Time for The Teeny Tinies?

By EDWARD M. GOMEZ PARIS

Small cars are nothing new. But how about one so tiny you can park it perpendicular to the curb, even in a parallel-parking zone? Try to imagine a car so simple that a 14-year-old may drive it without a permit, that requires no license plates because it need not be registered, that can be insured at less than a quarter of the rate for regular automobiles, and that is durable and so efficient it can travel 60 miles on one-half to three-quarters of a gallon of diesel fuel.

Voila, the microcar. For about a decade, this urban motorist's dream has been available to thousands of car owners in rural France. In the late 1970s, another era of spiraling oil costs and Middle East tension, a handful of automakers developed midget voitures sans permis (no-license cars) to meet the needs of older consumers in a countryside poorly served by public transportation. Now, as metropolitan streets clog with traffic, savvy businessmen, fashion models and young professionals have seized upon the VSP as a practical, low-hassle alternative to conventional cars for darting around France's major cities.

In a sure sign of trendiness, the miniautos are turning up in advertisements for yuppie-conscious institutions like the Banque Nationale de Paris. About half a dozen firms in the Paris region rent the vehicles for roughly $75 to $85 a day, unlimited mileage included.

Weighing in at no more than 770 lbs. and usually measuring 4.6 ft. wide by 8.2 ft. long, a VSP can carry two passengers and reach a speed of just under 30 m.p.h. "VSP design and marketing are a direct result of French laws that define a category of vehicles for which no driver's license is required," says Philippe de la Jousseliniere, head of City Car, a Paris-based dealership. Like motorbikes, VSPs are barred from French highways and expressway bypasses. "On paper, VSP specs are those of a motorbike," says Christian Malet, whose Liberty Car service in Paris rents out Marden S.A.'s Alize model. "But on the road, make no mistake about it, it's a car."

* Well, sort of. The VSP is a cozy, even comfortable box on wheels with few frills but normal options like a radio and rear windshield wipers. Generally made of sturdy molded plastic, the body is reinforced by a steel tube frame. The upholstered interior typically features only a few elements, including a dashboard with speedometer, fuel gauge and controls. Adjustable seats and interior heating are still standard. The engines are 1 to 5 h.p., made in Italy or Japan, and have only one forward gear and one reverse. "The technology is pretty simple," says Patrick Escalier, Paris regional director for Marden, "but what more do you need for city driving?"

With the gulf crisis adding to anxiety over gasoline prices, the little cars may become more attractive than ever. This year a dozen French VSP manufacturers expect to sell as many as 15,000 of them. Martial Howa of Aixam Automobiles, a manufacturer in the southeastern French town of Aix-les-Bains, estimates that the market will grow 40% in the next two years. "Soon it will not be mostly a French phenomenon," he says. "Already we're exporting 15% of the 5,000 units we produce each year to Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Greece."

Like Aixam, Societe Jeanneau, maker of the VSP known as Microcar, sells its vehicles to Switzerland without engines: Swiss law requires the installation of electric motors in such vehicles even though the motors' design is still primitive. At the moment there are no plans to export the cars to the U.S.

VSP users admit that because of their noisy diesel engines, the tiny cars can be painful to the ears. Quieter and better electric motors would solve that problem, but so far, no practical, inexpensive power supply for such engines has been invented. In a bid to reduce exhaust pollution and lessen oil dependency, the French government has set up a committee to encourage further development of electric cars.

Another VSP disadvantage is the price tag. A typical microcar starts at around $10,500 without options. Still, Paris businessman Francois-Regis Correard, who owns three VSPs, says they're worth every franc: "Getting around is easy, maintenance is cheap, and you don't get parking tickets." In short, a tidy idea whose time has come.