4 ms·

I’m amazed to see that there’s a model of the Caterham 7, “the car that’s too fast to race”, that fits into this category. Shows that small cars don’t have to

by Lio 5y ago

I’m amazed to see that there’s a model of the Caterham 7, “the car that’s too fast to race”, that fits into this category. Shows that small cars don’t have to be boring or slow. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_7 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_7

JKCalhoun 5y ago
Apparently there's a Kei truck for sale right now on SFBay Craigslist: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ctd/d/san-mateo-1996-subaru-sambar-kei-mini/7369125514.html https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ctd/d/san-mateo-1996-subaru... What to tell the wife? Hmmm....
- OneEyedRobot 5y ago
  Unless you live on Catalina Island, my bet is that you can't license it for the street. It's a shame. I'd own one in a minute set up for snow days.
  - GravitasFailure 5y ago
    That's a California dealer license plate on the back of it. It appears to be street legal, but possibly only for city streets and not freeway driving.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    Once it’s 25 years old, you can import anything you want and register it. That kei is a 96. https://helpspanish.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-278?language=en_US https://helpspanish.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-278?language=e... In Canada, the rule is just 15 years, which is why you’ll see more Keis here
    - bsagdiyev 5y ago
      There’s the 25 year rule and then there is California. In NC I can import any 25 year old car, when I was in CA it still needed to get a sign off from the state BAR. They work on a different set of rules. You can register it in another state without the hassle you just risk getting tickets for not being CA registered.
      - OneEyedRobot 5y ago
        >There’s the 25 year rule and then there is California. Exactly. I remember in the DMV regulations that there's a special dispensation for Kei cars that essentially defines Catalina. 'An island over xxx square miles in size' sort of thing. It used to be big fun here (before they went to 1975 and earlier gasoline engined cars going to not being inspected) if you had a car that was incapable of passing even when new. I'm actually quite surprised that they don't check date codes on tires and require new seat belts every so many years.
        bsagdiyev 5y ago
        It surprises me honestly. North Carolina does emissions and a safety inspection, there are quite a few cars on California roads that would definitely not be considered road legal here. Although to be fair our 25 (20 maybe?) year emissions exemption is rolling, so cars that turn 25 that new year are now exempt as well. It’s kind of nice.
        linksnapzz 5y ago
        California does smog, but no safety inspection that I know of. You can have a car with the brake lines repaired with duct tape, but as long as the check engine light isn't lit and it passes smog, you're good to go. I met a guy at the La Jolla Concours d'Elegance who had imported an ('82?) Trabant. He had gotten it registered with the CA license plate "IRNCRTN". Apparently, Cal DMV saw that it was over twenty-five years old, gave him an exception and the plates, and then demanded that he have it smogged. A two-stroke Trabant. I believe he showed the DMV the bottle of oil that he poured into the gas tank after every fillup, and asked them if there was a smog check place willing to hook what is essentially an old lawnmower up to their million-dollar diagnostic apparatus. This seemed to work.
