The Tata Nano. Cost £1800 or around $2700 brand new (about 1/3 the cost of a Fiat Panda or Fiat 500 )and gets around 50mpg. Strickly urban driving though, well in the UK that is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sZitve3SUw

I'd drive that in a city.

Seems kind of pointless, I could carry more on a bicycle.

At that price it might be worthwhile just for commuting within an urban area.

My guess is the price would double or triple by the time it was ready for the US market though.

The way people drive? No way.

I've been in two collisions that totaled the car. Not insurance company "totaled out the car". The car was truly destroyed, both times. I and my passenger escaped serious injury in one, and and the driver and I literally escaped instant death in the other, solely due to their construction.

No matter how good a driver you are, other people's actions make it impossible for you to avoid a collision. I want some armor around me if it ever happens again, and that thing looks about as strong as a soda can. An empty soda can.

The Tata Nano has apparently passed the current European front and side impact standard crash tests at the MIRA test facility.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/241500/

But you are right I wouldn't want to take the Nano out myself on the motorway, but would be purely for urban driving where speeds are less than 45mph. The Nano is really just a modern incarnation of a vehicle such as the classic Citroen 2CV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvJp1X3qiog

The communists built some pretty tough automobiles, they just didn't go to well or stop to well (or steer to well).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLW4tVGgz9o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9SBavZ9YVc

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news...-austerity.html

If EVERYBODY were driving one of these or a scooter, then heck yeah I'd get one.

However, a motorcycle seems safer than this thing. It's basically a go-cart with shelter to keep the rain off. For safety, I'd be better off riding a decent motorcycle, which would give me more control.

More importantly, I can get laid riding a motorcycle. This thing communicates to everybody that I'd rather not get laid.



No disrespect to you personally, the thing is basically a go-cart, and at $2700 I wouldn't expect much more. I don't buy that test. I doubt this thing is an exception to the laws of Physics. I don't want to be the first injured person to hear about how there were 200 exceptions to that test. For example, "The publicly available fine print clearly states that the test crashes were performed with cars of the same weight," or some other nonsense like that.

I just hope no one who says they wouldn't risk death in this rides a motorcycle...

Better yet, I hope no one who says they wouldn't risk death in a motorcycle rides this go-cart. At least motorcyclists in California are required to wear a helmet. Many riders go further with padded leather and spine protection.

A driver of this go-cart would be delusional and driving around with shorts, flip-flops and a tank top. Seriously, the thing would be a health hazard in California. I have had the opportunity to buy a Smart Car. However, I have not heard a believable argument of how a Smart Car without a helmet is safer than a motorcycle with a helmet. So, I'm getting my motorcycle license soon.

Yes it does look somewhat like a Suppository. Weird but Tata also now owns Jaguar who once made the Shaguar.