11 replies to this topic

[John Secchi]

Hi All,

Anybody know who does a repro of the Russkit T70 as fitted to the Black Widow chassis?

Cheers
[oneofwos]

[stevefzr]

Patto might do them. It's hard to tell as he doesn't use the proper names for cars on his list. He has several Lolas listed (search for "lola" in the 1/24 bodies section). If you recognise it, you might be able to pick it from the gallery:

'66 Lola T70 Can-Am

Here's the same body painted:

painted version

He does have a couple of others but they're not in the gallery. Just send him an email and ask.

His site is
Patto's Place.

Regards,

[vfr750]

Hi John,

I think Tom Anderson does one:

See you Wednesday.

Cheers,

[TSR]

[John Secchi]

Very nice, Philippe.

Is the same chassis (and wheelbase) used for both the T70 and Bizzarini?
[oneofwos]

[TSR]

Hi John,

No, it is not the same chassis. The Lola uses the same chassis as the Lotus 38 with an added bolted body mount. The Russkit Bizzarini is not a Bizzarini but an ISO Grifo (from ISOthermica Rivolta, the refrigeration company that went into building the Isetta three-wheel car of which licence was purchased by BMW in Germany and VELAM in France). Renzo Rivolta hired Giotto Bizzarini to design his later cars, and the ISO Grifo was one. The Russkit model represents the alloy-body car driven at le Mans by Jean de Mortemart and Jean-Marie Vincent (a slot car fanatic at the time). Chevrolet Corvette power.
These cars were then manufactured by Bizzarini himself after a difference of opinion with Rivolta, but well after the Russkit model was produced.

The Russkit ISO Grifo uses a one-piece specific chassis that was never sold separately. An interesting note: while most of the Grifos used the Russkit 22 motor, the last issues used the Russkit 25 motor with the metal end bell, because Russkit had run out of motors.

Regards,

Philippe

[Bob Emott]

Hi Philippe...

I believe the Isetta was a four wheel car, not a three wheel as you mentioned. The two rear wheels were less than a foot or so apart which allowed the neat little rear drive car to operate without a differential. The whole front of the car (hood?) was the door, and was hinged in the left side. The steering column was hinged and attached to the door, and swung away when the door opened... I owned one while in high school...in 1958... The motor quit, and while I bought the parts from a dealer in NYC to fix it, I never did... It was probably the least crashworthy car ever designed. My parents were not happy when I bought it, and very happy to see it go... I sold it to a guy I met at the dealer when I was returning the parts I bought...

Did anyone make a slot body of the Isetta?

[TSR]

Hi Bob,
Only for the American market were the Isettas 4-wheel cars because of regulations. In Europe, the whole purpose of such micro cars were to replace motorcycles (up to 3 wheels with a sidecar) and keep the lower motorcycle road taxation, much more favorable than that of cars. So the first Isettas, both Italian, French and German, had... 3 wheels. And so do many of the toys representing them. Later, the tax laws changed and there was no longer any advantage to the 3 wheel concept, except in the UK where plenty of 3-wheel vehicles were still sold until the mid-1970's: Bond, Morgan etc.
Best regards,

Philippe

[Cheater]

P,

IIRC only the prototype Iso Isettas used a single rear wheel. This arrangement was quickly changed to two rear wheels spaced 19" inches apart.

Fritz Fielder, a name you'll know, said in 1955: "Three wheels may be cheaper, but they are not nearly as good as four. Putting the drive through a single rear wheel overstrains it. That’s why we opted for two rear wheels. The narrow wheelbase saves us fitting a differential and means that one brake is enough."


1956 Isetta 250


1960 Isetta 300

Later Isetta 600s had rear their rear wheels spaced equally with the front.


1959 Isetta 600

[TSR]

Greg, you are wrong on this one. There were several YEARS before the Isettas as well as the Messerschmitts, acquired their fourth wheel. It all had to do with taxes. The other microcars you show (Janus etc.) always came with four wheels because made AFTER the taxation change. However in the USA, all these micro cars always had 4 wheels.

[vfr750]

The reason 3 wheelers stayed popular in the UK was that they can be driven on a bike licence. I never got round to my car licence until I was into my 30's but I rented a Reliant for a week. Fun in a perverse way but I was happy to give it back

Cheers,

John

[TSR]

I checked and found that over 1700 Isettas were built with 3 wheels. Not a large number but the total number of Isettas produced by either ISO, BMW or VELAM was not that great either.