Rarity is a relative thing. A car can be produced in what might seem like respectable numbers, but when its figures are compared with its natural competitors, the sales results don’t always look that flash. Take the 1958 BMW Isetta 600, for example. Loosely based on the original Isetta 300, the company enlarged the car with a bigger engine and a longer frame to create a vehicle that could seat four people. Where BMW sold 161,728 examples of the 300, they could only find buyers for 34,813 examples of the 600 during its entire production run. However, even this doesn’t demonstrate the scale of the problem, because you need to consider the direct competition to gain a clearer insight. One of the 600’s chief rivals was the VW Beetle. In 1958 alone, Beetle production hit 441,941 cars, and that was a number that had to hurt for BMW. This 1958 Isetta 600 is a barn find that appears to represent a stalled restoration project. It is a solid and essentially complete vehicle that needs to find a new home and an owner who will return it to active duty. If you feel up to the challenge, you will find the BMW located in Frankfort, Illinois, and listed for sale here on eBay. The owner has set the auction to open at $7,500, but there have been no bids to this point.

We will have readers who will find the comparison between the Isetta 600 and the VW Beetle to be an unfair one, but this is far from the case. BMW had the Volkswagen lined up firmly in its crosshairs, while the chiefs at VW thought that they had some serious competition on their hands in the form of the Isetta 600. However, this level of competition failed to materialize for a couple of basic reasons. The first of these was performance, and we’ll get to that shortly. The second, and possibly the most crucial, was versatility. Both cars could seat four people in comfort or five (or even six) at a pinch. However, the Beetle offered more versatility and space for carrying cargo or luggage, and that hit the BMW pretty hard. This little Isetta appears to be complete because it seems that any components that aren’t attached to the vehicle are residing in the boxes of parts included in the sale. The body sports a few dings and marks, but there’s nothing that would be considered to be severe. One of the greatest enemies of these little cars can be rust, but things appear to be pretty positive with this BMW. There is nothing visible in any of the supplied photos, and the owner doesn’t mention any problems in the listing. If this is the case, performing a cosmetic restoration should be a straightforward process. Some of the external chrome will require a trip to the platers, but the glass appears to be in good order.

The Isetta 600 and the Beetle shared a few traits in common when it came to the question of drivetrain configuration. Both featured an air-cooled engine mounted in the rear that sent its power to the road via a 4-speed manual transmission. However, the BMW’s engine was literally half the motor found in the Beetle. It featured two cylinders, a capacity of 582cc, and a power output of 23hp. The VW pumped out 36hp from its flat-four, and that was a character trait that turned potential buyers away from the Isetta. It might have been noticeably lighter than the Beetle, but this wasn’t enough to bridge the performance gap between the two cars. If all of that wasn’t enough, the two models were only separated in price by a few dollars, and that banged to final nail into the BMW’s coffin. The seller believes that a previous owner commenced the restoration of the Isetta, but that this stalled fairly early. He believes that the engine may have been rebuilt, but he has no way to be sure. It certainly presents well, which makes a positive impression. The owner hasn’t tried to coax it into life, but he says that it turns freely. That means that the buyer will need to conduct their own investigation before hitting the key.

While the Isetta 600 could be viewed as an enlarged version of the original 300, the fact is that the two cars shared very few common parts. These included the unique front door and driver controls, along with the front seat. Where the tiny Isetta could seat two adults and possibly a small child, the 600 was designed to seat twice that figure. Access to the front of the vehicle was as per the 300, but rear-seat passengers found themselves confronted with a very conventional door to gain access. Once again, the rear seat could seat the same as the front, making it conceivable that you could squeeze up to six people into an Isetta  600. However, you would need to employ good personal hygiene, because life could be seriously unpleasant if any of the occupants had body odor problems! The interior of this BMW will require a retrim, but the foundations are there for it. It appears that both seat frames are present, as is a shiny new dash. The gauge cluster looks like it is a restorable proposition, while a competent upholsterer should be able to manufacture seat covers, side trims, and covers for the wheel arches. For those who might consider following this path, I managed to locate a supplier in the UK that can not only supply the seat covers but can also supply the correct material “off the roll” for owners to tackle a spot of DIY. This supplier is willing to ship parts internationally, so that might be an option for the buyer to investigate. It appears that the remaining hardware is present, although the buyer might also need to perform a search to locate a carpet set.

Over the past 10-years, we haven’t seen many examples of the BMW Isetta 600 cross our desks here at Barn Finds. That makes this car something of a treat. I am surprised that there have been no bids given its overall solid nature and the fact that it appears to be essentially complete. However, with 41 people watching the listing at the time of writing, that situation could change at any time. From a collectible perspective, these little cars don’t usually command mega-dollars. They do still tend to sell for some healthy numbers, and it isn’t unusual to see a pristine example top $30,000. That number represents about the upper limit of what you might expect to pay, which means that they remain a relatively affordable but quirky classic This car isn’t pristine, but it has the potential to be returned to that state. All it needs is the right dedicated owner. Could that person be you?