E3 Spark Plugs Wants to Know – Would You Drive the Tiny P45?

Once upon a time, a single computer took up the space of a huge room. Now, we can hold them in our hands. The first cell phones were a bit like holding shoe boxes to our gourds, but today’s fit in our pockets.  And those unwieldy 8-track cassette players have given way to tiny MP3 players. That’s the way it goes with so many of the products that we use every day. So why wouldn’t the automobile also experience a devolution of sorts?

Enter Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson and his P45. Touted as the world’s smallest car (actually, the Peel P50 lays claim to being the world’s smallest street-legal production car, but we digress), the P45 sports a look described as resembling “a gas-powered Hoveround topped by lights, mirrors and a modern version of the armor worn by the Knights Who Say Ni.” And it just might take a Monty Python fan to truly love this… vehicle.

No need to actually exit the P45 to carry on daily activities, like checking out a library book.

Clarkson took the P45, with its 2-stroke engine and 1.7-litre (0.449092-gallon) gas tank, out for a spin through the London streets on a recent episode of Top Gear. His experience offers a few tips for future drivers. Skip gas stations with minimum purchase requirements. And drive with your face already on the windshield, so as to lessen the shock should you – Heaven forbid – hit a pothole. But it does make for easier passing of cars ahead in a traffic jam – Never mind the jam you’re causing behind you. And you don’t have to get out of the P45 to pump gas. Or shop the mall. Or check out a library book.

To us here at E3 Spark Plugs, the Transformer toy-esque P45 would be far cooler if it morphed into something actually useful. Like a giant IPod recharging station or portable cappuccino dispenser. But to each, his own.

Would you drive the P45? How small do you think a car can be and still catch on with the masses? Post your thoughts on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page