CARISTAS

Isetta 300: either a real Cabriolet Tropical, or a very well-executed conversion.   The last time I visited "Maynardo," I brought along schematics of BMW  Isetta innards, photos of various Isetta colour schemes, detailed lists of model changes and production numbers — anything I could find that might help him repair his German microcar. But Maynardo, it turned out, was already familiar with every nut, bolt and lock washer on his 1950s Bubble Window Isetta 300. And the car that had looked so rough just months earlier now stood fully rehabbed with two-tone paint, chrome luggage rack and fresh knobby tires. No longer did starting it require blowing into the gas tank and touching together two wires; with a turn of the ignition key, the engine fired immediately and settled into a smooth idle. Readers who saw my earlier photos have noted that this Isetta's single-cylinder engine did not look like the original BMW unit, and Maynardo confirmed that it is a Russi...