Microcar
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This Smart car is now considered an example of a microcar, in spite of weighing as much as a Volkswagen Beetle |
A
microcar is an extremely small
automobile. Various definitions are used, including "less than 3
metres in length" and "less than 85
cubic feet/2400
litres interior volume". Typically, microcars seat only the driver and a single passenger, and many have only
three wheels. Microcars are usually designed and produced for economic purposes when materials and heavy equipment are scarce or fuel is scarce and expensive. Many microcar designs flourished in post-
World War II Europe, particularly in
Germany, where former military aircraft manufacturers such as
Messerschmitt and
Heinkel were prominent microcar makers. The
Messerschmitt KR175,
KR200 and
TG500 even had aircraft-style bubble canopies, giving rise to the term
bubble car to refer to all these post-war microcars.
Isettas and others also had bubble-like appearance.
France also produced large numbers of similar tiny vehicles called
voiturettes, but unlike the German makes, these were rarely sold abroad.Very small cars have also been popular in
Japan, where again they attract various tax and insurance benefits when compared to other vehicles. These are known as
keicars and differ from most of the European microcars in that they are typically designed and built as scaled-down versions of very traditional car configurations, while European microcar designs tend to be unorthodox and sometimes bizarre.
The
Smart or "smart" (now called
Fortwo) launched in
1998 could be seen as a successful re-invention of the microcar (or at least the
city car) principle. Like the Japanese keicars, it is of relatively conventional design.Microcars built in Europe after
World War I were often motorcycle based and referred to as "cycle cars".
Another name for microcar is
Station Car, where the intended use is to travel from a suburban home to an interurban transit station or
Park and Ride lot where the vehicle remains until the operator returns from the commute to and from the workplace. In some locations electric vehicle recharging is provided to encourage the use of electric vehicles.
NEVs may also be used as station cars where the roadway speed limits permit such use.
These vehicles are also referred to as
Autoette (or
Auto-ette) in some vehicle regulations, such as those of the city of
Avalon, California on
Catalina Island.
There are also a variety of microcar trucks, usually of the "forward control" or van style to provide more cargo room. These might be used for local deliveries on narrow streets where standard small pickup trucks would be inconvenient, and full-sized delivery trucks would be impossible.
The economy of operating such a small car (mostly in fuel and tires) has often been helped by three-wheeled microcars or cars with very small engines being treated as
motorcycles for tax and insurance purposes. In some countries (e.g.
Austria) three-wheelers with a certain maximum weight were considered as motorcycles with side car and therefore no car drivers license was needed. This was assuring a certain market for elder people who did not want to pass a car drivers license. Three wheelers are a separate class of their own in Britain. In Germany, what could be driven with a motorcycle license depended only on engine displacement, so many of the microcars had four wheels.The
Corbin Sparrow is licensed as a motorcycle and parked in motorcycle spaces in California, and probably in other places.
In some European countries, taxes used to depend on engine displacement and/or insurance on power. This has given rise to names of such cars as
Citroën 2CV and
Renault 4CV.This favorable treatment by governments is based on the benefits to a society of reducing use of such resources as minerals, parking space and foreign exchange, reduced noise and chemical pollution, reduced hazard to others and etc. Reduced
global warming from carbon dioxide emission has now been added to this list.
Although microcars use much less fuel than the more common sizes do, they are still far from record and competition fuel economy, which is measured in thousands of miles per gallon (or in ml./100 km.).
Another advantage is the ease of parking. Some microcars can be parked perpendicular, where other cars park parallel, or be lifted by hand, like a
motor scooter, to get into a tight spot. The Isetta and some others had forward entry, to facilitate perpendicular parking close to other vehicles.
The small size improves
handling by reducing the
angular inertia. The Messerschmitt and Spatz have been described as much better than ordinary cars on snow and ice. Spare room on the road and ease of missing obstacles are also improved.For the performance oriented, who prefer more than two wheels or a roof, the
scaling laws show that one need not give up acceleration until the curb weight comes down to around the driver's weight, because power per weight of the car itself improves with small size, in an otherwise similar design. Top speed is lost with small scale, due to the decreased
Reynolds number, but this is a small effect. The
Messerschmitt TG500 had about a 90 mph (142 km/h) top speed with 20 horsepower (15 kW) and intuitive
aerodynamics.
Austria
*
Felber Autoroller*
Möve*
Libelle*
Steyr-Daimler-Puch Haflinger Off-road utility vehicle
Brazil
*
Dacon*
Obvio!*
Romi IsettaFrance
*
Aixam*
Ardex* Bugatti supercharged 375 cc (half the size of a
Bébé). Canceled when
Ettore Bugatti died.
* Early small engined
Citroën 2CVs, in spite of passenger space and comfort.
*
Citroën Prototype C*
Ligier BeUp*
Microcar*
Mochet 100 (1948) This was a revival of the 1924
Mochet cycle car or vélocar
*
Valle Chantecler, 1956, 125 cc.
