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 thought 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.
Crocodile Jock 
Very nifty looking but they’re too small to cope with the blind souls driving 4wheel drives! You need something the size of the original 500 or 600 from Fiat. As a last resort you could go for an old Mini. Hope they have reverse gears this time round!
Yes Martin, I was a little dissapointed when I saw how BIG the new Fiat 500 is… as is the new Mini… (well the 10 year old Mini now!). I think the latest 500 looks like a great car… but it’s hardly follows the same philospy as the original one, which I love. You still see a few originals being driven today …not bad for a car that finished production in the ’70’s, and (as with the original mini) they still look great. There was a rumour that FIAT is sharing a platform with BMW’s I-setta, and producing a new Topolino… although it seems they have hit some deign problems http://www.wheelosphere.org/fiat-topolino08/. Which is a shame, because if FIAT used to be great at one thing, it was small cars!
Martin, a small update, I’m assured by the very nice people, and responsive people at Vehiconomics that the Smite will have a reverse gear.