Looks suspiciously like a classic MINI to me, with less space and character.
What think ye?
-Ed

http://www.autoweek.com/files/specia...c/pages/01.htm

 

I agree

-Josh

 

lots of other cute cars tooooo

mistubishi i looks like a wanna-Smart.

 

Yeah...errrrr.....ummmmmm....IT's A SUZUKI!!

 

umm those have been around a lot longer than MINI's trust me, have you ever seen a Honda City? been around a lot longer than us MINI's.

 

What bandwagon?

It looks similar to a lot of cars, but what mini has ever had a protruding trunk?




That said, it's probably got more in common with a classic mini that our cars do.

 

I like it! It reminds me more of the old Renault Dauphine from the late 50s...very similar silhouette...than the classic Mini! The more cool little mini-cars, the merrier, I say!


Clover

 

My god, they have resurrected a Kaiser J!

 

Ooh! If only we had a plaid interior option.


Dave
Sunny San Diego
2003 DS/B MCS and some stuff

 

I think you're onto something. I'd so get a black MINI with red plaid interior, and get the red plaid roof decal.

I love red plaid... stuff.

 

Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf :smile:

 

I agree with Clover! It is cute and fun looking and has a distinctive style all its own. Bring on the new toy cars! :smile:

 

Yeah, I love it, too. It is funny, though, how so few of these cool micro cars have any bumpers to speak of. That's a deal breaker as far as seeing any of them on the roads...pity. I wonder what set of safety standards the Japanese are dealing with.

Daihatsu Copen, Mira Gino, and the Nissan Figaro are other personal favorites.

 

[QUOTE=JeffS]What bandwagon?

It looks similar to a lot of cars, but what mini has ever had a protruding trunk?



Actually, there was a Mini made by Riley called the Elf in England that had exactly that a trunk on the back of a Mini Chassis. The front was unique to Riley as well. We just saw one at the English Motor Conclave here in Denver last month. Cute. Not my thing but, cute.
Scott

 

Nope, it looks like Suzuki is mining its own history. The 1960's Fronte:

 

A luxury Mini blessed with marginally greater trunk space and an improved interior, the Riley Elf (along with its Wolseley Hornet stablemate) debuted in 1961, the duo being differentiated by contrasting chromed grilles in each marque’s traditional style and the presence of a full-width wood veneer dashboard in the Elf.
Cool! http://www.sportscarmarket.com/profi...ish/index.html


OK you photoshop junkies: Let's see a virtual version of an '05 pepper white MCS with a trunk! You can do it!

 

When I lived in Japan, 7 years BTW starting back in 79, I owned many cars as small or smaller than today’s MINI. My ’76 Suzuki Rex had a 650 CC motorcycle engine in it and couldn’t have been more than 10 feet long. It handled great, but top speed you could drive where I was because of traffic was 50 MPH at best. The roads were only posted at 35 so I hauled ***. The Suzuki did just fine.





This is the sedan, mine was the Rex RX. A true sports car of the day and 3 plus feet shorter than this one is.

Get off the soap box young ones. Small cars have been around for years and made by many companies around the world. No one was trying to duplicate the Mini then and no one is trying to duplicate the MINI now. Just look at gas prices and ask yourself where these car manufactures are coming from.

The only problem is Detroit’s big car mentality lobby is so strong you will never see any of these concepts made for import to the states.

Long live the Hummer.

 

How about some bumpers? It irks me when concept cars leave out obvious necessities that they were too lazy to try to make look as cool as the rest of the car.

Edit: sorry for the horrendous sentence!

 

But it will never make it to the US, like most of the really cool cars, or really cool versions of cars we do get. Really sucks. So much for free trade!

Matt

 

Funny you mentioned the Honda "City".

Japanese can't pronounce City with their syllabary, so it's always pronounced
"shi-tee".

How apropo. Actually, a decent mini car. Everything you've just shown would have yellow "A" plates. Can't legally be driven on major highways, but great little commuters.

Take a look at a Midget 2 some time, those were great..

These small cars can be a lot of fun, and the MINI's resurgent popularity are showing manufacturers that they can seize a greater chunk of the market with small cars.

Never mind current Japanese gas prices.

Cheers,
matthew z

 

I think it looks very cute. Not MINI cute but more of a Jane Jetson meets June Cleaver kind of cute car.

 

this was from suzuki last year, the swift concept



4 doors but small

 

Looks like a Suzuki X90 2-seat SUV with softer lines.

 

Nissan makes a car along these lines too



http://www.autosupplyuk.net/

 

SWEEEET!!!! That looks like it drove off the set of the movie The Incredibles.


I like it.

Paul