*
VELAM Isetta, 1954-1958
*
Vespa designed in Italy, made in France 1957-1961
*
WillamGermany
*
BMW Isetta*
Brütsch Mopetta*
Fend Flitzer*
Fuldamobil N2, (1952â€"1955)Also made under licence in Chile (as the Bambi), Netherlands (as the Bambino), South Africa, Sweden (as the Fram King Fulda), Greece (as the Attica and also the Alta , India (as the Hans Vahaar) and United Kingdom (as the Nobel).
* Glas
Goggomobil*
Goliath Pioneer (1934, three wheels)
*
Heinkel Kabine See also Trojan (UK)
*
Kleinschnittger (notably the
Kleinschnittger F125 roadster)
* Some
Lloyds, made by
Borgward, the
Lloyd LP300s, of 1950, may have been small enough to be micros
*
Messerschmitt KR175*
Messerschmitt KR200*
Messerschmitt TG500 (Four wheeler)
*
Meyra 55, (1950)
*
Opelit Mopetta*
Smart Fortwo*
Spatz*
Trabant*
Zündapp JanusGreece
*
Alta*
Attica*
B.E.T.Hungary
*
Balaton*
PuliItaly
*
Autobianchi Bianchina (Fiat 500 based)
*
Fiat Topolino*
Fiat 500*
Fiat 500 Zagato (1970)
*
Fiat Abarth Zagato, 750 cc, 850 cc Bialbero â€" (1957â€"early 1960s) exotic sports cars
*
Iso Isetta, 1953-1955
*
Lawil*
Piaggio Porter Utility van.
*
Vespa 400*
Zagato Zele 1000 (1976)
India
*
REVAJapan
Main article: Keicar
*
Fuji Cabin*
Honda Canopy*
Honda S600 sports car
*
Honda N360 K car
*
Mitsuoka K-1*
Subaru 360 (This was imported to the US in considerable numbers.)
*
Tiger Truck small utility truck
*
Mitsubishi Mighty Mit small utility truck
*
Vantage various models, small utility trucks
Poland
*
Mikrus MR-300Portugal
*The
Sado 550 was a Portuguese microcar. Around 500 were produced from 1982 to 1984. Only a few dozen still circulate today.
Spain
 |
David Torpedo 2 S |
*
Biscúter*
David*
Kapi*
TriverUnited Kingdom
*
AC Clipper*
Austin 7 (1922. Early post-war A30s and some early Minis were also called "Austin Seven".)
*
Berkeley Caravan manufacturers. Design by Laurie Bond.
*
Bond Bug 700cc four cylinder engine. Made by Reliant, Tamworth, Staffordshire.
*
Bond Minicar Villiers two-stroke engines. 1949-1965 Made by Sharps Commercials of Preston. Designed by Laurie Bond.
*
Cleco 1936-1940 Electric microcar. Also vans.
*
Frisky Wolverhampton.
*
Isetta Assembled in Brighton under license from BMW.
*The high performance
Morgan three wheeler, Triking Cyclecar and perhaps
Lotus Seven should be mentioned, in spite of their larger engines.
*
MC1,
MC2 [
1]
*
Opperman 1956-1959
*
Peel*
Peel P50 (Made on the
Isle of Mann)
*
Peel Trident (Made by the same company as the Peel P50)
*
Power-Drive*
Raleigh 1933-1936
*
Reliant Robin*
Rodley 1954-1955
*
Russon 1951-1952
*
Rytecraft 1934-1940 Originally 98 cc later 250 cc. One was actually driven round the world in 1960.
*
Scootacar 1957-1965 Made by
Hunslet in Leeds
*Tourette 1956-1957
*
Trojan (Licence built version of the Heinkel)
*
Unique Motor Company QPodUnited States
*
American Bantam*
Commuter Cars Tango*
Corbin Sparrow*
Crosley, various models
*
King Midget, three models
*
Long Beach Electric Car Company AutoetteUSSR
*
ZAZ-965Some examples of battery electric microcars are:
*The
Th!nk City, imported to the USA by
Ford Motor Company to satisfy
California Zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) requirements in the state of
California. Removed from the market by Ford in a bargain with the California Air Resources Board. See
PZEV for more information.
*The
Global Electric Motorcars GEM, a 2- or 4-passenger "Golf Car" style vehicle.
*The
REVA electric vehicle as used in its home environment,
India. This may soon be exported to the USA with speed electronically limited and sold as an NEV.
*The obstacle to adaptation of such vehicles in the United States is less technical than cultural and political. The mandates by regulatory powers that such vehicles to meet full U.S. safety regulations ensures the unavailability of vehicles suitable for use in mixed traffic conditions that predominate in U.S. suburban areas.
*
Cyclecar*
Vehicle size class*
Car classification*
Keicar*
The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum*
Lane Motor Museum*
Microcar - English Website
*http://www.3wheelers.com/enter.html
*
Bugatti, The Man and the Marque - by Jonathan Wood, 1992
*
Kleinwagen, Small Cars, Petites Voitures - by Hans-Ulrich von Mende and Matthias Dietz, Benedikt Taschen, 1994
