A CHAT WITH AN ISETTA OWNER

Damian Donesky restored his 1958 Isetta 300 at home in the State of Washington, USA

How did you end up

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with an Isetta?

‘The car was bought by my great-grandparents in 1961. It apparently never ran properly, so it just got run around their land mostly.

It is a Uk-built (in Sussex) Canadian export car, all of which had four wheels.

Sadly, for much of its life it sat outside the back of the house and the only attention it got was from me as a kid. I remember playing on it as a child in the mid-nineties.’

When was it rescued? 2

‘When my greatgrandparents passed away, the car went to my greatuncle Gary in California, who stored it there. Finally, in 2020, I travelled down there with a trailer and brought it back to my garage here in

Vancouver, Washington. I hadn’t seen it since I was eight years-old, so it was a really exciting moment. However, I was in the middle of restoring my Jeep and had a baby daughter on the way.’

When did you begin?

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‘Well, luckily, my wife thought the car was adorable and my father-in-law wanted to help take it apart, so we didn’t waste any time!

Also, we didn’t want my great-uncle to miss seeing it back on the road. I sent the chassis off for welding and powder-coating and the shell needed a lot of work. The floors were rusty and there was damage down each side. The UK Isetta club was really helpful in sourcing parts.

The brakes are Girling and the handbrake is unique to the UK cars. But they guided me through all that.’

Driving it in the USA 5

must cause a stir? ‘People love this car! For me, there are a lot of feelings that it stirs up. There is overwhelming pride as I dreamed of driving it as a kid and never believed it would happen! Cars like this are so culturally important; to be able to restore it, show it off and teach people why it exists, is a really special thing. And it is small enough to live in my office at home!’