Swiss Brothers Bringing Back Bubble Car Soon
Oliver and Merlin Ouboter already have more than 7000 orders for the car they are developing, which they have named Microlino.
The egg shape and mini, bubble car in the 1950s and 1960s are a symbol of cheap and cheerful mobility on the European roads. Now two Swiss brothers are developing a new version of the two-seater cars. After almost 56 years BMW halted the production of its famed small car Isetta after trying out more than 160,000 vehicles.
Oliver and Merlin Ouboter already have more than 7000 orders for the car they are developing, which they have named Microlino, the modern version of the Isetta, but which replaces the old single cylinder petrol engine to a 20 horsepower electric motor. The car has the front opening door.
Oliver and Merlin plan to launch the car in December. Their father Wim is the person who developed modernized kick scooter and earned millions. 24-year-old Oliver Ouboter, who is also the projects operation chief, says “the average modern car is way too big for normal use”. As Oliver says according to statistics, average car journey involves only one or two passengers who are driving less than 35 kilometers.
The brothers built two prototypes in China and displayed one at the Geneva Motor Show in the year 2016, where they received a warm reception because of their creation. Merlin Ouboter, says “we started a reservations list with 500 spots on it, and in three or four days it was filled up”, said 22-year-old Merlin Ouboter, who is also the chief marketing officer.
The cost of the car at retail outlets will be 12,000 euros, as some pre-existing components of the car has enabled to keep the costs down. The engine is a modified version of a forklift power plant and the door handles is taken from the Fiat 500.
Unnecessary, machines and the pieces of equipment are kept out of the car, as Oliver says, “we have stripped a lot of the needless instruments out. In modern cars you have so many buttons I honestly don't know what many of them are for”.
The size of the car is only 2.4 meters long, and that’s why it fits in a small parking space. Its trunk holds up to 300 liters of petrol, while the other instrumentations are kept within. “We hope this in some small way can contribute to more environmentally friendly mobility, but also do it in a fun and cool way”, says Merlin.
After launching 100 units of the car by the end of this year, the brothers plan to build about 1,500 to 2,000 cars next year, thereby eventually increasing it to 5,000 a year. If they are a hit, the annual output may reach 10,000 vehicles.
