Anyone watching the Mecum auto auctions on TV?

Post by **matthew1** » 20 May 2010, 20:53

On Comcast it's on "HD Theater" channel. This auction is a multi-day affair in Indianapolis, Indiana, in a large warehouse. They broadcast for hours, car after car after car. Today I've seen $40,000 street rods with 800hp, a couple '68 Mercedes: a 220 and a 280 from the movie "The Hangover" (both went for about $35,000), and a 3-wheeled 1957 BMW car.

Most are American muscle cars however, and that's fine with me. I love cars, not just Volvos.

This weekend will see many $100,000+ cars go up on the block, including an outrageous 1960-something Corvette Stingray owned by the "father of the Corvette"... Harley someone-or-other. It's got crazy beautiful custom exhaust header pipes -- 4 on each side -- that flow out the body and into sidepipes. Outrageous.

Post by **billofdurham** » 21 May 2010, 12:11

We don't seem to get things like that over here. Probably the picture gets distorted in the pond!

However, the mention of the BMW three wheeler brought back happy memories.

The BMW Isetta was very popular in the UK and there are still quite a few in collectors' hands, appearing every summer for the various fairs and displays around the country. It started originally in Italy as the Iso Isetta by a company that made refrigerators and motor scooters. It is rumoured that the engineers designed it by standing two scooters side by side, adding a refrigerator and shaping it to look like a tear drop.

It was small at 7ft 6 inches long and 4ft 6inches wide. It had bubble type windows with the entire front end of the car hinging outwards to allow entry. In the event of a crash the driver and passenger were to exit through the canvas sunroof. The steering wheel and instrument panel swung out with the single door making access to the single bench seat simple. The seat was reasonably comfortable for two occupants, and perhaps a small child. Behind the seat was a large parcel shelf with a spare wheel located below. A heater was optional, and ventilation was provided by opening the fabric sunroof. It had no air con nor ABS.

Power came from a 236 cc two-cylinder two-stroke motorcycle engine. The gearbox was manual 4 forward and reverse with a chain drive from the gearbox to the solid rear axle which had two closely spaced rear wheels. The original spec was for one wheel but they kept turning over.

It had a top speed of about 47mph and reached 31mph in just over 30 seconds. That, of course, improved when going downhill with a following wind.

When Iso cut back on production, licences were taken out by companies in France, Brazil and Germany. From that point everyone forgot the origins of the little car as BMW took it, improved it and made it their own. BMW production commenced in April 1955 and in eight months they turned out 10,000 units.

In 1957 UK production started under licence from BMW. We had to be different and reverted to the single rear wheel. Prior to this the car wasn't very popular with UK drivers but by removing one rear wheel and taking out reverse gear they could evade automobile legislation and taxation by being classed as three-wheeled motorcycles, and could be driven with a motorcycle licence. To go backwards your wife pushed. We did continue to produce four-wheeled Isettas, but only for export to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

And now for breaking news - A new version of the BMW Isetta is likely to be introduced in 2010 sharing a platform with the Fiat Topolino. The car is expected to achieve 100 mpg-imp (2.8 L/100 km; 83 mpg-US). It probably won't be as Spartan as the original and nowhere near the fun to drive but that's progress.

: 1955 BMW Isetta in the BMW museum.jpg (15.77 KiB) Viewed 1230 times

Sorry to hijack the auction thread, Matt but, as you probably know, I love old cars.

Bill.

Post by **matthew1** » 21 May 2010, 13:36

Beautiful, that's the one, Bill. Thanks for your insight on it. The car on the tv show went for $15-ish thousand dollars, and yes the announcers did mention the refrigerator/scooter roots.

I wish you could see this auction tv broadcast. For car guys like us, it's like Las Vegas for gamblers.

I think I've mentioned my family and I lived in England in the 1970s when I was very young. My dad would point out three-wheeled cars when we were out. Sighting them became a hobby for him and me. From my very fuzzy recollection, the ones we saw were not these BMWs, but instead a less-pretty, boxier model.

Post by **jblackburn** » 21 May 2010, 13:48

Hey, my friends mom has a picture of them at their house of 4 of them crammed into one of those Isettas when they were little

While you're on the subject of collectibles:

A 1974 BMW 2002. I grew up with this car my entire life, owned by my mom since she was 16. Original engine, original transmission, not sure how many miles, but still runs great

And my neighbor's BEAUTIFUL '68 Mustang Fastback...such an awesome car:

Sorry, I don't have any great pictures of either one, and these were taken with my old camera, so the quality's not great either.

Post by **billofdurham** » 21 May 2010, 16:09

Well, young Matthew you were probably seeing these. Glass fibre body, one wheel at the front and an engine of 600cc to 700cc, depending on model. They started production in the 1950s with an aluminium body which was replaced by the the glass fibre body as the price of aluminium rocketed in the late 1950s. Some of those built in the late 1950s had a mixture of aluminium and fibre glass panels as stocks of the aluminium dwindled.

: Reliant Regal 3.30.jpg (20.8 KiB) Viewed 1221 times

If you look at the inset picture top left you can see the layout of the front suspension.

The Regal was replaced by the Robin in 1973. Although a more up to date style, for the period, it was never as popular as the Regal. Having said that production didn't end until 1981.

: 1974 Reliant Robin.jpg (185.23 KiB) Viewed 1221 times

Then to confound its detractors even more a revamped version appeared in 1989 and stayed in production until 2001. The engine was a 748cc OHV made of light alloy. It was described by the manufacturers as a 2½-door, 3 wheel saloon with large opening rear window.

To prove that we in the UK will try anything the next picture shows Reliant robins racing. Don't crash as the body disintegrates rapidly.