One of the headline features of the 1990s, alongside cruel TV shows, laddish bands and a confusing time for the people who made Prince’s business cards, was an emerging category of European small car.
Small cars existed long before the ‘90s of course, not least the titchy Fiat 500 and BMC Mini. Then, at the dawn of the ‘70s came a new generation of larger, more useful small car led by the Autobianchi A112, the Fiat 127 and the first Renault 5. In the UK, these were labelled superminis and quickly became prevalent across Europe because for a great many people this was all the car they needed. Even more so when the Peugeot 205 and Fiat Uno came along, announced within a month of each other in 1983, and together re-defined the supermini as a true all-rounder. With this increase in ability, however, came a swelling in size to the extent that the 205 had a longer wheelbase than a contemporary Golf or Escort.
The trend for larger small cars didn’t reverse in the following years and this growth left a gap for some – single city dwellers among them – who didn’t need as much space or motorway refinement or the option of five doors, and prized the ability to squeeze into parking spots, possibly by bumping, depending on which city we’re in. And from this came the new trend of the ‘90s; the smaller small car.
