Rolling Stock

From time to time I just have to stop and stare. 

It is because something has caught my attention. 

This can be an unusual feature on a building, the presentation of a sudden unexpected view, a strange road sign and on occasion because of a sighting of a rare type of car. 

In the modern era of motoring there is a blandness in style and design which is uninspiring. 

I can well remember the vehicles on the road in my childhood when spying a European marque such as the now commonplace Renault, Volkswagen and Fiat was a matter of great excitement. 

My father was a big fan of VW's and in the 1960's drove a Camper Van followed by a 1971 purchase of a 1600 Variant Squareback and then a 412LE Estate. 

We would wave at other families in the same make as though members of a secret club. 

I look back at those days with great affection and indeed recall many of the cars that made for an extra interest on those long drives for holidays or just a day out somewhere. There was a rather basic range of body styles very much dictated by the production process which had not yet mastered the techniques for aerodynamic curves and panels in metal and glass. 

Automotive plastics were still some years away from being of the required durability and versatility. 

Cars were largely based on a box shape to wings, bonnet, boot and roof but some designers were trying hard to deliver more radical and revolutionary concepts. I could not help but giggle and blush whenever the Wankel Rotary Engine was mentioned. 

There were also, in the post war years the combination of a shortage of materials and yet increasing demand for cheap and easy to manufacture modes of transport. 

In the 1950's ( actually a decade or more before I was born) a solution to this dilemma was in the distinctive form of the bubble car. 

It was so called because of the egg shape of its body and windows. 

I came across this beauty in a local village just a few days ago and just had to do a bit of research on it.

This is an Isetta of Italian design credentials but actually badged up as a BMW as part of a wider global licencing which saw other versions pop up in countries as far distant as Argentina and the United Kingdom. 

The BMW car was the subject of major re-engineering by the German company and in 1955 it became the first mass produced car in the world to achieve a fuel consumption of 94 miles per gallon. 

Some 161,728 were sold over a period of seven years.  By modern performance standards it was pretty rudimentary with a one cylinder four stroke engine from a motorcycle and a 13 horse power output. 

Key characteristics of the BMW version over the original included bug eye type headlamps and the positioning of the aero-blade badge centrally below the windscreen. The hairdryer type grille just behind the door appears to be  a radial fan and shrouded ducting to cool the overworking engine. 

The car could, in Germany, be driven on a motorbike licence and had a top speed of 53 mph. This street parked example is very well preserved and evidently is regularly used. 

It was well worth a stand and stare.