Tiny Cars Coming Soon

The totally retro-fabulous Fiat 500 will be making the trip from the streets of ancient Rome to a Chrysler showroom near you by the end of 2010. The "Cinquecento" will arrive with Fiat's highly efficient 1.4-liter MultiAir engine, and be followed by a convertible and sportier Abarth version in 2011. There are even hybrid and all-electric versions in the works as well as a rumored, larger 4-door model. Hey, you can't expect us to change our habits overnight. (Fiat)

Scion is hoping that smart small car shoppers with chose its iQ over the...well, Smart, when it goes on sale in March 2011. The microcompact will be fitted with 10 airbags for safety, one for each foot that it is long. A clever 3+1 seating arrangement staggers the front passenger seat forward to give the person sin the second row a - very - little extra legroom. Hopefully the one behind the driver is on good terms with his knees.     (Scion)

It's claim to fame is that it is the cheapest car in the world, just $2,000 give or take a few rupees. The Indian-made Tata Nano was designed to get the subcontinent off scooters and into more comfortable and safer automobiles. But its still not safe enough for us. By the time it gets here - not before 2013 - the rear-engine 4-seater will be getting a major overhaul to make it more suitable for our SUV-strewn superhighways. Unfortunately, the price is expected to get beefed up along with the rest of the car. Figure $8,000 - at least. Oh well, that'll still make it the cheapest car on sale in the United States. (Tata Motors)

This one may not make it here, or anywhere for that matter, but darn if it ain't the coolest little thing. Designed by former Formula 1 race car designer, Gordon Murray, the T.25 is about 2/3rds the size of a Smart Fortwo, but seats three passengers. The trick is a central driving position flanked by seats set slightly behind it, just like Murray's most famous automobile, the McLaren F1 - a 242 mph supercar from the mid-1990's. This one won't be quite as fast - either as the conventional T.25 or all-electric T.27 - but aims to have a carbon footprint as small as its size, that is if Murray can convince another automaker to build it, because he's not doing it himself. Any takers? (Gordon Murray Designs)

Larger than the other cars here, but no less intriguing, is the BMW Megacity targeted for a 2013 launch. Trading carbon emissions for a lightweight carbon-fiber passenger cell, the all-electric subcompact is said to have four doors and a 150 horsepower motor that will deliver about 100 miles of ultimate driving per charge. While the carbon fiber for the car will be made here in Moses Lake, Washington, the car is set to make its public debut at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (BMW)