When things started to get ugly with traffic jams in the cities, there were many attempts by different manufacturers to create utilitarian, economical and easy-to-park cars. One of these attempts was the BMW Isetta, which was peculiar for several reasons, although the main one was that it opened at the front.
Yes, apart from being a two-seater and having only one rear wheel instead of four, everyone remembers it because the only door was at the front. Originally, the Isetta was manufactured by ISO, specialists in motorcars, but between 1955 and 1962, under license from the firm, the BMW Isetta also existed. In addition, other brands produced it for different markets.
As for the Yamaha R6, the dominant Supersport of the first half of the 21st century needs little introduction. And you might ask, how do we combine a BMW Isetta with a Yamaha R6? Well, that’s what Youtuber Westen Champlin is doing.
What motivated you to merge a BMW Isetta with a Yamaha R6?
Well, if Westen and his team have done it, it is basically because they could. It doesn’t make much sense and the truth is that thinking about how fast that hybrid can go is quite scary. As much or more than thinking about the stability it can have in the corners and even on the straights. In any case, the BMW Isetta was so critical that they say that after the preparation it has better stability, so imagining what it must have been like to drive it before is quite scary.
The microcar that was invented before the concept of a microcar even existed was designed to house a small engine that powered the rear wheel to get around town. But it was never intended to have the power that the Yamaha R6 engine offers.
It must be said that the job actually consists of changing one motorcycle engine for another, but this change has involved cutting, welding, joining… and in the end the result is what we see. However, for now it has one drawback and that is that you cannot change gears, something that will surely be fixed later.
