Minicars

  • 2010 Lotus City Car Concept

    Back at September’s 2010 Paris Auto Show Lotus unveiled a new minicar concept simply dubbed the City Car, confirming the automaker’s intent to venture into new territory--both in terms of price and vehicle category. Along with the unveiling of the City Car concept, Lotus also announced a tentative release date for the production version of 2013. We now have some new details concerning the production reality of the City Car, including information about where and by whom it will be built. In an exclusive interview with CAR, Lotus CEO Dany Bahar revealed that the new City Car will be...

  • 19 teenage girls squeeze into Smart Fortwo
    Video: 19 Teenage Girls Set World Record By Squeezing Into Smart Fortwo

    If you’ve ever complained about having to ride around in a cramped car, spare a thought for the 19 teenage girls in this video who squeezed into one of the world’s smallest cars, the two-seater Smart Fortwo. The Pakistani girls set a new world record for the ‘Most people crammed...

  • 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman
    Report: ‘Mini’ MINI Concept Planned For 2010 Detroit Auto Show

    With the release of models like the Clubman and new Countryman crossover, there are fears that the MINI brand is treading away from what its very name reflects, mini cars. Heck, even its smallest model, the MINI Cooper hatch is nearly double the size of the original 1960s models, an issue BMW...

  • Fiat 500 Abarth in police livery
    Fiat 500 Abarth In Police Livery Headed To 2010 Essen Motor Show

    The Essen Motor Show may not be as well recognized as some of the other major shows on the international automotive calendar but the event has had its fair share of spectacular concept cars over the years. For those unfamiliar with the Essen Motor Show, it is an event held annually in the German...

  • U.S.-spec 2011 Fiat 500 Sport
    2012 Fiat 500 Priced From $15,500

    The 2012 Fiat 500 is almost here. Making its North American debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show this week, the stylish minicar managed to draw plenty of attention, not only because of its cute styling and Italian flair but also because of its $15,000 pricetag. North American versions of the car...

  • 2010 Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept
    2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: 2010 Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept

    With Aston Martin bringing the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet on the market next year, and BMW working on a new generation of front-wheel drive minicars, there’s no reason why America’s leading luxury automotive label, Cadillac, can't bring out a version of its own. Today, on the eve of the...

  • U.S.-spec Mitsubishi i-MiEV

    Mitsubishi was one of the first major automakers to announce plans for a mass produced electric vehicle and even had a working prototype out testing back in 2008 in the form of the first generation i-MiEV. Since then the i-MiEV has gone through a series of redesigns until finally being launched in production trim earlier this year in Japan and Europe. Now, finally, the i-MiEV is about to make its official debut in the U.S. at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show later this month. The car being shown will be a U.S.-spec i-MiEV, which means it will sport a wider body that was designed to meet U.S...

  • Aston Martin Cygnet Concept
    Aston Martin Cygnet Gets Production Green Light

    Aston Martin has announced today that its Cygnet minicar based on the Toyota iQ is no longer a concept and is soon to become reality. That reality will be coming as early as next year in fact when full production of the controversial new model is scheduled to start. Described as the luxury solution...

  • 2010 Lotus City Car Concept
    2010 Paris Auto Show: Lotus City Car Concept

    With the handful of new production intent concept cars Lotus is showing off at the 2010 Paris Auto Show this week, it’s evident the automaker, typically focused with lightweight sports cars, is trying new things. What’s interesting to see is that Lotus is expanding towards both ends of...

  • Aston Martin Cygnet Concept
    Aston Martin Cygnet Minicar Coming To U.S. By 2012

    Love it or loathe it but Aston Martin’s Cygnet luxury minicar based on the Toyota iQ is here to stay. For whatever reasons Aston Martin deemed it necessary to build such a model, be it emissions regulations, demand from brand loyalists for an urban commuter, or a desperate grab for new...

  • Fiat Cinquecento Prima Edizione launch party
    American Fiat Fans Awarded With Special Edition 'Prima Edizione' 500

    Loyal Fiat fans in the U.S. were given the opportunity to reserve a special-edition of the upcoming 500 minicar at the annual convention of the Club Fiat-Lancia that took place last week in Asheville, North Carolina. The special model, dubbed the Fiat Cinquecento ‘Prima Edizione’ (First...

