MOTORING BOOK REVIEW: Bubble that never burst

The Macro World of Microcars Kate Trant and Austin Williams Black Dog, pounds 19.95

ALMOST ALL motoring books focus on cars. A tiny number feature the human beings who own and drive those cars. This delightful new book, however, manages to do both.

We live in an age of automotive inflation. Today's VW Polo, for example, is roughly the size of the original VW Golf. The new Mini is 50 per cent heavier than its predecessor. It is refreshing, then, to look back on some of the stranger machines - bubble cars, mostly, but a few others - from an age when designers concentrated on getting a lot out of a little. Cars such as Peels, Heinkels and Goggomobils made the case for micro-motoring long before DaimlerChrysler's Smart car arrived on the scene.

Their dedicated owners remind us that there are still some people out there who have not been seduced by excessive size and power.