Business smarts 35 & 36: fortwo in Spain

Business smarts 33: Sevilla Gym , Seville, Spain

Business smarts 34: Miroplata, Cordoba, Spain.
The url miroplata.com is no longer active. Miroplata was or is a jewelery and watch retailer.

An early smart, Seville, Spain: the mottled green body panels were offered on the 1998 model.

Trixis

Known as Trixis (tricycle + taxis), these 21 speed trikes are assisted by a 250W electric engine which is integrated into the front axle. Fit, friendly and multiligual "Trixistas" take one or two passengers around the sites of Malaga, Spain.
These ladies were fueling up between tours.
See them on Spanish TV at youtube .

Goupil G3

Goupil manufactures a range of light utility vehicles at its plant in Aigillon in southwest France. This "tipper with lambo doors" was photographed while on clean up duty in the centre of Cordoba, Spain. Only 1.1 m (3.6 ft) wide with a 3 m (9.8 ft) turning radius it's ideal for narrow streets in historic European cities and towns.
For details go here.

Aixam and Microcar

Aixam - Mega, founded in 1983, is based in Aix-les-Bains, on the shore of Lac du Bourget in France's Rhône-Alpes region. The Crossline [above] and Super Luxe [below] were spotted in the hill town of Mijas, Spain.



Microcar, founded in 1984, is brand of the Bénéteau Group, a yacht and boat-building company with a hundred year of history, based in Croix-de-Vie, a seaside resort on the Atlantic 70 km west of Nantes. Both of these MC1 cars were photographed at Tavira, Portugal.




Although these companies are at opposite ends of France, they have the commitment to making fuel efficient city runabouts in common. Some Aixam and Microcar models can be driven without a license in some European countries.

For more information see: Aixam, Microcar

Pics by RLT.

Go Ape!

Fools and Horses delivery van,

Lagos, Portugal

While it may be difficult for Canadians to believe, there are many vehicles in Europe that make the smart car look bulky in comparison. Piaggio, makers of the Vespa (Italian for wasp) scooter, have been producing three-wheeled Ape (pronounced Ah-pey, Italian for bee) vehicles since 1948. We spotted quite an assortment of Ape models in Spain, Gibraltar and Portugal. Like the name suggests, they are the workers of the Piaggio line.

Monchique, Portugal

Municipal works vehicle,
Los Boliches, Spain

Gibraltar Confectionary delivery van,

Gibraltar

At the town market,
Tavira, Portugal

smart spotting in Europe

On a three week tour in Europe we spotted countless smart fortwos, 6 roadsters, 1 crossblade and 20 smart forfours. Produced at the NedCar factory at Born, Netherlands between April 2004 and June 2006, the forfour shares some 50% of its components with the Mitsubishi Colt still in production there. We took photos of these examples at Gibraltar[above]; Seville, Spain [below]; and the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, near Portimão, Portugal [bottom].

Kia's Baby Picanto Receives an Update

Across the Atlantic, in Spain, Kia is preparing to take the covers off its facelifted city car, the Picanto. This is a truly small vehicle, the smallest vehicle Kia has ever built, and one that is significantly smaller than the Rio subcompact. The Picanto is located in the class below subcompacts, a category of vehicles we currently don't have here. It's significantly larger than the Smart fortwo, but smaller than a MINI, if that gives any indication of its dimensions. While Kia and Hyundai share platforms and development on vehicles, the Picanto was developed by Kia, and there's no Hyundai equivalent.
In a market hungry for small, affordable cars, Kia has had great success with the Picanto. In less than three years Kia managed to attract a quarter million European buyers into their smallest car, in a segment in which it had no previous experience. Currently, the Picanto competes with cars like the Toyota Aygo, the Daewoo-designed, Korean-built Chevrolet Matiz and the segment's veteran, the Ford Ka.
Read full article here.

Christine Wilcox's smart car looks friendly and is especially nice to your wallet

By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian
Smart? That's the question Christine Wilcox's father wanted her to pose on her license plate after she bought a European-built, bread box-sized smart car. “But they don't do question marks on license plates,” Wilcox says.
So she settled for a plate that reads 𔄝 X 8,” the dimensions, in feet, of her tiny ride. It's so small the company that makes them doesn't even bother putting a capital letter on the car's name. That, evidently, would take up too much room.
First, the things a smart car is not:
- It is not a hybrid.
- It is not electric.
- You do not pedal it (as you do many of the modes of transportation offered by ZAP, the California company that imports smart cars and refits them to meet American standards).
- Oh, and it is not big.
But you figured that out already. Still, the two-seat interior of the eye-catching automobile is surprisingly roomy. And the gas-powered engine delivers 50 miles per gallon, an especially nice feature given Montana's high gas prices.
The 60-horsepower, three-cylinder turbo engine is mounted under the small hatchback area at the rear of the car. Wilcox, who is from Missoula, was just finishing two years of living in Spain when the smart car hit the European market in 1998. She instantly fell in love with the little thing. “People say it's so great, I'm being so fuel-efficient,” Wilcox says. “But the reality is I've wanted it forever. I'm not trying to be an environmental wonder woman. I got it because I wanted one.”
Read full article here.