  • BMW Megacity Vehicle two-door rendering
    Rendered: BMW's Carbon Fiber Megacity Vehicle

    BMW has already released an official teaser sketch of its upcoming Megacity Vehicle (MCV), and even a gallery of the carbon fiber unibody. But so far, it hasn't been easy to get a feel for what the little car might look like in the CFRP flesh. Problem solved--these renderings give a good look at...

  • BMW Megacity Vehicle official teaser

    In March of 2008 BMW first announced plans to establish a new research division called ‘Project i,’ whose task would be to develop a number of solutions for a vehicle designed for congested city motoring. The goal of Project i was never to exclusively develop one type of vehicle, but to come up with a range of technologies BMW could introduce across its fleet or even under a rumored fourth brand. Now, more than two years down the track, Project i is in full swing and is already spawning its first products. The first development of Project i was the MINI-E, which BMW is using to gather...

  • Fiat 500 Abarth
    Report: Fiat Planning Four-Door 500 For U.S.

    Many in the U.S. have been hoping to receive the wildly popular Fiat 500 minicar for the past couple of years but a lack of interest in small cars has largely held it back. Now, with Fiat's alliance with Chrysler in place the Italian auto giant has a gateway to the lucrative U.S. market and the...

  • 2011 Scion iQ
    2010 New York Auto Show: 2011 Scion iQ

    Toyota has finally confirmed the launch of its diminutive iQ minicar for the U.S. market with the unveiling today of the 2011 Scion iQ at 2010 New York Auto Show. Aimed at a new trendsetting generation of urban drivers, the types of customers Scion is known for, the new U.S.-spec iQ will be very...

  • Aston Martin Cygnet Concept
    Aston Martin Hopes Cygnet Can Push Sales Beyond 6,000 Cars Per Year

    Love it or loathe it but Aston Martin’s Cygnet luxury minicar based on the Toyota iQ is here to stay. For whatever reasons Aston Martin deemed it necessary to build such a model, be it emissions regulations, demand from brand loyalists for an urban commuter, or a desperate grab for new...

  • BMW minicar rendering
    Rendered: 2012 BMW Minicar

    BMW’s future plans for a new all-electric urban commuter vehicle known as the Megacity has been getting all the buzz lately but there’s also news that the German luxury automaker may launch a more conventional model positioned below the current 1-Series. Reports of a sub 1-Series model...

  • 2010 Fiat 500 BEV
    2010 Detroit Auto Show: Fiat 500 BEV

    At the 2010 Detroit Auto Show today Chrysler rolled out its Fiat 500 minicar once again but this time around the diminutive hatch is sporting something very different. Labeled the Fiat 500 BEV, the new concept features an all-electric powertrain based on Chrysler’s modular electric drive...

  • Aston Martin Cygnet Concept

    The Cygnet is based on Toyota’s iQ minicar but gets some very distinct Aston Martin trademarks to differentiate it from its more mundane sibling.

  • 2009 Honda P-NUT Concept
    Honda Presents Personal-Neo Urban Transport (P-NUT) Concept

    Making its debut today at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, the 2009 Honda P-NUT demonstrates a futuristic concept for an ultra-compact and sophisticated city coupe.

  • 2009 Toyota FT-EV II
    Toyota FT-EV II Concept Heralds New Link Between Cars and People

    The all-electric FT-EV II concept can drive up to 50 miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion batteries.

  • Aston Martin Cygnet concept
    Aston Martin Cygnet: Handcrafted, too?

    Whatever you make of Aston Martin's wacky plan to take the Toyota iQ city car and turn it into a swan of its own, you have to credit the British luxury automaker. Not only will it take on the green movement with a four-seat, 1.0-liter car badge engineered from the Toyota - it will do it with the...

  • Aston Martin Cygnet concept
    Aston Martin Working On Toyota iQ-Based Minicar

    This is not a joke. Aston Martin has joined forces with Toyota to develop a new minicar model called the Cygnet and this is the first official image of the bespoke hatch, taken as designers at Aston Martin’s Gaydon headquarters refine its final shape. The Cygnet is based on Toyota’s iQ...

  • Seat Minicar based on up! concept
    Production Version Of Up! Minicar May Prove Too Expensive For Seat And Skoda

    Even as fuel prices hover around pre-crunch levels, the automotive industry knows it's only a temporary respite and continues its gear-up for a new layer of high-quality small cars. On the German front, BMW is thought to be working on a sub-1-series minicar, Daimler already has its Smart, and soon...

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