Well this might be a quick one...

9

981 Cayman S

Member
Have been wandering around the UK & `The Continent` for a bit, walked out the apartment door in Florence this morning and saw this:

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I`ll bet even I could polish and coat this thing in a single day!

Although at 6` 2" I`m not sure could drive it

Another notable tiny car, a London taxi. Turning radius on these is impressively small but actually kinda roomy on the inside...relatively.

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I remember some really cool "city cars" when we lived in Europe. Cars like the Citroen in the picture, the Toyota Yaris, Ford Ka, VW Polo, and some impossibly tiny Fiats were funny to see, but really practical in a city that`s been around for a thousand years (or more) and whose roads were designed for people and horses.

The London Cabs are electric these days aren`t they? Years ago I saw some documentary that showed the previous gen cars being built and the special steering and front suspension that had to dramatically shorten the turning radius.
 
Desertnate said:
The London Cabs are electric these days aren`t they? Years ago I saw some documentary that showed the previous gen cars being built and the special steering and front suspension that had to dramatically shorten the turning radius.
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We caught a rare empty intersection and asked the driver about the turning radius so he did 2 or 3 360 degree circles...sure didnt take up much room!



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981 Cayman S:
Are you on "personal" vacation OR is this a "business" vacation?
Are you seeing any automotive-related places, like car manufacturer`s or car-collector museums or maybe taking in a race track or two?
Hard to imagine what it is like on "The Continent" and the European Union countries in general with what is happening so closely in Ukraine with the Russian invasion. I know the people there are trying to act like "life goes on as normal", but it has got to weigh on them and you must see and hear that in your travels there.

Thanks for sharing the pics about micro-cars.

Smart Car and its owner Mercedes-Benz has abandoned the USA market. I just do not think that these micro-cars are seen as "safe" vehicles on an interstate highway where other drivers are going 75-80 miles-per-hour in full-sized SUVs and trucks OR viable vehicles for getting around in a Midwest winter; something you are painfully aware of. I even saw a bumper sticker on an H2 Hummer that said " I catch Prius in my grill" `Nough said!.. (Apparently the bumper sticker writer did not know that the plural of Prius is officially "Prii", but then no one but Toyota knows that. What the heck is a "Prii"??)

Micro-cars ARE great for an owner who lives in a city or larger urban area where their driving is mostly limited to those areas and parking space is at a premium
 
Lonnie said:
981 Cayman S:
Are you on "personal" vacation OR is this a "business" vacation?
Are you seeing any automotive-related places, like car manufacturer`s or car-collector museums or maybe taking in a race track or two?
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We were gonna head up to Maranello to see Ferrari Museum and factory but won`t have the time.

Purely a pleasure trip, my brother-in-law surprised my wife for her birthday last Fall with this trip to Europe for her bday this year...wanted her to spend her birthday in Paris. Flew into London for a few days, then to Paris for a few days then a week or so in Italy (Florence) where he`s teaching a film class for a month.

It`s "her" trip so I didn`t push the auto side although she did suggest we try to get up there. She did all the planning, all the arrangements...my involvement was pretty much "Just tell me when and where to go and that`s where we`ll go!" Pretty much no thought required on my part

Tourism stuff is kinda lost on me anyway...I like vacations as opposed to traveling.

Woulda been nice if we woulda been in France in 2 weeks cuz we woulda made the time to go experience Le Mans!

Lonnie said:
Hard to imagine what it is like on "The Continent" and the European Union countries in general with what is happening so closely in Ukraine with the Russian invasion. I know the people there are trying to act like "life goes on as normal", but it has got to weigh on them and you must see and hear that in your travels there.
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Nobody we ran into has said much about it really.

Lonnie said:
Thanks for sharing the pics about micro-cars.

Smart Car and its owner Mercedes-Benz has abandoned the USA market. I just do not think that these micro-cars are seen as "safe" vehicles on an interstate highway where other drivers are going 75-80 miles-per-hour in full-sized SUVs and trucks OR viable vehicles for getting around in a Midwest winter; something you are painfully aware of. I even saw a bumper sticker on an H2 Hummer that said " I catch Prius in my grill" `Nough said!.. (Apparently the bumper sticker writer did not know that the plural of Prius is officially "Prii", but then no one but Toyota knows that. What the heck is a "Prii"??)

Micro-cars ARE great for an owner who lives in a city or larger urban area where their driving is mostly limited to those areas and parking space is at a premium
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Smart cars are EVERYWHERE here in the cities; size definitely matters here!


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Coatings=crack said:
Not gonna lie…. I’d try to put it in my suitcase and sneak it past customs……


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Another tiny car...

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Saw a Smart Car with a sideview mirror hanging from a failed fix with duct tape; I guess `small` isn`t always small enough.

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981 Cayman S said:
Another tiny car...

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Saw a Smart Car with a sideview mirror hanging from a failed fix with duct tape; I guess `small` isn`t always small enough.

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I think I saw that in the Walmart kids section the other day. :)
(Maybe not since that car isn’t quite that small and I try not to go to Walmart).
 
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