Little Cars in the Big Apple

Little Cars in the Big Apple
Sometimes the cars that are not on display at the auto shows are the most important ones. Where, for instance, at the New York auto show, held in the most citified city in America, were the city cars?

In Europe, the "city car" is a well-understood concept, a vehicle whose dimensions and design are as ideally suited to its duties as the minivan's multiple seats and cup holders are to its role in American suburbs. A city car is one intended primarily for urban use. Its size makes it economical and easy to park and lets it slip between huge trucks clogging the narrow streets. And, yes, a city car is a bit sophisticated in style.

In New York, a city car is not a tiny car. "Every time I come here I'm struck by the scale of vehicles," Ed Welburn, vice president for global design at General Motors, said at the auto show last week. "It is unlike any other city in the world."

By scale, he meant comparative size: Fiats in Florence cast far different shadows than Hummers in Houston. In Manhattan, drivers have not downsized their transportation choices for practical considerations.

The absence of city cars at the auto show was heightened by an anniversary.

This spring, fans of the BMW Isetta are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the little "egg on wheels" that may have been the first city car. Conceived by Italian refri