Measuring just 2.13m by 1m and costing only £5,600, the Zagato Volpe is a single-seat electric car with a weight of only 350kg.
Indeed, being so light, technically we're not allowed to refer to the Zagato Volpe as a "car" at all. Rather, it's a quadricycle – or a micro car – a four wheeled vehicle with an unladen mass below 400kg with a maximum continuous rated power not in excess of 15kW.
The Zagato Volpe is available either as a petrol, an LPG hybrid or as a fully-electric vehicle. It has a top speed of 30mph and, if powered by battery alone, a maximum range of 37 miles.
However, go for the hybrid variant and you're looking at around 223 miles on a single tank of fuel.
So it's cheap, clean, green and – compared to a large petrol scooter, which would cost about the same – considerably safer and, of course, drier. It has a roof!
Is this the perfect little zipper for travelling around a city, then?
Well, whilst I initially wondered whether anybody would want to drive anything so stunted, I then remembered the buzz surrounding Renault's Twizy – a vehicle equally as unconventional in its appearance, but equally as impressive in its economy.
Could this be the way motoring's headed?
I hope so. Just to see the look on Clarkson's face, I dearly hope so.
