My love affair with small cars OK, I confess. Unlike most people it seems, I have always had a passion for small cars. As a kid in the early 1940s I remember crossing the street to view Mr. Brink's "Baby Austin." This little convertible was the cutest thing. I have never seen one since but discovering Bill Spear's great web site brought the memory back and more. He points out that the first jeep, the BRC-40 was produced by the same company. Well over half a century later kids gawk the same way at my "little" jeep, the LJ80 which was miniaturized in Japan following World War II. Going back a bit, the little car I "cut my teeth on" was a British Ford Consul and in 1958 when the "cool" thing was "Big Detroit" I got "Betsy" my Beetle. This restoration (not a colour scheme that I remember) was found in a local car show.( Get Quicktime and see how much you remember about the '58 VW Beetle.) Twenty years later, n 1978 later I found myself again with a small car. With a Honda Civic I was entering an era of relative trouble free driving. Then, after enjoying decades of open air driving with the 1979 Suzuki LJ80 the nostalgia bug kicked in when the VW new beetle cabrio arrived in 2003 (Get Quicktime) Unfortunately, poor consumer ratings kept me from purchasing. Then again, wouldn't that be the way it was? Until the Japanese entered the car market buying a new car meant a constant trip back to the garage for adjustments. At present (2004) I am looking at the smart car (Get Quicktime) —soon to come to Canada. Conceived by Swatch (no fooling ) and produced by Mercedez Benz it seems to have the qualities I am looking for as I continue my love affair with small cars.
			Good books for those interested in the history of smaller cars
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