        OneEyedRobot 5y ago
        Passing visual was always the crazy part. Heaven help you if you have a 1976 car that's missing some part made from unobtanium. My understanding is that they can't test for NOx without rollers and the smog shops couldn't afford it. In any case, you'd end up with cases where cars put together by show judges couldn't pass because it didn't match some book. A lot of cars used to have to have crazy gadgets that interfered with spark advance. All for pass or not pass. Truth is, I'll bet you could drop the whole system and not see a change in air quality at this point. Super-dirty early cars get a bye (aircooled VW) and late model are rarely modified or worn out. If you feel the need to test, do a good job and then simply charge for the amount of emissions that come out. I have the feeling that the emissions industry has metastasized into a political power. Not unlike car dealerships. regarding Kei cars/trucks, my working theory is that most of the objections are safety related. Lots of DOT standards that the rest of the world ignores. Oddly, motorcycles are perfectly legal.
  - jcrawfordor 5y ago
    Japanese Kei trucks newer than 25 years old are pretty regularly imported into the US as Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs), which are permitted on streets with speed limits of 35mph or less. I'm not sure of the exact regulatory requirements for importing vehicles under this rule but it must be fairly relaxed as there's a number of small companies doing this. So you may have options for using a newer Kei truck around town. A lot of the vehicles you see on Catalina Island, for example, are sold under the LSV rule and also popular as things like campus vehicles.
leoc 5y ago
For those who don't know, that's the Caterham 7 née Lotus 7, as seen here for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oROs7aJAg8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oROs7aJAg8k It's pretty amusing that it has city-car certification, all right.
- Lio 5y ago
  1957 the original Lotus 7 was launched. It’s one of those designs, like the 911, that are still an absolute beast even today. It’s so simple and right for it’s intended purpose it just doesn’t age. Or more precisely they’ve been able to evolve the basic concept to keep it competitive.
b123400 5y ago
As far as I know, there isn't a limit of power / speed for kei car category. In the old days Suzuki made a kei car that was "too powerful", the government "communicated" with them, and they settled with 64hps. Since then all the manufactures self-imposed the 64hps limit, but it's still legal for someone to power up their own car. Smart K is another non-Japanese kei car that's more powerful.
- sbierwagen 5y ago
  That's pretty funny. Japanese manufacturers also had an informal agreement to limit motorcycles to 310kmh for a while: https://medium.com/gasolirium/the-gentlemens-agreement-abc603cd4f54 https://medium.com/gasolirium/the-gentlemens-agreement-abc60...
jacquesm 5y ago
The Copen definitely wasn't slow either, despite relatively limited horsepower the total weight was a bit over 700 kg and the engine ran all the way to 12K revs (4 cyl 700cc, it's like a motorcycle engine). Topped out at 185 on the GPS, which is plenty fast for something that small. It also does right angles at 70 or so which is quite interesting :)
cartoonworld 5y ago
Sure, but a sidewinder missile is pretty quick too ... this is apples to oranges since you can easily fit a girl and a dog into a Subaru Sambar, try that in the rod :)

