Where to start? Right think of how the McLaren F1 Roadcar of 1994 set the benchmark for supercars for about a decade. Now think of that same effect only instead of a supercar we have a city car. Yes the same genius, Gordan Murray, is back and has spun his brain around a remarkably packaged car with so many honest features it makes you wince thinking how long it will take other manufacturers to do the same. Okay; so the basics: We've got a car so narrow that 2 of them can fit in a motorway lane hence doubling motorway capacity; 3 of them can fit in a parallel parking spot; it seats 3 adults; has a turning circle of 6 metres; a 74mpg figure and 720 litres of luggage room. Oh and it's very safe, costs little to make due to the pioneering i-stream process & has replaceable body parts to keep accident costs at a minimum. Great! Now for the bad part (and I hate to say this when there's so much going for this machine!). Those looks will be the life or death of this car. For example the Smart ForTwo went down the same innovative route and was admirably practical but, well; it looks pretty bizarre and it has a limited market. Then there's the door. Yes just the one. It's incredibly practical, that's a given, but it's hard to imagine emerging from a Murray T25 without feeling, shall we say, conspicuous. Alas this Murray T25 is so much more than a Smart, Toyota IQ or Honda Insight that it's achievements on paper could well be enough for it to break through our established attitudes to cars. Watch this space.
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