We're not familiar with "Postman Pat" but we're betting our British readers know the character's little red mail truck, the one Perry Watkins used as a basis for his latest world record car. You may remember Perry from his previous records for the worlds lowest car, the very cool Flatmobile, for this one he wanted to aim for the smallest car ever built. After finding the fiberglass coin-operated child's ride on eBay, it was stripped of its cartoon postman and other unnecessaries and placed atop a go-kart chassis with 150cc engine. He then added lights, windshield wipers, washers, turn signals and other various other bits until it was ready of a Ministry of Transportation inspection, which it amazingly passed, and certified as the worlds smallest car.

On his first outing with the car, Perry said of the experience, "The first reaction people had when they saw my car was complete disbelief. A split second later they howled with laughter. It's so tiny." [DailyMail]

Speech given by professor Gordon Murray at the 1st Anniversary Celebration of Gordon Murray Design.

Good evening and thank you for coming to our first anniversary celebration.
It’s one year since we began operations at Wharfside and our small company has grown into a great team of 29 very talented people. I have to offer a big thank you to our investors MDV and Caparo, not only for believing in us and the T.25 Project, but for their absolute support in our strategy and day to day running of the business.

We are calling this evening a ‘3D Evening’ because although we can’t show you the actual car, we can for the first time reveal the size and profile of the T.25 and through the 3-dimensional medium of the 15 dioramas we can show the impact that the car will have on our motoring world.

Tonight is all about giving you an update on the progress of our T.25 programme, to explain our business model and also to explain that it is a complete re-think of both small vehicle architecture and of the automotive manufacturing process.

There is no longer a debate about climate change. We have about 15 years left to slow this process down and we all know we have to change our attitude and our habits. Transport is only one part of the problem but it’s an important part because it’s about mobility and personal freedom as well as the environment.

I feel sure that in 20 years time we will be looking back and not believing that in 2008 we were dropping a child off at school in a 2.5 tonne vehicle, that achieved less than 20mpg. In just the same way as it is difficult to believe that 20 years ago, more than half the people in this room would have been smoking!

In the automotive sector we are making some steps in the right direction but they are far too little to make the sort of difference we need in the next 15 years. For example Hybrids although largely a marketing exercise can make a small improvement in urban areas but are worse in a full lifecycle analysis and do nothing for congestion, parking and mobility. Electric vehicles certainly have a place in urban areas and niche, low volume products but with today’s battery technology they have a bad lifecycle footprint and again do nothing for safety, parking and congestion.

Car manufacturers are largely ignoring the problems and almost every new model is launched larger and heavier than the last. There have been a few noticeable exceptions like the Smart and the Japenese KEI class cars but none of these help in all the problem areas.

Some companies are making more effort than others like Toyota with their new iQ due out next year. With some design ideas like thin shell seats, smaller air-conditioning units and repackaged powertrain, but that hardly constitutes a re-think, it’s evolutionary design and does nothing for congestion, parking, lifecycle damage or low cost transport and it’s still likely to weigh about the same as an original VW Golf.

We have two tools available right now – size and weight – and we need to give motorists an incentive to change to smaller, lighter cars and prove that these vehicles can be safe and above all fun to drive.

Innovation is only part of a process – what we need is a step-change in car packaging and in our manufacturing process – a revolution – a complete re-think. We believe that the T.25 architecture and manufacturing process will represent the biggest step forward in our automotive world since the model T Ford, exactly 100 years ago.
Our business model is quite simple – the architecture includes a separate body/chassis assembly. The manufacturing process can be adapted to many new powertrains, fuels and body styles.

The T.25 is only the first to use this process and Gordon Murray Design is already in discussion with potential customers for other versions of the car. We can offer anything from a simple licensing agreement for the manufacturing I.P through to a turn-key car programme to Job 1, including factory building design and assembly line layout.
The manufacturing process brings with it a massive reduction in capital investment and environmental damage.
The concept embraces all the challenges and finds solutions:

1. Lower purchase price – substantially less than current small cars.
2. Low cost motoring – approximately half the annual running cost of a hatchback and purchase price pay back in 4 years compared with a small hatchback.
3. Parking – 3 cars in one parallel parking space.
4. Congestion – 2 cars in one motorway lane.
5. Running emissions – less than half the UK average.
6. Lifecycle admissions – at least a 40% reduction.
7. Protecting our mobility.
8. Putting the fun back into driving.

Tonight we are privileged to have the wonderful Tantra George Harrison Mini as our centre piece. The Mini is an inspiration, it was iconic and classless. That is our aim with the T.25.

We can’t show you the actual car because that will belong to our customer, but for the first time we can share with you the actual size and proportions of the T.25.

We also have the 15 dioramas to illustrate the impact that this process and architecture will have in the future.
What began as an idea in 1993 is now a reality – it certainly represents the toughest challenge I’ve ever faced in my design career, but I now have what I consider to be the world’s best automotive design group to help deliver the next big step forward.

