Dire BMW Isetta: Taken to River, Dropped in Water for Decades, Pulled from Water, Now Humorously on eBay

We’ve all seen optimistic “project cars” listed for sale online—worthless, rundown husks whose owners nonetheless believe there’s worth hidden somewhere in between the rust and the missing components. That is why you need to study this eBay listing for a BMW Isetta “for parts or EZ* restoration!” in Evanston, Illinois. It will restore your chuckling faith in internet vehicle sellers.

If the photographs do not explain the asterisk disclaimer (“EZ = not easy”), the listing does. “This automobile was stored in a climate-controlled environment,” seller isetta300 writes. “It sat submerged in the Des Plaines River for that time and the nearby climate controlled almost everything.” Attributes? We’ve got a lot: “Ran when new! No useable components! Flat-Pack storage! The ideal present!” Oh, and the present storage solution—a garden cart with a sheet of plywood on top—comes with the sale. Bargain of the century.

What fate befell this poor, corroded, mainly theoretical Isetta? It’s challenging to say. The seller explains that it was found semi-submerged in the Des Plaines River, a 133-mile waterway that traverses southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The crumpled shell was hauled up to shore by volunteers with the Illinois Water TrailKeepers cleanup crew.

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From there, the seller says “with no expense spared or spent, it was removed from the muck and transported in an enclosed trailer,” and the car now awaits “some fool other than me to say ‘I gotta have that.’ ” Clearly, some unavoidable harm occurred en route among the riverbank and the seller’s backyard.

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Okay, so if you do bid on this project (presently hovering at $ 250), you won’t end up with a lot of something of value—”all you require is a frame, a body, door, engine, chaincase, and some other bits that can be bought with cash,” the seller assures us. But with 100 percent of the final selling price going to Donors Pick, a Disney-sponsored charity that funds books, classroom supplies, and field trips for teachers at needy schools, this is the uncommon basket-case project whose purchaser isn’t just throwing great income right after negative.

But we have to agree with the seller’s suggestions about getting an up-to-date tetanus shot ahead of collecting your microcar.

This story initially appeared on roadandtrack.com by way of bringatrailer.

Dire BMW Isetta: Taken to River, Dropped in Water for Decades, Pulled from Water, Now Humorously on eBay

What BMW Selleth, BMW Refuseth to Take Back: The Unsellable, Undrivable, Zero-Emission eBay BMW i8

August 28, 2014 at 2:28 pm by Nicholas Wallace | Photography by eBay/laurel_bmw_westmont and the Manufacturer

Let’s say a person have been to supply to sell you a automobile a lot like the a single you want, but with some important differences—this a single doesn’t have an engine or a transmission and is instead a fiberglass shell shaped to look like a actual auto. It does, however, sit upon a welded tube-frame cart with casters so that you can push it about, possibly creating exciting driving noises, and it has functioning headlamps and actual brake rotors and tires. (No word as to whether or not the lamps have been laser-lit.) That deal sounded good to one particular BMW dealership in Illinois, which bought a promotional display version of the supersultry i8 hybrid sports coupe—for a staggering $ 30K.

From what we’ve been capable to collect, the dealer originally bought the i8 replica from BMW of North America to develop hype among consumers for the few genuine i8s that the store had been allocated. As you may count on, the actual automobiles sold quickly, at which point Laurel BMW of Westmont was stuck with a $ 30K pile of fiberglass and angle iron. Sexy fiberglass and angle iron, but nevertheless. So, like any great retail business—or, genuinely, any good American—it decided to sell the thing on eBay.

Our sources indicate that, with 2 days of open bidding left and almost 60 bids pushing the value of the fiberglass wonder past the $ 20,000 mark, Westmont’s try to recoup its investment was abruptly reduce quick by a telephone contact from BMW of North America. BMWNA informed the dealership that it was not to sell the replica i8 . . . nor did BMWNA have any need to take it back.

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Westmont immediately ended the auction, which we’re certain upset not only the a lot of bidders but also the dealership’s management. We can only hope that Laurel BMW of Westmont and BMWNA come to some sort of resolution, as we might commence to see much more of these “cars” pop up (and possibly back down) online from other dealerships. Till then, however, verify out the original eBay ad in all its auction-tastic glory.

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What BMW Selleth, BMW Refuseth to Take Back: The Unsellable, Undrivable, Zero-Emission eBay BMW i8

These Morphing eBay Motors GIFs are Rad, Let You Watch Iconic Vehicles Develop Up

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