The Smallest Car In The World Has A Few Minor Engineering Problems

Tiny cars are widely seen, to some degree, as the vehicle of the future. MIT is actively developing Hiriko, a “city car” that fits one person and folds up when not in use, and the Tata Nano is popular for being cheap, even if the lack of airbags means it’ll never be sold in the US. Futurists and the automotive industry alike see this as a trend that will only be alleviated by installing better public transit systems, so yeah, this’ll be here a while.

The P45 illustrates a few… minor problems with shrinking cars, especially with Jeremy Clarkson behind the wheel.

Clarkson is, of course, noted for being calm, collected, and not remotely prone to exaggeration or hyperbole.

OK, so that’s a blatant lie. He’s a giant pissed-off Englishman, and cram a giant pissed-off Englishman into a car that makes him look like a Lego minifig, and you pretty much have the definition of “comedy gold”:

Clarkson, it should be noted, is essentially driving a suit of armor bolted to an ATV with a few additions to make it UK street-legal. So, we’re pretty sure that most of his terror and pain in this clip is pretty much completely unforced.

That said, it’s also worth noting that the Hiriko and Tata Nano are about this size, if slightly more powerful and possessed of luxuries like body panels. So, laugh now, but in the future, you might be stuck behind the wheel of one of these things. Hey, at least you won’t have to get out to get gas.