BMW Isetta Super Plus car European postwar austerity combined with the Suez Crisis of led to a petrol shortage and increased the popularity of fuelefficient microcars In the first truly successful microcar was launched the Italian made Iso Isetta bubblecar soon made under licence in Germany France Brazil and Britain The British built cars were assembled under licence from German BMW and fitted with their engines Arriving in sales of the Isetta were initially hampered in Britain by licensing laws which taxed it as a conventional car having four wheels This difficulty was overcome in with a threewheeled version