RE: What happened to the pocket rocket? PH Blog

[paul_y3k]

There's also the small matter of insurance ... junior cars won't have junior insurance prices

[Sampaio]

thatguy11 said:

No mention of the 500 Abarth?

My thoughts exactly... And it's a huge success too

[Baryonyx]

soad said:

Or this.

Interesting you should mention that as I think the CRZ is one of the most interesting cars on the market right now, and were I prepared to spend that amount on my own car, I'd happily have one. Okay, they have nowhere near the performance credentials of the old breed of cars but I find them an intriguing prospect. It's a shame (a huge shame) that Honda never followed up on the CRZ with a hotter model for the mass market.

[Matt Bird]

thatguy11 said:

No mention of the 500 Abarth?

I don't really like them so I didn't mention it... But yes, certainly a valid contender!


Matt

[AW111]

Monty Python said:

Weight - with all the safety features required they've become too heavy. This means more power is required, which means bigger brakes, which means bigger wheels....it goes on. Until someone comes up with a way to make a small car weigh around a tonne, they'll probably never return.

Aygo is under 900 kg, to name one.

[soad]

I reckon this qualifies too?

[Baryonyx]

If we're going back to old Japanese pocket rockets, can I skip the Pulsar GTi-R and the 323 Turbo and go straight for the March Super Turbo? I've always wanted a go in one of these!

[img]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStfMuIKWTknUQzKgLNqfpkLINnympMahVSB7ka6WkU78-FrJNX[img]

[Pixelpeep7r]

soad said:

thatguy11 said:

No mention of the 500 Abarth?

Or this.

not exactly current is it

[ian2144]

I had Daihatsu GTti new back in 1989 one of the best "Pocket Rockets" ever IMO.

[yes i'm mad]

My Supercharge AYGO is in the classifieds

Only reason I'm selling is because I want something bigger...!

[soad]

Renault Clio Williams?

[AW111]

Baryonyx said:

If we're going back to old Japanese pocket rockets, can I skip the Pulsar GTi-R and the 323 Turbo and go straight for the March Super Turbo? I've always wanted a go in one of these!

[img]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStfMuIKWTknUQzKgLNqfpkLINnympMahVSB7ka6WkU78-FrJNX[img]

Me too!

[M@1975]

Our Panda 100hp reamins one of the best cars I've ever had in the stable despite the oversprung and under damnped rear which I'd have sorted if we had kept it longer.

[theJT]

I imagine the same thing happened to them as happened to the small sports coupe. Insurance became impossible to get for anyone of an age who might want such a thing. A friend of mine in her early 20s who passed her driving test last year was quoted £1700 for a 1 litre ford fiesta. A fiesta! And she was happy with that, given that most quotes were over 2k. I'm amazed young people drive at all now.

[vtecyo]

Baryonyx said:

Interesting you should mention that as I think the CRZ is one of the most interesting cars on the market right now, and were I prepared to spend that amount on my own car, I'd happily have one. Okay, they have nowhere near the performance credentials of the old breed of cars but I find them an intriguing prospect. It's a shame (a huge shame) that Honda never followed up on the CRZ with a hotter model for the mass market.

Mugen do / did if you're willing to import one from Japan and pay for the privilege.

[Pixelpeep7r]

vtecyo said:

Baryonyx said:

Interesting you should mention that as I think the CRZ is one of the most interesting cars on the market right now, and were I prepared to spend that amount on my own car, I'd happily have one. Okay, they have nowhere near the performance credentials of the old breed of cars but I find them an intriguing prospect. It's a shame (a huge shame) that Honda never followed up on the CRZ with a hotter model for the mass market.

Mugen do / did if you're willing to import one from Japan and pay for the privilege.

unless you want to use it on the motorway in which case you will have zero help from the batteries after a mile or so.

[vtecyo]

Pixelpeep7r said:

unless you want to use it on the motorway in which case you will have zero help from the batteries after a mile or so.

Well there's a fabulous thing called an internal combustion engine under the sheet of metal at the front of the car for just such eventualities.

[ukaskew]

Limpet said:

Most small cars today are about as interesting as watching paint dry. Bloated, gutless and idiot proof.

I would disagree with that, the properly small cars (C1/107/Up/Citigo etc) are reasonably entertaining things in their own right, certainly fundamentally sound enough to warrant a decent 100-120bhp version.

Both the 107/C1/Aygo and Up/Citigo/Mii are around 900kg if memory serves, hardly bloated by today's standards (and still lighter than the 100hp, Sportka etc).

[rallycross]

the pocket rocket is not things like a Clio Williams that was king of the hot hatch, we are talking a class down from this, starting with things like Uno Turbo, AX GT, then Saxo VTR, Lupo Gti small and very light and CHEAP!

No reason why we cant still have models like this using the smallest models with a sporty variant.

[conkerman]

I have one of these

Will be for sale soon.

Image taken from a classified ad.



A fun little car, 150HP moves it along nicely.