In 1989, Rick Moranis played a nerdy dad who accidentally downsized his children to an insect scale in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. He probably wouldn’t have believed it if someone told him that 23 years later automakers would be doing the same thing to their cars.

For those of us living in the North American 2012, there are increasingly large swarms of little cars buzzing around the streets. The din their tiny engines makes isn’t overwhelming yet, but just wait.

General Motors’ German subsidiary, Opel, is planning to release a micro car they’re calling the Allegra (or, tentatively, Junior). No, not the allergy medication, though the thing is small enough to be mistaken for a bee in ragweed season, at least compared to the standard American palate. When the Allegra hits Europe in 2013 it will probably stand to compete against cars like the Volkswagen Up, MINI Cooper and Fiat 500.

In fact, it’s a solid 3.3 feet longer than the Mercedes-Benz spawned Smart ForTwo, which looks like a cross between a golf cart and an alien space pod. Our spies caught the Opel Allegra on camera during winter testing, but what’s the big deal? Opel cars aren’t sold in North America, right?

Well, not necessarily. Rumors are floating around that the not-so-smallish micro car might make it overseas rebadged as a Buick. (Why not? It’s not the first Buick to come from Opel). And with the recent launch of the Fiat 500 and the Scion iQ on our shores, the market for mini-cars is growing.

Of course, the name will likely change to keep big pharma happy.

GALLERY: Opel Allegra/Junion Spy Photos

Jon Sibal is one of the premier automotive digital artists out there, and from time to time he likes to have a little bit of fun with Photoshop making some awesome micro car renders. This time around, Sibal stuck to a theme of Rauh Welt-built cars. Rauh Welt Begriff, RWB, is a Porsche tuner located in Japan and loves to combine both Japanese and Euro tuning elements, creating some of the most distinct-looking Porsches in the world.

Sibal just makes them even more distinct by turning them into entertaining micro car renditions thanks to good ‘ol Adobe Photoshop. Aside from all the real good looking RWB Porsches, Sibal also showed off some non-Porsche RWB cars including a flat black Nissan S15 and and AE86.

For good fun, Sibal also did a couple of RWB’s Porsches in a Cars-theme to celebrate the release of the Cars 2 movie.

GALLERY: Jon Sibal’s Micro Cars

[Source: Jon Sibal]

The brain child of Ratan Tata, head of India’s massive conglomerate, the Nano, billed as the ‘world’s most affordable car,’ has never been far from controversy.

Nevertheless it has generated a great deal of interest around the world among the public as well as automotive designers and engineers about the concept of a truly practical car for the developing world. Now the Nano, which sells for around $2,500, has become the subject of an art exhibition stateside.

Cornell University’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art has put on a one-of-a-kind display which it calls ‘Unpacking the Nano – the price of the world’s most affordable car.” A bright yellow Nano is parked at the entrance to the museum, while upstairs a red one has been disassembled and various parts displayed on wire in one room, designed to appear as  real life renderings of exploded shop diagrams or instruction manuals, with each of them broken down into price and weight in a social and cultural context.

Some components, such as the wiring harness are mounted on wood, symbolizing the 16 crates into which the whole exhibition can be packed.

The ideal of having a Nano display at Cornell isn’t as tenuous as you might think; Ratan Tata attended the university’s school of architecture. The exhibition runs until March 27th and like the car itself, is likely to generate plenty of controversy.

[Source: Autoweek]

Not long after Gordon Murray’s McLaren F1 was feted at the company’s headquarters, new details have emerged about Murray’s all-new T27 city car, being developed by the South African-born engineer independently of McLaren.

Essentially an electric version of the T25 city car, the T27 uses a lithium-ion battery and a small electric motor to hit 60 mph in under 15 seconds. The time might seem agonizingly slow for many car enthusiasts, but in urban driving, the 8.2 foot length and 4.3 foot width, along with a range of 80-100 miles will matter far more, allowing the T27 to deliver an acceptable driving range and fit into the tightest of parking spaces.

A running prototype is expected to be completed by April of next year, and judging by Murray’s past creations, as well as the leaked info about the T25, both city cars should be game changers.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Tata unveiled a new electric version of its Nano at the Geneva Auto Show. The Nano EV joins the Indica Vista EV in Tata’s electric line-up.

The Nano EV will use the same super polymer lithium-ion battery as the Indica Vista EV. The electric version of the world’s least expensive automobile has a range of 99.4 miles, short of the Indica Vista EV’s 124-mile range, which is unusual considering the Indica Vista is a larger vehicle.

The Tata Nano EV will make its way to European markets in 2010 with expansion to other markets coming later.

Gallery: Tata Nano EV

Debuting alongside the 170mpg L1 concept car at the Frankfurt Auto Show was the zero-emissions E-Up! concept. As the name suggests, this is a pure electric vehicle and it is based on a chassis that will form the basis of a new line of VW city cars starting in 2013.

As a 3+1 seater the E-Up! is about the size of a SMART fortwo or Toyota iQ. It has a peak output of 60 kw with 210 Nm of torque (80-hp and 155 ft-lbs of torque). With a curb weight of 1,085 (2,392 lbs) the E-Up! Concept can hit 62 mph in 11.3 seconds and drive a total distance of 130 km thanks to stored energy in a lithium-ion battery pack.

