Hello all.
Those were the days Peter! The Isetta was made under licence from BMW in Brighton.They came over in kit form from Germany and were assembled in the old Loco works there.66% of the build cost had to be British so the Brighton cars all had Girling Brakes,Lucas electrics etc. There was no road access from the works,so the cars were road tested around the workshop If you lived in Brighton and ordered a car it had to go by train to London and then back again by road!Eventually they started taking them out in the lift!!!
They produced C30,000 there over 6 years,but their demise was started by that much larger saloon the Mini in 1959!!!!
The Plus model had bumpers(+ overiders!!),wheel trims,heater(fart in a thunderstorm type),and a door pocket!You can imagine what the basic car was like as even the plus did not have-seat belts,interior light,trip meter,windscreen washer,cigarette lighter or clock.The only luggage area is on the parcel shelf or a picnic basket mounted on the rack you could fit on the rear.
Those really were the days!!!
Regards Rob

You must be nearly as old as me! Was the Issetta the one with the steering wheel on the front door? A friend of mine had one and in the snow came down a hill in Sevenoaks, on the roof!

There is a good show down here in August, The Yeovil Festival of transport, they had several there a couple of years ago, and a Bond Minicar, where the steering turned the engine round to go backwards, or did you start the engine up backwards? Another friend of mine had a nearly new one. They even had my first car there, a 1939 Ford Prefect.

Peter.N.

Hi all
I am 42....and an anorak before my time!3 wheelers aren't too good in the snow!!!Mine like a majority if Isettas is a 4 wheeler,but the narrower rear track is only marginally better!!!
For anybody in the London area a good night out is at the Ace Cafe on the A40,2nd Tuesday of the month.In the summer there are 100's of classics there.It is a bit quieter in the winter but the food is great and you can chat for hours with fellow like minded individuals!!!I haven't seen an XM there yet but there are several Traction Avants,Citroem SM and DS convertable that I have seen there.
Mind you I have seen a Triumph Acclaim up there as well...design classic doesn't spring to mind!
I am moving to France next year and am after a 2cv Ripple Bonnet Van....with a 375 or 425cc engine I won't care about speed cameras Noz!!!
Regards Rob
PS.I fitted my NEW rad cap yesterday.Previously there had been water droplets in the clear plastic overflow tube,now there are none,and the car drove 3-4 degrees cooler yesterday on the flat.Sorted I thought......but after I had returned home there was still(albeit much smaller)an area of water on the ground in the same spot).The wet area doesn't appear for a time until after the car has stopped and started to cool down,there is no visible drip when the car is running...and it doesn't seem to do it all the time.I checked the water level this morning after a 100 mile trip and it was still above the line in the tank!!!I was worried but in my short experience of XM's it will more than likely rectify itself...or blow up!My early posts were about about uneven running of my car which suggested air getting in.I tried most of the suggestions with some improvement but it was still choking under hard acceleration in 2nd gear.Something changed in the car about 3 weeks ago and it doesn't happen anymore,you can floor it in any gear and it accelerates smoothly in all the gears now...bizarre!!!Having said that I am a great believer in using a car,if they get up to operating temperature on a long run and have a good blow out it does benefit the car.Fingers crossed!!!!!!!!
PPS.The light buzzer is still working....result!!!

I can give you nearly 25 years there! I have not seen an XM at Yeovil either, but they are probably not old enough. Come to that I have never seen an XM estate in France!

I hope that your problem is not head gasket related, but having said that, if its only a slight leak it can go on for sometme before it has to be done. I had to bite the bullet and do mine earlier this year, it was a pig of a job but have done about 10k since and it has been brilliant.

Re the misfiring problem, have you changed the fuel filter lately?

Peter.N.