A brief history of small urban vehicles
I pitched a story to Car Design News about the history of small concept cars designed for urban use. It sounded simple enough and in my head it was going to be a fun frolic through some of the more madcap ideas to have spun on a motor show turntable.
While researching the topic I had a change of heart, however, and turned the piece into something a little more thoughtful about how designers have tried to splice the best attributes of scooters and cars, given that a scooter is well adapted to city life and a typical four-wheeled car is not.
Key quote
“The 1967 Ford Comuta was an upright fibreglass electric vehicle resembling a 1965 Transit van viewed through the wrong end of a telescope”