A microcar is the smallest automobile classification usually applied to standard small car (smaller than city cars). Such small cars were generally referred to as cyclecars until the 1940s. More recent models (1960 and later) are also called bubblecars due to their egg-shaped appearance.
Iso Isetta (Italy)
The car originated with the Italian firm of Iso SpA. In the early 1950s the company was building refrigerators and motor scooters and also small three-wheeled trucks. Iso's owner, Renzo Rivolta, decided he would like to build a small car for mass distribution. By 1952 the engineers Ermenegildo Preti and Pierluigi Raggi had designed a small car that used the scooter engine and named it Isetta—an Italian diminutive meaning little ISO.
VELAM Isetta (France)
VELAM acquired a licence from Iso to manufacture a car based on the Isetta in 1954. Since Iso had sold the body making equipment to BMW, VELAM developed their own body but used the original Iso engine. The VELAM body was rounder and more egg-like than Iso's Isetta and was known by the French as the ‘yogurt pot’. Instead of a chassis like the Italian and German versions, there was a sub-frame bolted to the body at the rear, which held the rear tires, engine, and transmission. The front suspension was bolted to the front of the body. The front door was opened by push button instead of a handle, and the speedometer was mounted in the center of the steering wheel.
BMW Isetta 300 (Germany)
BMW made the Isetta its own they redesigned the powerplant around a BMW one-cylinder, four-stroke, 247 cc motorcycle engine which generated 10 kW . Although the major elements of the Italian design remained intact, BMW re-engineered much of the car, so much so that none of the parts between a BMW Isetta Moto Coupe and an Iso Isetta are interchangeable. The first BMW Isetta appeared in April 1955.
Smart Fortwo
The Smart Fortwo is a rear-engined two-seater city car manufactured by Smart GmbH, introduced at the 1998 Paris Motor Show as the Smart City Coupé, and currently in its second generation. The name refers to its seat capacity.Introduced November 10, 2006, the second generation features slightly greater length and improved crash performance while maintaining similar styling.