8 Comments

I'm obsessed with Japan's tiny fire trucks and feel like they'd be ideal for creeping through many of our older alleys.

Expand full comment

I want to buy a Fiat500 which currently is not for sale (but will be next year.) And there are really no other options that are that small. A smart car is a tiny bit too small for me, I want to very occasionally throw a kid in the back seat and ... I have basically zero choices ugh :(.

Expand full comment

The Mitsubishi Mirage is the smallest one, gets between 43 (winter) and 50 (spring-fall) miles a gallon

Expand full comment

Oh actually you can’t buy an electric smart car in the US either. *sob*

Expand full comment

https://www.eliomotors.com/ This startup has been raising money, unsuccessfully, for 15 years- first gas, now an electric. And it has a tiny backseat.

Expand full comment

Whoa...

Expand full comment

Imported, efficient cars are so underrated here. Too bad they can't manufacture them here. One of my favorite videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL_T4Lr0uu8

Expand full comment

I live in a pretty standard suburb. Wide roads, plenty of room... but our fire department is lobbying for a large "safety complex" (when combined with police) because they struggle to buy/refurbish trucks SMALL ENOUGH to fit in our main fire station, built in the 1960s.

There aren't any huge buildings in our town that would necessitate a extra large ladder truck or other huge trucks. But American fire trucks just aren't built on that small scale anymore.

Expand full comment