Master Index of Archived Threads


The Cars In Italy are Freaking Tiny! -split from APNP Thread

Valadius Sep 14 2006 11:41 PM

The cars in Italy are freaking tiny! This is a photo I took in Italy last month.

Yancy Street Gang Sep 15 2006 06:33 AM

Makes it easier to find a parking spot in Rome.

MFS62 Sep 15 2006 06:47 AM

It also makes it safer for pedestrians there. You get hit by something that size, it just bounces off you. Later

Yancy Street Gang Sep 15 2006 07:55 AM

I took a picture similar to that one when I was in Rome. It's amazing how they park over there. Tiny little cars and motorcycles and scooters are wedged in at all kinds of angles.

Willets Point Sep 15 2006 08:36 AM

My sister lived in Rome as an au pair and has pictures of cars parked perpendicularly on the the street in spots where they would not fit if parked parrallell. You've got to tip your hat to Italian ingenuity. The car in the photograph is a Smart car and are made in Germany (we saw hundreds of them on our trip to Munich three years back). They're available in the US now too, albeit in a relatively larger model. I'm of the belief that a small, fuel-efficient car like this is ideal for urban commutes (if only we could convince other drivers to not drive to work in their SUV's).

ScarletKnight41 Sep 15 2006 08:39 AM

After my kids' accident yesterday, there is no way that I would ever get behind the wheel of a tin can like that.

Willets Point Sep 15 2006 08:55 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 15 2006 11:51 AM

Well, that operates on the assumption that a small car is made of cheap parts. The Smart car actually is built with a steel-reinforced shell and has performed very well in crash tests against cars twice its size. Bigger does not automatically mean safer.

Yancy Street Gang Sep 15 2006 09:05 AM

I'd be more comfortable puttering around in a congested city in a little car than I would going 65 on the highway. But if you're only going to drive in the city then you're probably better off without a car at all. When I was in Italy I mostly noticed those tiny cars on the city streets. I don't recall seeing them on the highways. Rome has only two subway lines, and it's a large city. I suppose that there are many residents of Rome who don't live close to the subways so they may use the tiny cars for traveling within the city. Motorcycles and Vespas were even more common. We'd see huge clusters of them parked on the sidewalks as we walked through the city. I don't recall Florence being like that, though. Smaller city, I guess. And maybe fewer narrow streets.

Valadius Sep 15 2006 11:09 AM

Willets Point wrote: Bigger does not automatically mean safer. Exactly. And the fact that America has bought into that false assumption is one reason why our gas prices are so darn high.

Edgy DC Sep 15 2006 11:34 AM

It also sets up against each other in an arms race.

Willets Point Sep 15 2006 11:39 AM

Edgy DC wrote: It also sets up against each other in an arms race. Huh? Is that appropos of nothing or is that a comment on small cars? Either way I don't get it.

Valadius Sep 15 2006 11:52 AM

Another small Italian car:

Willets Point Sep 15 2006 11:56 AM

That need to have Robert Benigni behind the wheel and weaving in traffic.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 15 2006 12:08 PM

One reason you see so many scooters on the road in Italy was that the country was so poor and the roads so destroyed after WWII they needed cheap transportation that was easy on gas and the streets. Of course being italians they couldn't help but design their vehicles gorgeously: The Italian word for "wasp" (the insect) is "Vespa" which these scooters rememble in lots of ways:

Edgy DC Sep 15 2006 12:16 PM

Willets Point wrote: ="Edgy DC"]It also sets up against each other in an arms race. Huh? Is that appropos of nothing or is that a comment on small cars? Either way I don't get it. "I need a large car to protect myself from larger cars." "I don't really want a large car, but everybody else has a large car that makes my small car more vulnerable. So I got a large car." "Huh? Even you? Jeez, I must be the last one without an SUV. I better get one or I'll be squashed." Arms race.

Willets Point Sep 15 2006 12:22 PM

Gahhhhhhhhhhhtit!

Edgy DC Sep 15 2006 12:24 PM

="Johnny Dickshot"]One reason you see so many scooters on the road in Italy was that the country was so poor and the roads so destroyed after WWII they needed cheap transportation that was easy on gas and the streets. Of course being italians they couldn't help but design their vehicles gorgeously: The Italian word for "wasp" (the insect) is "Vespa" which these scooters rememble in lots of ways: Where's the fork on the front wheel? Is that a magic scooter?

Valadius Sep 15 2006 03:37 PM

Lots of Vespas indeed:

KC Sep 16 2006 04:15 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 16 2006 04:29 PM

V: >>>America has bought into that false assumption is one reason why our gas prices are so darn high<<< There's some horse hockey to your notion too. First off, adjusted for inflation* gas isn't all that expensive compared to twenty years ago. Sure, this major shift in gas prices has sucked, but it's sucked like this for twenty years in Europe , Japan, wherever ... gas is still pretty cheap in terms of how much it's gone up over a long period of time in this country. It will be amusing to watch the young bright eyes like yourself use gas prices as a political thing as November comes ... healthcare reform fails you every time cause ya ain't got not real answers. Do ya? * the real inflation or the published figures, the former being much higher

KC Sep 16 2006 04:17 PM

I forgot what set me off. I'm 6' 4" pushing 240 and not fat ... I hate little cars and little anything. Ex- cept little women.

Edgy DC Sep 16 2006 05:26 PM

It would be a shame if gas prices were the wedge issue in November. I don't think they're high enough. No politician is going to say that and survive, though. Energy policy is like Medicare, in that the electorate won't really let the government formulate a sane policy.

Willets Point Sep 17 2006 02:30 AM

Another advantage of small cars (and Menthos):

Nymr83 Sep 17 2006 02:50 AM

Edgy DC wrote: ="Willets Point"] Edgy DC wrote: It also sets up against each other in an arms race. Huh? Is that appropos of nothing or is that a comment on small cars? Either way I don't get it. "I need a large car to protect myself from larger cars." "I don't really want a large car, but everybody else has a large car that makes my small car more vulnerable. So I got a large car." "Huh? Even you? Jeez, I must be the last one without an SUV. I better get one or I'll be squashed." Arms race. a more realistic take: "i cant fuckin see over anything on the road anymore, i miss street signs because of all the damn SUVs, i better get one too" (i personally drive a Neon though, but the one thing i like about SUVs is the higher vantabe point)

Nymr83 Sep 17 2006 02:55 AM

Edgy DC wrote: It would be a shame if gas prices were the wedge issue in November. I don't think they're high enough. No politician is going to say that and survive, though. Energy policy is like Medicare, in that the electorate won't really let the government formulate a sane policy. gas has gone down again, i paid 2.89/G yesterday. i dont really think the price is too high at all, if people cut back on their driving all the better. imo gas would need to be $4 to become a semi-important election issue, but since neither party has a realistic energy policy that will pull us off foreign oil anytime soon its a "non-issue." i should run for congress, i have a great energy policy, i dont think i'm old enough though.

Edgy DC Sep 17 2006 03:43 PM

Well, the best energy policy would be one that got you booted out of office after one term for instituting, but they'd thank you in 20 years.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 17 2006 10:26 PM

I'm also for higher gas prices. The higher the cost for fossil fuels the more it'll spark investment in something better/cleaner, etc. The issue is gas is like the most price-sensitive thing out there in that the price of gas tends to inform Joe Populace of his opinion on the economy. The other downside is that high gas prices tend to hurt the poorest the most.