The original smart became known as the fortwo after several years to distinguish it from the much larger forfour supermini.
Although its passenger compartment was impressively spacious, there was very little either in front of or behind it. In its first generation, the car was only 2500mm (98.4in) long. Later models have reached nearly 2.7 metres.
Vauxhall 5hp and 6hp
The Vauxhall 5hp went on sale in May 1903, and was replaced the following February by the 6hp, which was basically the same car with a larger engine, a reverse gear and, latterly, a proper steering wheel rather than a tiller.
Both were 2489mm (98.0in) long, a figure Vauxhall never approached again. The 12-14hp model, which went into production before the end of 1904, was very much larger.
Citroen Ami
Citroen has been building small cars for many decades, but the shortest of all went on sale only recently.
The all-electric Ami – named after, but not related to, another Citroen introduced in 1961 – is designed primarily for urban use, and measures only 2489mm (94.9in), which would have been considered modest even in the early 1900s. The Ami has space for two, a single-charge range of 46 miles, has a top speed of 28mph, and can be purchased from £8095 in the UK.
Fiat 3.5hp
The first Fiat was created by the Italian Welleyes brand, which had until then built only bicycles. The project was taken over by Giovanni Agnelli (1866-1945), who changed the car’s name and put it into production in 1899.
Almost every part was contained within the space between the front and rear axles, which were very close together. The whole contraption was just 2300mm (90.6in) long.
Peugeot Type 2
The Type 2 is generally referred to as Peugeot’s inaugural production car, though only four were built and it took nearly a year to sell the first one. Introduced nearly a decade before the Fiat 3.5hp, it was coincidentally shared that car’s length of 2300mm (90.6in). This makes it even shorter than both the Peugeot VLV, a tiny electric city car built during the Second World War, and the minuscule BB1 electric concept displayed at the Frankfurt Show in 2009.