"The Steve Urkel-mobile" My favorite classic car is my 1959 BMW Isetta. My Mom and Dad bought one brand new off the showroom floor in 1959 for $995. The one I drive is not the one they purchased, I found mine on a car lot in 1979.

I was too small to remember the Isetta Mom and Dad owned, but I have watched the 8mm movies and still shots from when I was a baby. My favorite is a video of my Dad racing with a guy who had a tiny car called a Fiat Bianchini. It was hilarious, seeing them racing up the street and back with huge Cadillacs and other such big boats parked on the street.

In my photo albums from 1961, there is a picture of me in my diapers sitting on the vinyl convertible top of the Isetta. The caption in the album reads, "Baby on a bug!"

The Isetta was a huge part of my infancy. So when I went cruising past that car lot, and spotted that rare and familiar bubble car, I had to have it. The price didn't matter.

Turns out they were only asking $1,800.00 for the little gem, and I had $500 in the bank already. I went to my credit union, and they were more than happy to loan me the balance.

It is the ugliest and the cutest car you will ever see. It is shaped something like a Volkswagen Beetle, but about half the size. It has a 300cc engine that runs on one cylinder. It gets 60 miles to the gallon with a 2.5 gallon gas tank and a half gallon reserve tank.

The engine is air cooled, the carburetor is a gravity feed glass bowl. It has only one door. The front end opens up when you throw the door latch and push the steering wheel. It is a four speed manual transmission, and the shifter is on the left hand with a reverse pattern shift.

It has two headlights that look like bug eyes, and looks like a three wheeler but it actually has four. The two rear wheels are just 18 inches apart. I have 10 inch radial Michelin tires on it, but I have to use inner tubes and the wheels are split rims.

It doesn't have much of a heater. I like to joke that the cigarette lighter is the heater, although it doesn't actually have one.

The entire car only weighs 750 pounds, but it is very sturdy and holds the road nicely. It will turn on a dime, and you can't believe the places you can park. If you have to change a tire, just lift it up and set it on a block. Who needs a jack?

It won't go much over 60 miles per hour, and that is down hill with a stiff tailwind. But I will challenge most anybody to a race. I will race them the 60 miles from Salem to Portland, Oregon. The deal is, you can only use a gallon of gas.

When my Mom and Dad had theirs, they rolled it once in the snow. The only loss was about a half a gallon of gas. They didn't get crushed, thankfully, Isettas are made with a roll bar in the roof. They are very bottom heavy though, I still can't figure how they ever managed to roll the thing over.

I want to customize mine in a special way some day. I want to paint it orange with big black dots, put a big set of red lips on the front door, long lashes on the headlights. It will be the hottest looking ladybug you ever saw.

Learn more about this author, Michael Mccormick.
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