In last month’s issue we explored the world of microcars in Europe. Now we’ll look at Japan, a leader in the field, and surprising small cars produced by American and Canadian manufacturers.
To boost production of vehicles after World War II, the Japanese government created a class of small cars called , meaning light automobile, which got truncated in popular lingo to kei (pronounced kay) cars. They first hit the road in 1949 and were limited in size to approximately 9-feet 2-inches long and 3-feet 3-inches wide, with an engine capacity of 350 cc. These requirements were gradually increased to 11-feet 2-inches long, 4-feet 10-inches wide, with an engine capacity of 660 cc
