Carspotters' Challenge #36--Stuck in a Ditch
by Cookie the Dog's Owner
on November 16, 2012
This week, we're in Houston, Texas in the early 1960s, and traffic on US 59 in the "trench" has slowed to a crawl. The driver in the Isetta is probably feeling a mite vulnerable, surrounded as he is by full-sized Detroit road barges that could swallow his "rolling egg" whole.
See anything else noteworthy?
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
(Photo obtained from the Station Wagon Forum, to which it was contributed by member "Fat Tedy.")
Trey on November 16, 2012 at 07:50 AM
I used to actively dislike pre-64 falcons but lately I have been wanting one really badly. And a two-door post at that!
peter on November 16, 2012 at 11:21 AM
well, that Falcon looks huge next to the Isetta, but it was a compact car and would not be considered large even today.
toronado455 on November 16, 2012 at 01:42 PM
Yeah, the Falcons (I think there is another behind the Cadillac) are small by American standards, and still much larger than the Isetta.
From the title, I thought this was going be a post dedicated to stories of getting stuck. This seemed to happen much more often before front drive cars became ubiquitous.
Personally, I remember it happening on several occasions, but the one time I remember most vividly was in a rented Mercury Bobcat in Cape Cod when I got stuck in the sand on the shoulder of the road after making a stop.
CJinSD on November 17, 2012 at 09:10 AM
That is the big Isetta, the BMW 600 that pioneered the semi-trailing arm rear suspension that BMW would use for the next three decades. It had twice the engine of the other Isettas, a much wider rear track width, and two rows of seats, doubling capacity. Just think how small an Isetta 250 or 300 would have been in traffic.
robadr on November 17, 2012 at 09:23 PM
Is that a Porsche at the back of the nearest lane? Or 'just' a Karmann Ghia?
What's interesting is how few cars there are over 5 years old. A couple (4?) of mid/early 50's Chryslers and Fords. One possible 10-year-old (black) lurking over in the farthest lane.
Currently, the average age of cars in the US is 10.8 years.
(PS - anyone know how to get rid of that mandala thingy that appears next to my name??)
robadr on November 17, 2012 at 09:24 PM
OK - never mind :)
kenny on November 18, 2012 at 06:06 PM
It's interesting that I never felt vulnerable in that Turbo Chevy Sprint that I sold last October after 11 yrs of joy. It felt like a glove and I always maneuvered my way through less desirable situations due to it's nimble teeny nature.
Bill Thompson on November 20, 2012 at 04:11 PM
MG used to call that "Safety Fast."