Thank you and have a good evening.

[Gordon Murray Design via autoblog]

We don't want to make light of this cause it's a product that fills a niche, and it could be misconstrued to be tangentially making fun of handicapped people, which would make us ogres. But the idea of 2 A.M. wheelchair racing down the frozen food aisles at WalMart just got a lot more exciting. Turn it into a racing biathlon with the first part featuring a human powered race to your powered chariots, then NASCAR style laps around the perimeter of the building attempting to avoid the weak security guards. Yes, this is a good idea. [via Remikz]

We're not modern European traffic law standards scholars, but we're assuming there is a 50 cc quadracycle kind of niche carved out below regular cars as kei cars work in Japan. This particular one has a 50 cc license plate which we assume means a 49 cc scooter motor and you can see the CVT poking out the bottom. I suppose if you don't want to put up with the wind and maybe have an inner ear infection causing vertigo and mild insanity, this makes sense.

Andy's Modern Microcars offers kit or turn key editions of many of the famous and comically small cars of the past. There's the Peel P50, the ever popular Isetta, and who could forget the Bamby? That's right folks step right up and pick out your preference in SUV spare tire replacement system. Prices starting at £950 for shells all the way up to £26,000 for a driveaway TG500 Tiger. Get em now while supplies last.

I am calling for a twelve-hour cease fire in the DAF vs. FAF Holy War. Why? Davey has a super-solid point — English Russia might very well be the best site on teh internets. Also, I am not the expert on microcars I pretend to be - what is that cute little thing? – Jonny Lieberman

[English Russia]

Related:
Now Here It Is, Your Jalopnik Moment of Zen [Internal]

Before the hate mail starts flowing, Neckarsulmer Strickmaschinenfabrik produced the infamous Kettenkrad tank-bike thingy. Moving on. In 1955 NSU was the world's largest motorcycle producer. But, like Dutch truck maker DAF, they knew the real action was in 600cc microcars, and released an ugly, miserable ride with a non-synchronous "crash" gearbox in 1957. Not many cared. But, in 1961, NSU released the Corvair-inspired Prinz 4 and oh baby, did Volk start to take notice. The new car featured a highly precise air-cooled, two-cylinder mill loaded with motorcycle technology and mounted behind the rear axle. Make the jump to see a Prinz 4 attacking the 'Ring and learn a little more.

Central Europeans still race the hell out of the Prinz, albeit in its four-cylinder configuration called the 1000 for its larger displacement. The engine was unusual for its inline configuration — quite different from other rear-engined German cars (think boxer). By doing this, NSU saved a few deutsch marks by only having to fashion a single head, carb, intake and exhaust manifold, which also saved weight. The engines were in fact imbued with a fair amount of Bruce and featured five main bearings for the crankshaft. Best of all by far were the Mopar-a-rific hemispherical combustion chambers!

Holy Christ, do we want one of these. – Jonny Lieberman

NSU Prinz [Wikipedia]

Related:
NSU-Camino! [Internal]

Picture it: Holland, 1959. You are a successful truck company and you want to break into the passenger car market. The vehicle needs to be inexpensive and able to carry four people and their luggage around in comfort. No worries. But what about the mechanicals? Buick Dynaflow fan Huub van Doorne proposed the following. Two cylinder air-cooled boxer engine? Check. Pressurized Lubrication System? Check. Rear-wheel drive? Check. Independent rear suspension? Check. Continuously variable transmission? Check. Each rear wheel driven by a rubber belt? What in the fuck?!? Welcome to the wonderfully whacked out world of DAF. Mind blowing mechanical coolness after the jump.

This is the Variomatic transmission system of the DAF 33, including the rear wheels and the independent suspension system. Each rear wheel had its own homokinetic belt drive, this way the transmission also functioned as a self-locking differential.

This transmission system was developed by Johan van der Brugghen and quite special as you can see. You can also clearly see the two pairs of conical metal wheels (called "pulleys") in between which the rubber belt is wedged. In the position shown on the picture the transmission would have been in (almost) lowest gear: a small gear diameter at the driveshaft side and a large gear diameter at the belt driven rear wheel side. In highest gear it would be the other way around: the conical wheels at the driveshaft side would move together, forcing the rubber band to the outside to create a larger gear diameter. At the same time the conical wheels in the transmission at the rear wheel side would move further apart, letting the belt in to create a smaller gear diameter.

So the whole system was friction operated and that was also its main drawback: it made a high whining noise when changing gear ratios and the belts wore out and stretched after some time, causing them to snap or slip out of the transmission. It was very important to change the belts in time, otherwise the driver could end up at the side of the road quite unexpectedly.

We want. We want so bad! And stay tuned - you ain't seen a thing, yet. – Jonny Lieberman

DAF passenger cars

Related:
DAF! [Internal]