:43] say. Yeah, not bad. I really want to

[23:45] take this up through the Rockies, but

[23:49] that would be an interesting one.

[23:50] >> I mean, we are getting up the hill,

[23:52] especially in Germany where they're real

[23:54] hill.

[23:54] >> Yeah.

[23:56] >> I can only picture it in the German Alps

[23:58] out there, you know.

[23:59] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[24:00] >> Trying to struggle up

[24:03] >> now. Downhill. This is where you make up

[24:05] your speed. Now you almost feel like

[24:07] you're in a real car.

[24:09] >> Yeah. Can almost trick you into taking

[24:11] it on a trip.

[24:18] You know, I think with a twin cylinder

[24:20] engine, it would be not perfect, but a

[24:22] lot better.

[24:23] >> Yeah,

[24:24] >> it's just a, you know, a 300cc single

[24:27] cylinder, even on a motor scooter that's

[24:30] small.

[24:31] >> I guess that's where the people get the

[24:33] Kawasaki idea for these things. But I

[24:35] I'd be too scared.

[24:37] >> I don't know if I

[24:38] >> I guess some people have done it, right?

[24:39] >> Yeah. Yeah. There's been a few of them

[24:41] that have been building. Actually, a

[24:43] company started building them, I think,

[24:45] in the '9s called the um

[24:47] >> uh Zetta or something with a Z.

[24:49] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[24:50] >> And they they were a replica of the

[24:52] Isetta with a Kawasaki motor.

[24:54] >> Wow.

[24:54] >> I'd be nervous about rolling it over

[24:56] like an egg.

[24:57] >> I know. Yeah.

[24:59] >> Definitely got a look to it. That's for

[25:02] sure. Nothing else like it.

[25:03] >> Yeah. Yeah. No, it's it's it's a lot of

[25:06] fun to drive. I mean, it's a quality

[25:08] built car. Yeah, I like this German

[25:11] plastic. Mercedes had the same color

[25:14] wheel. I wonder if this is the natural

[25:17] color of the plastic cuz all anytime I

[25:20] see it and all sorts of different German

[25:22] vehicles, it's always exactly the same.

[25:25] I I never seen like a red steering wheel

[25:27] or brown one. They all seem to be the

[25:29] 356s as well.

[25:31] >> Yeah, this must be the natural color. I

[25:33] don't know.

[25:34] >> It is a very pretty steering wheel.

[25:36] Simple.

[25:36] >> Yeah, very simple. It's really

[25:39] interesting to think that within 10

[25:41] years they went from this to a 2002 well

[25:44] 1600.

[25:45] >> Right. Right.

[25:46] >> And and that was

[25:48] >> Well, you know, I've got a Bristol

[25:51] and that has the uh the engine out of

[25:54] the uh 1930s BMW.

[25:59] What a what a great motor. It's a 2 L 6

[26:03] and it's extremely powerful. It feels

[26:06] like a 3 and 1/2 L. I mean, it's a very

[26:08] good motor.

[26:09] >> BMW has always been good with their

[26:12] motors in my in my opinion

[26:14] >> and really good engineering.

[26:17] They only built this cuz they were

[26:18] forced to. They weren't allowed to

[26:20] build,

[26:22] you know, a big powerful vehicle.

[26:23] >> Actually, they built the the 502

[26:27] >> and that was a V8 handbuilt luxury car

[26:31] >> and they and they failed. It was a flop.

[26:34] And so this was they had to they had to

[26:36] buy the rights to this to save the

[26:38] company pretty much. It was already

[26:39] there easy to be made.

[26:42] >> That was the 507 sports car.

[26:44] >> I mean Elvis Pres.

[26:47] >> No, this would have been the saloon and

[26:48] then the 507.

[26:49] >> Right. Right.

[26:50] >> I mean the same V8.

[26:51] >> Same V8. Yes. Yes.

[26:52] >> It's so funny. The saloons are are not

[26:55] dirt cheap but pretty cheap. The 507s

[26:57] are millions.

