Smarter Small Car?

After the Sydney International Motor Show I thought I would make my own contribution to car design: cut about 1 m out of a small car, such as a Diahatsu Cuore. This would make a two seater car, about the same length as the Mercedes Benz ForTwo Smart Car.

I saw one of the tiny Mercedes at a tiny petrol station in Brussels and another made up as a micro NSW Police car outside the central railway station in Sydney. These are at home in the inner city. Two of these small cars would fit into the one parking space of my "Smart Apartment" for a Euro lifestyle.

But the Smart Car is equipped with exotic technology and construction techniques which raise the price. The same result could be achieved by shortening a more conventional small car: just cut out the back seat. The Mercedes is called a "ForTwo" so mine is the "2Cheap". ;-)

As an example of real car hacking, Shaun Williams replaced the petrol engine in a Toyota Echo (Yaris) car and with an Electric one.