Top 10 Smallest Cars of All Time
Top Smallest Cars In The World

Go big or go home. It’s a catchphrase that could only have come out of North America. A land of unlimited (or so we thought) space and resources, it shaped the vehicles most of us drive.

Last year in Canada, the subcompact category (cars typically four metres or less in length) made up only 2 per cent of the market. In much of the world, however, lower incomes, crowded roads and high gas prices long ago forced people to make the most of small – very small – cars and trucks. Be they unexpectedly stylish, sporty or just so irresistibly cute you want to pick ’em up and cuddle ’em, here are some of our favourites from around the world.

Top 10 Cars – Smallest in The U.S Top 10 Cars – Smallest in The U.S

People love things that are affordable, convenient, and do not take up a lot of spaces, specially when it comes to cars. Here, we provide ...

Top 10 Cars - Smallest in India Top 10 Cars - Smallest in India

Small cars have become a trend in India, since car lovers begin to demand more changes in design, and prices are becoming cheaper and more ...

List of Top 10 Smallest Cars of All Time:

10.Mazda 323 GTX (1986-1989) – 159.06 inches

9.Mazda R100 (1968-1972) – 152.4 inches

8.Fiat/Bertone X1/9 (1972-1989) – 150.8 inches

7.Fiat 850 Coupe and Spider (1965-1973 ) – 150.4 innches

6.Geo Metro Convertible (1991-1994) – 146.1 inches

5.Honda CR-X (1984-1991) – 144.7 inches

4.Austin-Healey Sprite Mk1 (1958-1961) – 137.52 inches

3.Honda S800 (1966-1970) – 131.3 inches

2.BMW Dixi 3/15 (1928-1932) –130 inches

1.Honda N600 (1967-1972) – 122.01 inches

Detailed information about Top 10 Smallest Cars of All Time:

10.Mazda 323 GTX (1986-1989) – Length: 159.06 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time

Photo theglobeandmail.com

Long before Subaru or Mitsubishi, Mazda built a turbocharged all-wheel-drive compact to contest the World Rally Championship (WRC). The street version boasted 132 horsepower from its 1.6-litre engine (almost double that in competition tuning) channeled through a five-speed stick to a 50-50 split all-wheel-drive system. Between 1986 and 1991, the GTX won three events in the WRC, and the few surviving production models are now getting noticed by collectors.

9.Mazda R100 (1968-1972) – Length: 152.4 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

Sure, you know the RX-7 sports car, which was long the standard-bearer for Mazda’s signature rotary-engine technology You may even know the hand-built 1967 Cosmo 110 that first displayed the fabulous-but-flawed engine concept. But who’d have thought the cute but innocuous R100 was also rotary powered? An early ancestor of today’s Mazda3 compact, the R100 was also the first car sold in Canada by Mazda when it landed here in 1968.

8.Fiat/Bertone X1/9 (1972-1989) – Length: 150.8 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

Even today, the X1/9 looks more like a concept car than an almost 50-year-old design based on the 128, a boxy subcompact sedan. Instead of reshaping the front-wheel-drive 128, Fiat commissioned an all-new Targa-top body from Bertone and installed the 1.3-litre (later 1.5-litre) engine midship. It wasn’t very quick, but mid-engine weight distribution and supple all-independent suspension yielded a blend of handling and ride that was sublime for its time.

7.Fiat 850 Coupe and Spider (1965-1973) – Length: 150.4 innches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

If the 850 sedan was an ugly duckling, the Coupe and Spider were swans. Road & Track called the Spider “one of the most beautiful small cars in the world” and the coupe “one of the handsomest, best-balanced designs … on a small car.” Noting the engine’s voracious appetite for revs, Autocar said, “it runs to 8,000 rpm when really thrashed and feels as though it could go on and on for ever.”

Read more: Top 10 Best New Electric Cars 2022

6.Geo Metro Convertible (1991-1994) – Length: 146.1 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

Americans don’t do teeny-tiny cars, but sometimes automakers had to sell them to achieve Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) mandates. In the eighties and nineties, GM’s collaboration with Suzuki spawned three generations of three-cylinder Chevrolet, Geo and Pontiac mileage mavens. Most were eminently forgettable, but who wouldn’t say “aaawww” at seeing this? The key to driving one of these is a bumper sticker reading, “Don’t Laugh At Me, Laugh With Me.”

5.Honda CR-X (1984-1991) – Length: 144.7 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

The CR-X’s blend of sharp looks, zesty dynamics, fuel economy and unexpected practicality (I once drove my CR-X to Florida with my bicycle inside) made it a cult car. Over two generations it included hyperfrugal 1.3-litre HF, regular 1.5-litre DX and sporty 1.6-litre Si versions, and in some markets the B16A VTEC – boasting up to 160 hp. The Targa-top Del Sol that replaced the CR-X never had the same cachet.

4.Austin-Healey Sprite Mk1 (1958-1961) – Length: 137.52 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

Using parts from the tiny Austin A35 sedan, the 948-cubic-centimeter Sprite had a zero-to-100-km/h time of more than 20 seconds – glacial by today’s standards. But in 1958, Motor magazine called it “fully comparable with lively modern saloons of double its size” while lauding its “outstandingly responsive” handling that “many touring car owners have never even imagined possible.” Of course, with its “Bugeye” headlamps, the Sprite also looked ineffably cute.

3.Honda S800 (1966-1970) – Length: 131.3 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

Believe it or not, Honda’s first production car was this sports car. Its jewel-like 791-cc four-cylinder engine was insanely high-tech for its time – double overhead camshafts, four-barrel carburation, needle-roller crankshaft and a 9,500-rpm rev limit. In short, a motorcycle engine on four wheels. Early versions even had chain drive to the rear wheels and independent rear suspension, in which form Road & Track called the steering and handling “excellent.”

2.BMW Dixi 3/15 (1928-1932) – Length: 130 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

The first four-wheeled BMW was this motorized baby buggy? The 1929 Dixi wasn’t really BMW’s own work; it was a built-under-licence Austin 7, Britain’s mass-market equivalent of America’s Model T Ford – BMW having acquired the original German licensee, Automobilwerk-Eisenach, in 1928. Powered (loosely speaking) by a 747-cc four-cylinder engine, the Dixi came in many body styles, including some cute roadsters.

1.Honda N600 (1967-1972) – Length: 122.01 inches

Top 10 World's Smallest Cars of All Time
Photo theglobeandmail.com

The first Honda car sold in North America was the Mini-sized N600. Despite the two-cylinder engine’s tiny 599-cc displacement, Motor found that by making full (and frantic) use of its 8,500-rpm rev limit, it could outrun larger-engined rivals. Noting also its light controls and acceptable comfort, “we would not pretend this sometimes buzzy, fussy little car will appeal to everyone,” Motor concluded, “but it does have some very real assets, including character.”

Top 10 Cars – Smallest in The U.S Top 10 Cars – Smallest in The U.S

People love things that are affordable, convenient, and do not take up a lot of spaces, specially when it comes to cars. Here, we provide ...

Top 10 Cars - Smallest in India Top 10 Cars - Smallest in India

Small cars have become a trend in India, since car lovers begin to demand more changes in design, and prices are becoming cheaper and more ...