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Description
When people think "Little cars", these are the probably the most well known, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mini Cooper, and the Fiat 500.

Everyone knows what a Volkswagen Beetle is, "the people's car", as it was known in Nazi Germany. After the war, this car became the cheap small car that was not only good as a city car, but it was powerful enough that you could use it on the highway and other places. With a Boxer 4-cylinder engine designed by Ferdinand Porsche, Beetles were surprisingly reliable cars, one could say they were the Toyota Corollas of their day. The original Beetle was built from 1938 to 1979, officially, but production kept going in Mexico until 2003. In California, one Beetle owner owned her car for 50 years, and to commemorate that, Volkswagen restored the car for her. Beetles were one of the few cars built to last.

The Mini Cooper is one of the most popular British cars of all time, and was voted the 2nd most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Model T, but ahead of the Beetle and Citroen DS. The Mini got it's start in 1959, when Britain was suffering from an oil shortage due to the Suez Crisis of 1956. BMC head Leonard Lord was not impressed with the small cars becoming popular in the UK, that he directed BMC to build a "proper small car." The car was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, and after years of development, the Mini was ready, and sold under BMC's Austin and Morris marques beginning in 1959. However, Issigonis' friend John Cooper, who built F1 racecars, saw the potential of the small car for racing, and with some refinement, designed a more powerful version that became the Mini Cooper. The original Minis went in production from 1959-2000, when BMW bought the marque, and now we have the modern Mini Coopers today.

The Fiat 500 was the car built to meet the demands of Post-War Italy. Designed by Fiat's lead engineer Dante Giacosta, who designed the 500's predecessor, the "Topolino", the Fiat 500 was designed for the sole purpose of being driving in the city. It was by no means a fast car, due to it's small two-cylinder engine, and the car suffered reliability issues like most Fiat products in foreign markets. But the car proved popular all across Europe for it's small size and affordability, not to mention it's practicality in the city environments of Europe. Production lasted from 1957-1975.

Screenshot taken in "Gran Turismo Sport."

Description
When people think "Little cars", these are the probably the most well known, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mini Cooper, and the Fiat 500.

Everyone knows what a Volkswagen Beetle is, "the people's car", as it was known in Nazi Germany. After the war, this car became the cheap small car that was not only good as a city car, but it was powerful enough that you could use it on the highway and other places. With a Boxer 4-cylinder engine designed by Ferdinand Porsche, Beetles were surprisingly reliable cars, one could say they were the Toyota Corollas of their day. The original Beetle was built from 1938 to 1979, officially, but production kept going in Mexico until 2003. In California, one Beetle owner owned her car for 50 years, and to commemorate that, Volkswagen restored the car for her. Beetles were one of the few cars built to last.

The Mini Cooper is one of the most popular British cars of all time, and was voted the 2nd most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Model T, but ahead of the Beetle and Citroen DS. The Mini got it's start in 1959, when Britain was suffering from an oil shortage due to the Suez Crisis of 1956. BMC head Leonard Lord was not impressed with the small cars becoming popular in the UK, that he directed BMC to build a "proper small car." The car was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, and after years of development, the Mini was ready, and sold under BMC's Austin and Morris marques beginning in 1959. However, Issigonis' friend John Cooper, who built F1 racecars, saw the potential of the small car for racing, and with some refinement, designed a more powerful version that became the Mini Cooper. The original Minis went in production from 1959-2000, when BMW bought the marque, and now we have the modern Mini Coopers today.

The Fiat 500 was the car built to meet the demands of Post-War Italy. Designed by Fiat's lead engineer Dante Giacosta, who designed the 500's predecessor, the "Topolino", the Fiat 500 was designed for the sole purpose of being driving in the city. It was by no means a fast car, due to it's small two-cylinder engine, and the car suffered reliability issues like most Fiat products in foreign markets. But the car proved popular all across Europe for it's small size and affordability, not to mention it's practicality in the city environments of Europe. Production lasted from 1957-1975.

Screenshot taken in "Gran Turismo Sport."