New car news

01 December 2008 - 11:05

Rampant rabbit

Any car named after a singing rabbit is almost guaranteed to get the Top Gear thumbs up, and this one is no exception.

This is the Suzuki Alto Lapin, a Japan-only kei car that, we reckon, could be the solution to all of our transport woes. Why?

Well, for a start it’s tiny. For Japanese tax reasons, kei cars have to be shorter than 340cm, narrower than 148cm and have an engine no bigger than 660cc.

The Lapin’s tiny engine comes in 39kW naturally-aspirated or 46kW turbo flavours – either of which should keep you fairly safe from the proliferation of speed cameras.

And it looks – well, it looks ridiculous. Nissan-Cube-meets-shoebox ridiculous. Aimed at the young female driver – Suzuki’s words, not ours – there are rabbit motifs scattered around the interior, with the option of flowery inserts if you’re keen. Dispatch enough Lapins into Australia and we’re pretty sure road rage would be wiped out instantly.

So there you go. That’s what you’ll all be driving in a few years time, as soon as Top Gear seizes power in a military coup. Or convinces Suzuki to sell the Lapin in Australia. Either way suits us just fine.