KK Scale 1:12 1959 BMW 250 Isetta, Maroon/Gray

The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car, a name also given to other similar vehicles.

In 1955, the BMW Isetta became the world's first mass-production car to achieve a fuel consumption of 3 L/100 km (94 mpg‑imp; 78 mpg‑US). It was the top-selling single-cylinder car in the world, with 161,728 units sold.

Initially manufactured by the Italian firm Iso SpA, the name Isetta is the Italian diminutive form of Iso, meaning "little Iso"

The car originated with the Italian firm of Iso SpA. In the early 1950s the company was building refrigerators, motor scooters and small three-wheeled trucks. Iso's owner, Renzo Rivolta, decided to build a small car for mass distribution.[10] By 1952 the engineers Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi had designed a small car that used the motorcycle engine of the Iso Moto 200 and named it Isetta.

In 1954, Iso entered several Isettas in the legendary Mille Miglia where they took the top three spots in the economy classification. Over a distance of 1,600 km (1,000 mi), the drivers achieved an average speed of over 70 km/h (43 mph). However, despite its initial success, the Isetta was beginning to slip in popularity at home, mainly due to renewed competition from Fiat with its 500C model.

Renzo Rivolta wanted to concentrate on his new Iso Rivolta sports car, and was interested in doing licensing deals. Plants in Spain and Belgium were already assembling Isettas and Autocarros using Italian-made Iso components. BMW began talking with Rivolta in mid-1954 and bought not just a license but the complete Isetta body tooling as well. Rivolta also negotiated licensing deals with companies in France and Brazil.

After constructing some 1,000 units, production of the Italian built cars ceased in 1955, but Iso continued to build the Isetta in Spain until 1958.