{"id":1789182,"date":"2026-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1789182"},"modified":"2026-02-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:00:00","slug":"seven-brilliant-and-perfectly-formed-tiny-concept-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1789182","title":{"rendered":"Seven brilliant and perfectly formed tiny concept cars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The upside of pouring money into F1 is that your road cars reap the tech benefits. At least, that\u2019s what\u00a0Renault tells the accountant. The Twizy RS F1 is a bonkers \u00a31million showcase of KERS energy recovery that more than quadruples the standard car\u2019s power. Add slicks, carbon everything and it\u2019s job done. (Not for the accountant. Who is crying.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Between the demise of the old Mini and the birth of the slavishly retro new, there was an attempt to design a car as revolutionary as Issigonis\u2019s original. At just 10ft in length, it was just as small, but impressively spacious thanks to a rear engine layout and zero overhangs. But the BMW brass said \u201cNein\u201d, and nostalgia took over where ingenuity left off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Celebrating the 4CV\u2019s half-centenary, Renault unveiled the Fiftie in 1996. Part homage, part futuristic showcase, the Fiftie used the Sport Spider\u2019s aluminium underwear, cloaked in a retrofuturistic body with foldaway roof panels and a picnic basket. The front end echoes the 4CV\u2019s Gallic moustache, while the rear pre-empts the Audi R8. No one could figure it out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Accessing those parts of the forest that other SUVs cannot reach, the Toyota Moguls ploughed a lonely but ingenious niche. Proper ground clearance was achieved by doing away with a propshaft in favour of valves and pumps, with independently driven wheels enjoying half a metre of suspension travel. The seats are offset, allowing for that narrow footprint.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Powered by a 3.5-litre V6, the Twin\u2019Run puts 320bhp through its rear wheels. In deference to its obvious widowmaking potential, the Twin\u2019Run\u2019s handling was developed by Group B rally driver Jean Ragnotti, who called it a \u201csound car with a strong pedigree\u201d. Which, considering he was on the payroll, is pretty much him saying, ‘I nearly died’.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Looking like it could\u2019ve been drawn yesterday, the Ford 021C was created to seduce America\u2019s pre-millennium youth, with its designer observing that he had simply brought to life what a car means to a child. A single headlight, suicide doors and a drawer-pull boot notwithstanding, the triumph of the 021C is its Steve Jobs-alike simplicity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Harking back to the mid-Seventies Datsun 180 Coupe, the IDx\u2019s target market was modern youth, keen to customise a small, affordable rear-wheel driver. Good-looking, mechanically simple, with a modest but tuneable engine, it made perfect sense and everyone went mad for it. Except Nissan\u2019s beancounters, who went all pale and sweaty and pulled the plug.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The upside of pouring money into F1 is that your road cars reap the tech benefits. At least, that\u2019s what\u00a0Renault tells the accountant. The Twizy RS F1 is a bonkers \u00a31million showcase of KERS energy recovery that more than quadruples the standard car\u2019s power. Add slicks, carbon everything and it\u2019s job done. (Not for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-1789182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1789182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1789182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1789182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1789182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}