The saying 'small is beautiful' applies as much to the world of cars as it does to the world of fashion. Gordon Murray, the designer of the McLaren F1, Light Car Company Rocket and numerous highly successful McLaren Formula 1 cars, is a small car nut, being himself the owner of a Fiat 500 and an MCC Smart. He admires the ingenuity and originality that goes into small car design. Small cars often need to be cheap to build and sell, and as the market is very competitive, they need to be attractive to buyers. Designers face the challenge of creating a vehicle which packs in as much interior space into the smallest area possible all the while conserving weight, as most of these cars have small engines (for reasons of economy and varying taxation rules on engine capacity).
The most famous small car of all is probably the 40 year old Mini. It was introduced in 1959 as the new Austin Seven and the Morris Mini Minor. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, it was a masterpiece of packaging. Due to it's compact front engined, front wheel drive layout, the Mini was able to seat four adults and their luggage, in what was (and is!) a tiny car. It has set the standard since for small car design, and has along the way become a cult car.
Prior to the Mini, the small car market was mostly dominated by a bunch of motoring oddities collectively known as "bubble cars". A number of companies including Messerschmitt, Heinkel (both aircraft makers), Isetta/BMW and Glas produced a range of these tiny two-seater cars in both 3 and 4 wheel form. Today they have an enthusiastic following but in their day they represented the bottom of the barrel in terms of motoring. They were dangerous as they had little crash protection, and as entry and exit was through a forward or upward opening hatch, you couldn't easily get out if you had an accident. In fact, as some didn't have a reverse gear, you couldn't get out if you parked too close to a wall!
My Dad once hankered after a Heinkel bubble car when he was a medical student in the 1960's. They were cheap in Ireland as there was a factory in Dundalk which used to assemble them. My Grandfather wisely vetoed Dad's idea to get one, as he did not want to see his first born driving round in a fragile bubble! Instead he helped him buy a second hand Mini, which was a common enough scenario at the time. Ultimately, bubble cars could not compete with the likes of the Mini and the breed died.
In addition to "small cars", this page also includes models of what I would consider "family cars". To me, a family car is one which is relatively affordable, small to medium in size (although minivans/MPVs which are the ultimate family cars are quite large!) and a common sight on most roads. I don't have too many models in my collection that fit that description, but some like the new VW Beetle and the Chrysler PT Cruiser fit into the "family car" bracket in my opinion.
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