by Lio 5y ago

JKCalhoun 5y ago

Apparently there's a Kei truck for sale right now on SFBay Craigslist: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ctd/d/san-mateo-1996-subaru-sambar-kei-mini/7369125514.html https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ctd/d/san-mateo-1996-subaru... What to tell the wife? Hmmm....

OneEyedRobot 5y ago
Unless you live on Catalina Island, my bet is that you can't license it for the street. It's a shame. I'd own one in a minute set up for snow days.
- GravitasFailure 5y ago
  That's a California dealer license plate on the back of it. It appears to be street legal, but possibly only for city streets and not freeway driving.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  Once it’s 25 years old, you can import anything you want and register it. That kei is a 96. https://helpspanish.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-278?language=en_US https://helpspanish.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-278?language=e... In Canada, the rule is just 15 years, which is why you’ll see more Keis here
  - bsagdiyev 5y ago
    There’s the 25 year rule and then there is California. In NC I can import any 25 year old car, when I was in CA it still needed to get a sign off from the state BAR. They work on a different set of rules. You can register it in another state without the hassle you just risk getting tickets for not being CA registered.
    - OneEyedRobot 5y ago
      >There’s the 25 year rule and then there is California. Exactly. I remember in the DMV regulations that there's a special dispensation for Kei cars that essentially defines Catalina. 'An island over xxx square miles in size' sort of thing. It used to be big fun here (before they went to 1975 and earlier gasoline engined cars going to not being inspected) if you had a car that was incapable of passing even when new. I'm actually quite surprised that they don't check date codes on tires and require new seat belts every so many years.
      - bsagdiyev 5y ago
        It surprises me honestly. North Carolina does emissions and a safety inspection, there are quite a few cars on California roads that would definitely not be considered road legal here. Although to be fair our 25 (20 maybe?) year emissions exemption is rolling, so cars that turn 25 that new year are now exempt as well. It’s kind of nice.
        linksnapzz 5y ago
        California does smog, but no safety inspection that I know of. You can have a car with the brake lines repaired with duct tape, but as long as the check engine light isn't lit and it passes smog, you're good to go. I met a guy at the La Jolla Concours d'Elegance who had imported an ('82?) Trabant. He had gotten it registered with the CA license plate "IRNCRTN". Apparently, Cal DMV saw that it was over twenty-five years old, gave him an exception and the plates, and then demanded that he have it smogged. A two-stroke Trabant. I believe he showed the DMV the bottle of oil that he poured into the gas tank after every fillup, and asked them if there was a smog check place willing to hook what is essentially an old lawnmower up to their million-dollar diagnostic apparatus. This seemed to work.
        OneEyedRobot 5y ago
        Passing visual was always the crazy part. Heaven help you if you have a 1976 car that's missing some part made from unobtanium. My understanding is that they can't test for NOx without rollers and the smog shops couldn't afford it. In any case, you'd end up with cases where cars put together by show judges couldn't pass because it didn't match some book. A lot of cars used to have to have crazy gadgets that interfered with spark advance. All for pass or not pass. Truth is, I'll bet you could drop the whole system and not see a change in air quality at this point. Super-dirty early cars get a bye (aircooled VW) and late model are rarely modified or worn out. If you feel the need to test, do a good job and then simply charge for the amount of emissions that come out. I have the feeling that the emissions industry has metastasized into a political power. Not unlike car dealerships. regarding Kei cars/trucks, my working theory is that most of the objections are safety related. Lots of DOT standards that the rest of the world ignores. Oddly, motorcycles are perfectly legal.
- jcrawfordor 5y ago
  Japanese Kei trucks newer than 25 years old are pretty regularly imported into the US as Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs), which are permitted on streets with speed limits of 35mph or less. I'm not sure of the exact regulatory requirements for importing vehicles under this rule but it must be fairly relaxed as there's a number of small companies doing this. So you may have options for using a newer Kei truck around town. A lot of the vehicles you see on Catalina Island, for example, are sold under the LSV rule and also popular as things like campus vehicles.

leoc 5y ago

For those who don't know, that's the Caterham 7 née Lotus 7, as seen here for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oROs7aJAg8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oROs7aJAg8k It's pretty amusing that it has city-car certification, all right.

Lio 5y ago
1957 the original Lotus 7 was launched. It’s one of those designs, like the 911, that are still an absolute beast even today. It’s so simple and right for it’s intended purpose it just doesn’t age. Or more precisely they’ve been able to evolve the basic concept to keep it competitive.

b123400 5y ago

As far as I know, there isn't a limit of power / speed for kei car category. In the old days Suzuki made a kei car that was "too powerful", the government "communicated" with them, and they settled with 64hps. Since then all the manufactures self-imposed the 64hps limit, but it's still legal for someone to power up their own car. Smart K is another non-Japanese kei car that's more powerful.

sbierwagen 5y ago
That's pretty funny. Japanese manufacturers also had an informal agreement to limit motorcycles to 310kmh for a while: https://medium.com/gasolirium/the-gentlemens-agreement-abc603cd4f54 https://medium.com/gasolirium/the-gentlemens-agreement-abc60...

jacquesm 5y ago

The Copen definitely wasn't slow either, despite relatively limited horsepower the total weight was a bit over 700 kg and the engine ran all the way to 12K revs (4 cyl 700cc, it's like a motorcycle engine). Topped out at 185 on the GPS, which is plenty fast for something that small. It also does right angles at 70 or so which is quite interesting :)

cartoonworld 5y ago

Sure, but a sidewinder missile is pretty quick too ... this is apples to oranges since you can easily fit a girl and a dog into a Subaru Sambar, try that in the rod :)