Alec Issigonis never did very well engineering larger cars. One might argue that his Mini was the last British car of any global commercial significance, although the Mini itself couldn’t pass American 1967 crash safety requirements and was replaced there by a variant of the otherwise successful ADO16, which flopped as the Austin American.That reminds me of Alec Issigonis teaming up with Alvis to try to design the next generation of Alvis v8 powered 4 door cars.
Sadly it didnt work out but you can certainly see his styling at work
https://alvisarchive.com/1950-1967-the-three-litre/the-ta350-what-might-have-been/
I mean with gas alone.Indeed, Volkswagen managed it more than a decade ago.
Volkswagen 1-litre car - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
In real life use, including city traffic, hybrid drive is a rational propulsion choice. IC engines stink, literally and figuratively, in stop-go traffic.
Well Cd of 0.0055 is low. I mean 0.159 is nothing.
Have you ever paid attention to mileage competitions ?
You have to avoid hitting SUVs on the road....I passed two Porsches yesterday with a 1.2 litre VW.
The 'enemy' in any transportation system is the 'nut behind the wheel'. Impatience, substance abuse, over judging one's talent at the wheel, showboating, blah, blah blah. I really doubt folk intend an incident no matter what vehicles are involved but the thought that everything can be controlled is so easily disproven it needs a face palm at least. Pedestrian wandering around with their heads in a 'phone' and unable to walk down a pavement without supervision to. The amount of times I have had to drag someone off the road because they walked around slower pedestrians right into oncoming road vehicles I can only describe as a resurgence of Darwin's theorem.
Well, it depends on what people will buy and use - and aspire to as well. The various 'bubble cars' of the 1950s suited devastated European cities of the post-war period and rural villages with narrow streets where people had never owned a car at all. The Citroën 2CV and the original Beetle (KdF-Wagen) were respectively rural and aspirational working-class products designed before WWII and successful afterwards in the post-war environment.
To expand on this a little.
They have to be really "sexy"....and superior in performance. Not butt ugly like the bloated SUVs.
Wrong. A loaded 2026 Mustang GT convertible is barely 4000lbs and a base Ecoboost Mustang is around 3600lbs. An early 4-cylinder Fox body Mustang was less than 2600lbs, but that was without power brakes, power steering or air conditioning and about zero sound deadener. It’s also worth noting that the Fox body was exceptionally light and well packaged by late 1970s standards. That’s a nice way of saying that a 1979 Mustang was built like an empty tin can. There is a huge gulf in size and performance between an 88 horsepower Mustang from 1979 and the current 315hp base model, not to mention the addition of an independent rear suspension. Overall, I’d attribute the vast majority of weight growth to size, performance, features and comfort.
Volkswagen 1 L concept was only 588 lbs.
rememberroad.com
A late Fox Body GT was 3200, and the full scream 2024 Dark Horse weighs 4000.
But what is the real point of what essentially amounts to an ICE cycle car? These days, setting a record for fuel economy with an ICE car seems a bit dated. Moreover, there have been fuel economy oriented two seaters over the years. Honda tried the original two seat Insight hybrid and CR-Z, neither of which made any sense as they combined an impractical form factor with compromised performance. Hilariously, GM sold the Pontiac Fiero as an economical two-seat commuter car, and it actually sold well the first year before high insurance rates and a reputation for engine fires killed sales.Volkswagen 1 L concept was only 588 lbs.
2002 Volkswagen 1L Concept: Thin Car Travels Far, Volkswagen's canoe-skinny mini could do New York to D.C. on 1 gallon of gas
Volkswagen 1L concept research vehicle proved how far one could go on a liter of fuel. Originally published in Popular Science, republished by author.
450-500 lbs with more streamlining might be a ½ liter mover.
You can still buy a 2800lb Toyota GR86 or Subaru BRZ if you’re worried about “800+ pounds of flab” in newer cars. However, you’re not going anywhere to save any money over an Ecoboost Mustang as the pricing is virtually identical. And you’ll lose significant performance and longevity. Apparently, the Toyota/Subaru has quite a reputation for oil deprivation related engine failures due to a quirk of engineering that causes the oil pressure to drop in hard right turns and excessive RTV use at the factory to block the oil pickup and kill the engine.
Why would anyone be limited to 5 hp? I’m well aware that the French have microcars from Aixam and Ligier with odd horsepower limits to allow teenagers to legally drive under bizarre French laws. Other than artificial legal loop holes, why else would anyone create microcars driven by tiny Lombardini single cylinder diesels? When it comes to EVs, there not much to be gained as tiny aren’t much more economical than larger electric motors. You don’t increase the range of an EV by down rating the motor.
I'd be little more bold. This was a good try...but way too complicated.The Dutch company that made these is now, infortunately, bankrupt.
Carver One.
View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LY4pmvaibJA
E-Carver.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mo13DgBisY0
Both great fun to drive, reportedly.
<edit> It appears that a Danish company is planning a relaunch of the e-carver.
In the Netherlands microcars were first used by elderly drivers who wanted to stay mobile but didn't trust themselves anymore in cars, then found users among teenagers who were just old enough (16+) for riding mopeds but not old enough (18+) to drive a car. They also became popular among drivers of all ages in crowded Dutch cities.
I assume you refer to the tilting mechanism, but that is precisely what makes it fun to drive.
TINSTAAFL. Although it should be very cheap to run - tilting makes for a narrow yet stable vehicle, small frontal area means less drag.
In which way?
I hate these damn things. Allegedly they are limited to 15.5mph in the UK but I've experienced them doing nearly 30mph. Plus they zoom down bicycle lanes (which are fairly narrow in the UK - and these fatbikes usually have a large box on the back for uberdelivrooeat on them) at full speed, which is unnerving when you're in stationary traffic. One day I'm sure I'm going to lose a wing mirror...
I refer to the design I made last year .....which has these qualities. But it amn't free.
Waaay off topic here, but the fat-tired e-bike situation has gotten out of hand here on Cape Cod. After a few dramatic examples of imbeciles being imbeciles, we now have speed tracking on the pedestrian/bike trails. (Not sure of the enforcement mechanism, however.)
Never forget Jeremy Clarkson's quip "Morgan hasn't got a styling department, have they? They just got a photocopier"
I admire companies like Morgan, Ariel, Gordon Murrray Automative, and Caterham that don't give a damn about aspiring to be the clone of a big brand and are able to survive on tiny volumes doing exactly what they want to do. It's not easy - look at Bristol. Aston Martin and McLaren want to be Ferrari and bleed money, Jaguar and Rover before them wanted to be BMW and failed catastrophically.
Bah, Clarkson is proof that Eton is England's Chornobyl. Dangerous emissions - look at all those Prime Ministers. It needs to be encased in concrete and an exclusion zone enforced.
I feel the same way about the entire state of Florida.
