# Please ID This French Car **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499 "2014-09-14T21:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/22 "2014-09-16T22:30:55Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Darn. When I saw “French car,” I was hoping [it would be this](http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/11/23/66/80/bmw-is10.jpg). 😕 Why a BMW Isetta as a French car?? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/23 "2014-09-16T22:55:10Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Darn. When I saw “French car,” I was hoping [it would be this](http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/11/23/66/80/bmw-is10.jpg). So you were hoping the car _wasn’t_ French? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/24 "2014-09-17T00:02:12Z")
To be fair, I think many people who get a French car wish it were German. Citroën even marketed their current C5 model with the line \*Unmistakeably German - Made in France\* ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/25 "2014-09-17T10:15:33Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > 😕 Why a BMW Isetta as a French car?? It’s [complicated](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta). I could have sworn it was originally by BMW, but in fact it was designed in Italy and built under license by several manufacturers in different European countries, including France. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/26 "2014-09-17T12:06:23Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > It’s [complicated](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta). I could have sworn it was originally by BMW, but in fact it was designed in Italy and built under license by several manufacturers in different European countries, including France. But BMW is German, not French. (Bayerische Motoren Werke, not Bordeaux Moteur-Wagons 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/27 "2014-09-17T12:42:08Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > But BMW is German, not French. > > (Bayerische Motoren Werke, not Bordeaux Moteur-Wagons 🙂 ) Yes, that was my my point. Like **leftfield6** I thought that the Isetta car we are talking about was a BMW model. If you follow the link above, you’ll see that it’s not. ETA: …and that you can legitimately call it a French car, or an Italian, German, Belgian or Brazilian. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499/28 "2014-09-17T13:06:30Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Yes, that was my my point. Like **leftfield6** I thought that the Isetta car we are talking about was a BMW model. If you follow the link above, you’ll see that it’s not. > > ETA: …and that you can legitimately call it a French car, or an Italian, German, Belgian or Brazilian. Well, to be completely pedantic here, the link provided by **RivkahChaya** above does appear to be the BMW Isetta, specifically a 1957 BMW 300 Isetta shown on [this website.](http://www.motortopia.com/cars/11083) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-id-this-french-car/698499.md?page=1)