I've always liked the bubble car's (more properly called microcars) of the 50's and 60's… cars like the Messerschmiddt KR's, and the BMW Isetta. Now it looks like we might be a step closer to getting them back. With ever rising petrol prices, and people getting more and more conscious of their carbon footprint, the return of this kind of vehicle seems long overdue. I've often though how silly it seems to drive around in a four seater car, with just me as the single occupant, 95% of the time. Of course, many mainstream car manufacturer today offer a 'City car', and models like the Smart Car, Toyota's small and neat iQ are great examples of the genre. But they're not true microcars. Perhaps the closest thing we've got at the moment is the astoundingly ugly G-Whiz electric car, or the slightly more stylish MyCar.
BMW has long been rumoured to have a "city car" in the pipeline, variously called the I-setta, or iSetta, which we may, or may not see this year.
But I've been alerted by the excellent Retro to Go site of another contender for the bubble car crown.
This one is called the Smite, and it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Messerschmiddts of yesterday. Which in my mind, isn't necessarily a bad thing. Designed in Sweden, and pitched as being an eco-friendly, light weight, high tech material vehicle, weighing 90% less than a standard mid sized saloon, and very cheap to run… it's ticking all the right boxes for the green lobby. Full detail on the website.
The one thing I'm not sure about is the vinyl graphic panels… which look a bit tacky to me. Maybe they could take a leaf out of Fiat's book… they've got a lovely colour palette for the latest Fiat 500. IMHO, of course.
What do you think? Would you buy one? I would… like a shot!
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