Volkswagen is boldly declaring the car is the Beetle of the 21st Century and says this electric Up! model will go on sale in 2013.

GALLERY: VW E-Up! Concept

Toyota appears to be readying a convertible version of the iQ minicar that is currently on sale in Japan and Europe. The report comes from Japan’s Best Car magazine, which suggests much of the basics will be kept including a 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 99hp and 92 ft-lbs of torque. Fuel-economy for this engine is rated an an average of 51 mpg – although Toyota offers even smaller and more fuel-efficient powerplants including a 1.0-liter four-cylinder and a 1.4-liter turbodiesel.

Presumably cabriolet or roadster model would do without the two rear seats found in the coupe – which are by all accounts entirely useless.

Pricing in Japan could be 2 million Yen, which works out to a rather steep $20,300.

While it seems unlikely, there is potential for this car to make its way to North America. At the recent New York Auto Show, Toyota youth-brand Scion debuted a concept based on the iQ. This showed that Toyota is certainly interested in exploring whether or not to bring the iQ to the U.S. and apparently it sees the Scion brand as a better fit for the car. And as small a niche market as a vehicle like this may seem, the iQ Cabriolet already has a competitor with the SMART fortwo Cabriolet.

Best Car also suggests that Honda will bring back the Beat in order to compete with this new model from Toyota.

[Source: 4WheelsNews.com]

Indian automaker Tata has confirmed that it will bring the Nano to the U.S. in the next three years. The Nano, launched officially several months ago in India, holds the title of being the world’s cheapest car with base models priced at just $2,000.

David Good, a U.S. representative for the Indian automaker, which also owns Jaguar and Land Rover, confirmed statements made by company CEO Ratan Tata at Cornell University earlier this week.

“It might be two years and six months,” Good said in an interview with Automotive News.

Powered by a 624cc 2-cylinder engine that makes just 35hp, the Nano comes with a 4-speed gearbox with full power available at 5250 rpm and full torque (35 ft-lbs) on tap at 3000 rpm. Tata claims an average  fuel-economy rating of 55.5 mpg according to the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), giving it the highest rating of any gasoline car in India.

The Nano is also tiny, measuring just 10.2-feet long, by 4.9-feet wide and 5.3-feet high.

The Nano “will meet all emissions and crash standards,” Tata said. The current model for India features a reinforced passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, as well as the mandatory seat belts.

Tata also plans to bring a version of the Nano to Europe in 2011.

[Source: Automotive News]

Mitsubishi has just revealed the production model of its i-MiEV electric car in Japan and it plans to have models on the road by July. Initial sales of 1,400 vehicles will be to government entities with public sales starting in April of 2010.

As a full-electric vehicle the i-MiEV creates zero emissions and is powered by an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack that makes 63hp and 133 ft-lbs of torque.

It is based on Mitsubishi’s “i” minicar and by locating the drive battery under the floor and the power unit under the luggage compartment, it not only retains a great deal of usable cargo space, but is also a well-balanced vehicle.

Mitsubishi calls it the “ultimate eco-car, a solution to the various challenges the automobile faces today including environmental pollution, global warming and the depletion of petroleum-based energy supplies.”

The battery can be recharged using either a conventional household outlet, a 200-volt outlet or it can be quick-charged at special stations – which Mitsubishi is currently setting up in Japan. With a standard household outlet, charge time is 14 hours, but can be sped up to 7 hours using a 200-volt outlet. Quick-charge stations will be able to make the charge in just half an hour.

The i-MiEV is priced at 4,599,000 Yen ($47,600) but is eligible for a $14,400 tax break.

Mitsubishi did not give any details on when the car might go on sale outside Japan, but company representatives have already said the the i-MiEV is scheduled to be sold in North America.

GALLERY: Mitsubishi i-MiEV

More on the i-MiEV after the jump:

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Well, here’s an exciting follow-up to yesterday’s story about the launch of the new Tata Nano in India; Tata is looking to bring the $2,000 Nano to the U.S.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Tata boss Ratan Tata is hoping to take advantage of the worldwide recession by bringing affordable (and we mean REALLY affordable) cars to markets worldwide, including North America.

Tata told the Times that this decision is a serious one and that no one at the company is taking the possibility of expansion into the U.S. lightly. “The US is very unforgiving of mistakes,” he said.

As for meeting strict U.S. emissions and safety requirements, that actually shouldn’t be too difficult as Tata has already announced that it plans to sell the Nano in Europe in 2011.

That year could also be the first year of U.S. Nano sales.

As for the car itself, the Nano is powered by a 624cc 2-cylinder engine that makes just 35hp and 35 ft-lbs of torque. Tata claims an average  fuel-economy rating of 55.5 mpg according to the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), giving it the highest rating of any gasoline car in India.

The car is tiny, just 10.2-feet long, 4.9-feet wide and 5.3-feet high, giving it the smallest dimensions of any vehicle on the road in India. It is, however, 21 percent more spacious inside than the current smallest car.

Despite the size, Tata insists the Nano is very safe due to a reinforced passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, as well as the mandatory seat belts. The Nano exceeds all safety requirements in India and even passes a roll-over test and offset impact test which are not required.

Tata did not release any info on what U.S. pricing would be, but it is expected to be significantly higher than the base $2,000 price, as base models in India come without heat or air conditioning.

[Source: FinancialTimes]