This weekend, visitors to Pontevedra’s Praza de España got a close look at a rare piece of car history: a 1957 Messerschmitt. Only 110 of these bubble cars are registered worldwide, and just one is known in Spain. Its bright orange paint and clear canopy made it stand out from the other classics, but its rarity and the story of how it got here drew the most attention.
Manuel Abal, who lives in Sanxenxo, spent years hunting for the car. He finally found it through a specialist website and brought it over from Finland. “I had a Beetle from 1963, which I sold to buy this car,” Abal said, standing next to the Messerschmitt and showing how its bubble dome opens. The car was blue when it left the factory but is now orange. It runs on a small two-stroke engine with just ten horsepower, about the same as a Vespa scooter, as Abal pointed out.
Abal’s next step is to restore the car. He wants to bring it back to its original state before registering it for the road and expects the restoration to cost at least 32,000 euros. The Messerschmitt’s three wheels and tandem seats make it a magnet for car fans and curious visitors. Its design also reflects the company’s aviation roots: Messerschmitt started out making planes. ClassicVirus notes that the KR200 model is a direct update of the earlier KR175, retaining the clear canopy and tandem seating that reflect its aviation background.
The Messerschmitt wasn’t the only rare machine drawing attention at the eighth Concentración de Vehículos Clásicos e Antigos Cidade de Pontevedra. Nearby, Juan Gándara showed off his Isocarro, a blue three-wheeled motocarro from the 1950s, making its first public appearance. Gándara got the vehicle from the late Paco Outeda’s collection after years of waiting. “They knew I was interested and didn’t want it to be lost, so now it’s here,” he said. Faro de Vigo reported that both the Messerschmitt and Isocarro were highlighted ahead of the event as headline rarities among the roughly 70 classic vehicles expected.
The Isocarro has an Italian Iso engine and a simple design: a motorcycle front and a cargo bed at the back. It was once a workhorse for local delivery companies. Gándara’s Isocarro still shows signs of its working life, recalling the days when these vehicles handled most light deliveries. “They were the old Seur,” he joked, naming the well-known courier service. Gándara says only seven or eight similar vehicles are known in Spain, making his find even more special.
This year’s event saw a late surge in turnout, with 74 vehicles filling the square. Club Ava organized the gathering, and city officials praised it for keeping local history alive and drawing in the public. “These vehicles are part of our history,” said Anabel Gulías, Pontevedra’s councillor for city promotion. She thanked the organizers and pointed to the strong response from the community.
Spain’s love for old cars goes beyond Pontevedra. As reported earlier, vintage rallies across the country keep attracting collectors and fans eager to see rare machines in action. Cars like the Messerschmitt and Isocarro at local events show that more people are starting to value the creativity and character of classic engineering.
In Pontevedra, the owners’ lead to save and share these machines stands out alongside their rarity. Restoration demands time and money, often with little hope of getting that money back. In a world full of mass-produced cars, the survival of unique models like the Messerschmitt and Isocarro offers a link to a more inventive era. For Spain’s classic car scene, every restoration keeps history alive and carries these stories beyond nostalgia.
