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Two Door Elio?

Mel

Mel

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Made in USA said:
Remember the little car where the whole front end opened up as the door? They ended up putting a fabric panel on the top like a sun roof so that the driver would not be trapped in an accident. While I don't think a second door is needed, I like the idea of a emergency hatch. I would also like to see an option for a sunroof.
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That would be the Isetta.
 
pistonboy

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A second door as an escape hatch would increase the cost and may partially explain the price increase.

I do not claim a second door is a good idea or a bad idea.

But it looks like that is the way they are going.
 
Coss

Coss

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Mel said:
That would be the Isetta.
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Yes, the BMW Isetta, and they just built a new version; it's battery powered.
I don't know if or when they were supposed to release it, but I can say, I don't want one, they were just a little too strange.
They're little cars, and not really meant for the American market, maybe on the East Coast, but they would never cut it on the West Coast.
They were dangerous cars, cute, but seriously dangerous.
 
RUCRAYZE

RUCRAYZE

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Coss said:
Yes, but how quickly were you able to adjust to it?
I know when I went over, it was an easy adjustment to make.
I was over there for 6 weeks, and it was just like I had done it forever.
The harder part was going back to left hand drive, that seemed more foreign to me, and it took just a bit longer to switch back.
And that was scary at times, especially on 4 lane left hand turns. I turned into the wrong lane more then once, but fixed it pretty quickly.
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recently got a 1992 Land Cruiser w/ right hand drive- after a few weeks was as if it was so meant to be - directionals/wipers on "wrong side" but easy to adjust, most difficult was approaching the vehicle when it was parked, and still walked around to "street" side to get in.
 
RUCRAYZE

RUCRAYZE

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Coss said:
Yes, the BMW Isetta, and they just built a new version; it's battery powered.
I don't know if or when they were supposed to release it, but I can say, I don't want one, they were just a little too strange.
They're little cars, and not really meant for the American market, maybe on the East Coast, but they would never cut it on the West Coast.
They were dangerous cars, cute, but seriously dangerous.
Click to expand...
and w/ a 250cc engine, took 3rd gear to get thru an intersection (but loved it) there is a member here that has a few, into restoration and shows - does beautiful work
 
mkiker2089

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Many cars from Europe had fabric roofs. It wasn't an escape hatch, it was just the luxury feature of the time that also reduced weight and was cheap to implement. The BMW was also just the most popular of a licensed design from Itally, where the fabric roof was most popular. The original 500 had it and set the standard.
 
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