In 1957 my father purchase a white Isetta 300 and started a passion that has lasted until this day. He did not "fall in love" with the little car, but I did. I was four years old at the time. Like many Isettas in the late 50's to early 60's, this car did not stay on the road very long before it developed problems which could not be repaired by local mechanics. In 1962 my father purchased a red 300 for parts and the two cars were placed in storage. The photo below left shows my sister, two brothers and I near our "new" white Isetta in July 1958. This picture was taken as we were washing the car at our family's beach house located in North Myrtle Beach. (I'm the one looking at the rear wheel - oldest brother at rear of the car - "supervising").
In 1969 both cars were removed from storage and the white car was made road worthy again. I drove this car to high school until 1971. It was returned to storage until 1981 when my father gave the car to me.
I proceed to restore the car to its original condition. This was accomplished in 1982. It took several 1st place prizes in the Laural, Maryland HMI show during the 1980's. The red 300 has stayed in storage until this day. I plan to remove some time in the future and restore it back to original condition. The photo below shows yours truly and my white 300 in 1982.
In 1983 I ran across a "set" of (3) BMW 600 for sale just 60 miles from my home. I purchased all three as a set. The first was complete and appeared to be in fair condition although it had not run since 1975. The second was also complete, but it had been used to store fertilizer!!! Not much left of the floor.
The third had been dissambled and the chassis cut in half. The rear section of the chassis was missing. The body was complete, but had been laying on the ground for a number of years. The engine and transmission was also laying on the ground. I decided to keep the best car for later and attempt to make one good car from the other two. I took the chassis from the car that was used to store fertilizer and the 1/2 chassis from the disassembled car and made one good chassis. After about a year of work I finished the chassis, engine and transmission. Now it was time to start on the body. Well nobody I contacted could provide any parts for that car back in pre-internet days (remember this was 1983). I was stuck. The car sat in my shop for the next 16 years with little hope of being finished. Then by chance I attended the Microcar & Minicar Club meet in Ashville, NC in June of 1999. With the contacts I made there, I was able to locate all the parts I needed to complete the car.
The photo to the left is a picture of the car as I found it in 1983. After 16 years in storage and about 18 months of work, it went from looking like this......
to this!!! This picture was taken in March of 2001 after completion of the restoration.
In June of 2001 this car won 2nd place in the 2nd annual Microcar / Minicar meet in Asheville, NC. In 2003 it took 1st place in the same show.
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