A superb and rare photo of the BMW Isetta minicar or bubblecar, with 007 James Bond - the Spy Who Loved Me - movie  actor Curd Jurgens!

He played the role of Karl Stromberg in the 007 James Bond movie  “The Spy Who Loved Me” and also starred in the “Longest Day” WWII D-day movie.

The Isetta was one of the most successful microcars produced in the post-WWII years—a time when cheap, short-distance transportation was most needed. Although the design originated in Italy, it was built in a number of different countries, including Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany and Britain. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car—a name later given to other similar vehicles. Other countries had other nicknames: In Germany it was das rollende Ei (the rolling egg) or the Sargwagen (meaning something like "coffin car"; the name apparently came from the small (or rather nonexistent) distance between the passengers and oncoming traffic). In France it was the yogurt pot. In Brazil it was the bola de futebol de fenemê (soccer ball of FNM [a truck]), and in Chile it is still called the "huevito" (little egg).

The car’s origins were with the Italian firm of Iso SpA. In the early 1950s, the company was building refrigerators, motor scooters and small three-wheeled trucks. Iso's owner, Renzo Rivolta, decided he would like to build a small car for mass consumption. By 1952 the engineers Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi had designed a small car that used the scooter engine and named it Isetta—an Italian diminutive meaning little ISO. It is said that the stylists had arrived at the design of the Isetta by taking two scooters, placing them close together, adding a refrigerator and shaping the result like a teardrop in the wind. The Isetta caused a sensation when it was introduced to the motoring press in Turin in November 1953, it was unlike anything seen before. Small (only 7.5 feet (2.3 m) long by 4.5 feet (1.4 m) wide) and egg-shaped, with bubble type windows, the entire front end of the car hinged outwards to allow entry and in the event of a crash, the driver and passenger were to exit through the canvas sunroof. The steering wheel and instrument panel swung out with the single door, as this made access to the single bench seat simpler. The seat provided reasonable comfort for two occupants, and perhaps a small child. Behind the seat was a large parcel shelf with a spare wheel located below. A heater was optional, and ventilation was provided by opening the fabric sunroof. Two models were offered - the little egg-shaped Turismo with narrow 50 cm rear track, and the Autocarro, a commercial version with full-width rear axle. The Autocarro was offered in several body styles, a flatbed pickup, enclosed truck, a tilt-bed, or even a fire engine. The Autocarro was an extremely popular type of vehicle in Italy, and numerous manufacturers produced some variant of the type. Iso had previously produced a motorcycle-type Isocarro. The Iso Autocarro was larger than most, with its four-wheel layout, conventional rear axle with differential and leaf springs, and a large tubular frame. It was good for a 500 kg (1102 lb) to 600 kg (1323 lb) load. The name Isetta Autocarro was also used. Renzo Rivolta wanted to concentrate on his new Iso Rivolta sports car, and was extremely interested in doing licensing deals. Plants in Spain and Belgium were already assembling Isettas and Autocarros using Italian made Iso components. BMW began talking with Rivolta in mid-1954 and bought not just a license but the complete Isetta body tooling as well. Rivolta didn't stop with licensing the Isetta to BMW. He negotiated similar deals with companies in France and Brazil.

BMW made the Isetta its own, the BMW Isetta. They redesigned the powerplant around a BMW one-cylinder, four-stroke, 247 cc motorcycle engine making 13 hp (10 kW). Although the major elements of the Italian design remained intact, BMW re-engineered much of the car, so much so that none of the parts between a BMW Isetta Moto Coupe and an Iso Isetta are interchangeable. The first BMW Isetta appeared in April, 1955. In May 1962, two years after launching the conventionally modern looking BMW 700, BMW ceased production of Isettas. A total of 161,728 units had been built. While it retained the "Bubble Window" styling, the BMW Isetta differed from the Italian model in that its headlamps were fixed separately to the sides of the bodywork and it carried the BMW badge below the windscreen. The car was also redesigned to take a modified version of the 250 cc 4-stroke engine from the BMW R25/3 motorcycle and the front suspension was changed. The single-cylinder generated 12 hp (9 kW) at 5800 rpm. The crankcase and cylinder were made of cast iron, the cylinder head of aluminium. However, the head was rotated by 180 degrees compared with the motorcycle engine. The twin-bearing crankshaft was also different in the Isetta power unit, being larger and featuring reinforced bearings. One of the reasons for this was the heavy Dynastart unit which combined the dynamo and self-starter. The fuel mixture was provided by a Bing sliding throttle side draft motorcycle carburettor. In addition to further changes of detail, the BMW engineers enlarged the sump for installation in the car and cooled the engine by means of a radial fan and shrouded ducting. The power train from the four-speed gearbox to the two rear wheels was also unusual: fixed to the gearbox output drive was something called a Hardy disc, which was a cardan joint made of rubber. On the other side of it was a cardan shaft, and finally a second Hardy disc, which in turn was located at the entrance to a chain case. A duplex chain running in an oil bath led finally to a rigid shaft, at each end of which were the two rear wheels. Thanks to this elaborate power transfer, the engine-gearbox unit was both free of tension and well soundproofed in its linkage to the rear axle. In Germany the Isetta could even be driven with a motorcycle licence. The top speed of the Isetta 250 was rated as 85 km/h (53 mph).

Curd Jurgens was a German-Austrian stage and film actor, who played the role of Karl Stromberg in the 007 James Bond movie  “The Spy Who Loved Me” and who also starred in the “Longest Day” WWII D-day movie. Jürgens was born in the Munich neighbourhood of Solln, Bavaria, Germany. His father was a trader from Hamburg and his mother a French teacher. He began his working career as a journalist before becoming an actor at the urging of his actress wife, Louise Basler. He spent much of his early acting career on the stage in Vienna. Critical of the Nazis in his native Germany, in 1944 he was shipped to a concentration camp as a "political unreliable." Jürgens survived and after the war, became an Austrian citizen. Like many multilingual German-speaking actors, Jürgens went on to play soldiers in innumerable war movies. Notable performances in this vein include a meditative officer in the epic The Longest Day. His breakthrough screen role came in Des Teufels General (1955, The Devil's General) and he came to Hollywood following his appearance in the sensational 1956 Roger Vadim directed French film Et Dieu... créa la femme (And God Created Woman) starring Brigitte Bardot. In 1957, Jürgens made his first Hollywood film, The Enemy Below. Jürgens became an international film star. He eventually gained the role of the villain in Roger Moore's favourite James Bond film in The Spy Who Loved Me as Karl Stromberg, a sociopathic industrialist seeking to transform the world into an ocean paradise. His last film appearance was as Maître Legraine, beside Alain Delon and Claude Jade in the Soviet spy-thriller Teheran 43 in 1981. He appeared as General Vladimir in the BBC TV series Smiley's People in 1982. Although he appeared in over 100 films, Jürgens considered himself primarily a stage actor. He also directed a few films with limited success, and wrote screenplays. Showing his sense of humor, he titled his 1975 autobiography ··· und kein bißchen weise (And not a Bit Wise) (1976), Droemer-Knaur. ISBN 3-8588-6054-9.

This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of BMW ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way.  This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 10.7" (ca. 20 x 27 cm).  It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.