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I saw a novelty vehicle that went from 0-60 in about 2 seconds and got something in the neighborhood of 50-60 MPG. (The owner/developer hadn't fully tested mileage because it was a toy, and not street-legal.)
It was basically 2 bicycle frames welded together, with 40-cc chainsaw motors on both the rear wheels. The owner could lift it up to put it in the back of his pickup.
Yep, pain in the ass--you had to mix your own fuel because it was two-stroke, it left big plumes of smoke, etc etc.
Nevertheless--the thing that struck me about it was the low mass of the thing. It DOES make sense to make vehicles as lightweight as possible. And our current material technology and safety improvements really do make it possible to build "safe" cars that only weigh 800 lbs.
I'd love to see something like a "microcar" lane or road-system for people driving tiny commuter vehicles. It would help protect them from being run over by semi-trailers, and it would encourage the people who drive the most miles (alone) to buy those tiny vehicles.
