Interesting about the Subaru 360.  We had a discussion about Malcolm Bricklin's lawsuit against Chery here on NextAutos.  Bricklin's business rise was owed to his role as a distributor for Subaru in the United States.  The 360, however, was riddled with problems and Consumer Reports condemned the vehicle for its poor safety rating.

The micro-car or "city car" never caught on here in the States.  One could point out the VW Beetle, and that would be a fair counter-point.  But the Fiat 500, Morris Minor, and Citroen 2CV only held cult status.  The one true effort at a domestic micro-car was the Nash Metropolitan.  The guys at the shop across the street from ours are currently working on one.  But the little Nash didn't have the long-term popularity to alter Americans' buying habits from the middle 1950s to the early 1960s.

That is another reason why I am cautious about the Smart ForTwo.  The Smart has caught on quickly, but so did the Metropolitan in the 1950s.  In fact, the Nash saw its sales peak in 1959 with over 22,000 sold.  By 1962, however, the Metropolitan saw just over four hundred cars pushed out of showrooms.  The car was in production for ten model years.  Even if the Smart were to sell a steady 30,000 units a year for four years, that doesn't mean it'll be a real success.

Only time will tell. 

• Thu, 07/31/2008 - 19:28
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