‘The Big Book of Tiny Cars’ Celebrates the Smallest Automobiles
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Small cars are currently out of vogue. In a market dominated by ever-growing SUVs, major automakers like Ford, Fiat, VW, and Mercedes (through its hapless Smart subsidiary) are giving up on the category—at least in the U.S. market. Even Minis no longer live up to their name, with the smallest one cresting 3000 pounds. But once a car category departs the commonplace, interest tends to pick up among enthusiasts and collectors. How else to explain the current fascination with personal luxury coupes of the ’70s and ’80s?
To slake our growing thirst for subcompacts, British automotive writer Russell Hayes has written a new book about them, The Big Book of Tiny Cars: A Century of Diminutive Automotive Oddities (Motorbooks, $40), that will be available electronically on Nov. 30. The hardcover