The Isetta was designed in 1953 by engineers Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi for the Italian firm Iso, a maker of refrigerators and scooters. The car had visual features of both and people joked about that. Iso’s chief, Renzo Rivolta, sold licenses for the manufacture of the vehicle to three companies—BMW, VELAM (France) and Romi (Brazil). BMW was the biggest and most enduring (until 1962) producer. The models of all the producers looked alike but differed significantly.
