The Bubble Car of the 21st century has arrived! Designed in Switzerland and built in Italy, the environmentally friendly Microlino is the spitting image of the much-loved Isettas of the 1950s and ’60s.

But while the new kid on the block may look like its predecessor, thanks to the eggshaped body and iconic forward-opening front door, its specifications couldn’t be more different.

Able to charge from an ordinary household plug, and travel up to 114 miles in warm weather on a single charge, prices start at around £15,500 for the basic model. Yet many die-hard fans of the original feel nothing can beat their beloved bubble on wheels.

The iconic Isetta – also nicknamed the “Egg on Wheels” – began life when Bresso-based company, ISO, launched a revolutionary two-seater. Production stopped two years later, but licences for the Isetta’s assembly were issued to, among others, BMW, who then sold a licence to a Brightonbased firm.

Priced similar to a motorbike, it soon became, and remains, among the world’s most successful one-cylinder cars. Today there is a thriving Bubble Car community in the UK, which the arrival of the Microlino will almost certainly bolster. Here, we talk to British owners smitten by their bulbous mini-cars.

● For more information about the Isetta owners’ club, visit isetta.org.uk