The only factory-built Isetta pickup known to exist.

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Isetta of Great Britain Ltd.

Origin: Brighton, England

Production: very limited

Motor: 1-cyl, 4-stroke

Displacement: 295 cc

Power: 13 hp

Length: 7 ft. 10 in.

Identification No. A12747

Before there was the X5...there was the Isetta. Yes, the microcar with a million uses was even once a “crossover,” a combination of passenger car and utility vehicle, although the model in question was built not in Germany but by the British licensee, Isetta of Great Britain Ltd. of Brighton, known for its many variations on the Isetta theme.

The factory-built Isetta pickup truck was essentially an Isetta coupe with a stubby cargo bed added to the rear above the engine. It was perhaps the answer to a question that no one had asked, but then again, most fun things are, and it continued to prove the amazing flexibility of the Isetta design for a variety of uses. More importantly, it actually found its customer. The Royal Air Force employed a small fleet of Isetta pickup trucks for a time. The thought of these little bubble cars zipping happily around an airfield filled with weapons of war is hard to comprehend…but it apparently happened.

The example on offer from the Bruce Weiner Microcar Collection is a standard model without bumpers, and it is equipped with a fabric sunroof and finished in a snazzy shade of red—ideal to catch the buying public’s eye. Whether it was actually used for deliveries, or simply to promote its owner’s business, remains unknown. Regardless, it is the only factory-built Isetta pickup to survive today; therefore, it is among the scarcest of all original Isettas. It is also among the most eminently usable—perhaps the only Isetta suitable for a day trip—given its addition of usable space, for carrying up to 165 pounds of whatever goods the buyer would want to stow in its snug little covered cargo area. All the Bruce Weiner Microcar Collection cars have the capacity for fun. This one has the capacity for luggage, too. It’s an Isetta pickup! It’s an Isetta SUV! It is the one and only.