The Big Book Of Tiny Cars: A Century Of Diminutive Automotive Oddities

The Big Book Of Tiny Cars: A Century Of Diminutive Automotive Oddities

Richly illustrated and entertainingly written, The Big Book of Tiny Cars presents lively profiles of the automotive world's most famous-and infamous-microcars and subcompacts from 1901 to today. From tiny homes to little lending libraries and even tiny food, people everywhere are resetting the premium they put on size. Fact is,the automotive industry has a "tiny" history going back to the car's earliest days. Beginning with the Curved Dash Oldsmobile and continuing through prewar classics such as theAustin Seven andHanomag Kommissbrot,The Big Book of Tiny Cars is truly international in scope. Witness diminutive cars like theBond Minicar and theBMWIsetta introduced to fuel-deprived postwar Europe, and continue through the classic 1950s microcars and '70s subcompacts, right up to today?s tiny cars and electric vehicles (EVs) fromthe likes of Smart andFiat. In addition to iconic curiosities like the frog-likeGoggomobil Dart, the futuristicSebring Vanguard Citicar, and the three-wheeledReliant Robin, you'll read about more familiar classics like the VW Beetle,MiniCooper, andCrosley Super Sport. Other manufacturers represented include Honda,Datsun, Mitsubishi, Trabant, Heinkel, Renault, and Messerschmitt, to name a few.Each car is profiled with an entertaining and informative history and a fact box.Imagery includes archival photos, period ads, and modern photography.In all, more than 100 cars are included, from the weird to the sublime. Gas, diesel, or electric?tiny cars have a rich and curious heritage reflective of motorists' concerns for their pocketbook, the environment, or both.The Big Book of Tiny Cars isyour ultimate collection of microcars, minicars, bubble cars, kei cars, subcompacts, and compacts that have been built, sold, and drivenall over the globe for 120 years.About the AuthorRussell Hayes divides his time between writing (mostly on classic car and consumer subjects) and TV production (he has worked on Top Gear and Driven). He lives in London, England.