[26:59] >> Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, and the the

[27:01] 50 uh 502 was was like a flagship car

[27:04] for them. It was the first car they

[27:06] designed after the war and the head at

[27:08] that time wanted to come out with a

[27:10] flagship, you know, Rolls-Royceesque

[27:13] car.

[27:14] >> Trouble is, nobody in Germany had their

[27:15] money to buy it.

[27:17] >> Nobody anywhere.

[27:18] >> Right. So, it was just it was a giant

[27:21] flop and and he had to turn around and

[27:23] go, you know, this was at the uh

[27:26] 53 or 54 um Turin Motor Show, I think.

[27:30] And that's where they that's where he

[27:32] stumbled across it.

[27:33] >> When I was a kid, I was in and nobody

[27:35] had any money. Okay. Somebody had all

[27:38] the money. I mean, the same amount

[27:40] exists. So, where is it? If nobody has

[27:43] it, where did it go?

[27:45] >> Ford was spending it on the GT40s.

[27:47] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[27:49] But it's really crazy to think that, you

[27:51] know, these ran four of these ran at the

[27:53] Millilia in in 1954 and they all

[27:57] finished the race. Started first and

[27:59] finished last

[28:00] >> and that was 1,000 miles.

[28:02] >> 1,000 miles in a lesser version of this

[28:04] cuz that was a two-stroke, you know,

[28:07] 250cc.

[28:08] >> Yeah. But just as I were talking and

[28:11] having a conversation and driving it

[28:13] like it's a normal car, it makes me

[28:16] laugh. You know,

[28:17] >> you would I mean, it's not like we have

[28:18] to constantly, you know,

[28:20] >> fiddle around and look for a steam car.

[28:22] You're const Oh, you're checking this,

[28:24] you're doing that. You're making sure,

[28:26] you know,

[28:27] >> you just put the foot down and drive.

[28:30] You don't really lift it either.

[28:31] >> No, no. You just This is a classic case

[28:34] of use all the power all the time.

[28:37] >> Very much so. Going fast in a slow car

[28:40] is a lot more fun and scary than going

[28:42] fast.

[28:42] >> I mean, it does it hasn't stalled. It

[28:44] runs nice. No, it cleaned up pretty

[28:47] good.

[28:47] >> Well, Danny, thanks for bringing this.

[28:49] This thing's a lot of fun.

[28:51] >> Thank you for having me. It's been a

[28:52] really fun day and I appreciate the

[28:55] great conversation.

[28:56] >> Yeah, I can't believe it took me this

[28:58] long to drive one of these things, but

[29:00] I'm glad I can around. There's so many

[29:03] micro car museums in

[29:06] >> the the Lane Auto Museum. There was the

[29:09] Bruce Winer Microar Museum.

[29:11] >> Oh, yeah. What happened to that one? uh

[29:13] that he passed away and then RM actually

[29:17] auctioned off a lot of those cars about

[29:19] 10 years ago, I believe.

[29:20] >> Yeah, that's right.

[29:22] >> He actually had one of these things with

[29:23] a V8 in the back and it was a full-blown

[29:25] drag car.

[29:26] >> Oh, that's funny.

[29:27] >> But it was really a interesting uh car.

[29:31] >> And this is a nicely restored example.

[29:33] It's nice and tight.

[29:35] >> I think you got a good car on your hand.

[29:37] >> Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.

[29:40] Got the Leno seal of approval.

[29:41] >> Yeah, there you are.

[29:43] Well, Danny, thank you for bringing

[29:44] this, my friend. A lot of fun. I can't

[29:46] believe it took me this long to drive

[29:48] one of these things. So, uh

[29:52] you hope you enjoyed our little micro

[29:53] car here. Uh it's a lot of fun. You

[29:57] know, we're pretty eclectic here. You

[29:58] never know what we're going to have. So,

[30:00] check with us next week and we'll have

[30:01] something totally different again. See

[30:03] you later.

[30:07] >> Just makes you laugh, I got to say.

[30:09] >> Yeah, it does.