But for 6-year-old Luke Sempers, it is the coolest car he has ever seen. "I want one! This is the coolest thing.‘‘I like how it has the door on the front and it’s so tiny. And it’s got a yellow steering wheel."
The pocket-sized 1957 car was one of almost 300 classic cars on display at the Otago Classic Motoring Club’s annual Autospectacular at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.
Owner Bruce Partridge, of Dunedin, said he could understand the appeal of the vehicle.
He, too, said he felt like a big boy in a small toy, when he drove it.
"It’s really a shopping basket on wheels. You can just open the door and throw the groceries straight in. There’s plenty of space in the back.
"It doesn’t have a lot of power, but it cruises at about 80kmh and it’s very stable on the road. It handles very well.
"The great thing about the door being on the front is that you can drive right in to the pavement and step right out on to the footpath."
He said the car became popular after World War 2, when people had very little money.
"After World War 2, BMW couldn’t sell their large cars. So small [less expensive] cars became very popular."
He said BMW bought the rights to the car body from an Italian company called Iso.
It then modified it and put in a 300cc BMW motorbike engine.
The cars were exported in kitset form and assembled in other countries, including Britain, before being sent all around the world.
Mr Partridge said the cars were now collector’s items, and could fetch between $20,000 and $30,000 among car enthusiasts in New Zealand.
