Luxuries carz

bove: Niki Merriman, 23 from England
Suzuki Londoner is aimed at professional UK males aged 25-35, as the majority of Kei cars are targeted at women. The partition line down the side of the vehicle dividing the glass and recycled plastic panel is influenced by the River Thames and the rear lights are influenced by the London skyline at night. The interior uses traditional British textiles and colours.

First year students of the Vehicle Design course at London’sRoyal College of Art presented concepts for light, compact cars at the Science Museum in London earlier this month.The students were asked to research Japanese light vehicles Kei cars, then design a version for a chosen European city.

Above: Augustin Barbot, 25 from France
Aimed at commuters who need to travel into the city from the rural areas. The K Car is driven onto a train which takes passengers into the city. The car can be utilised as an urban living space, either as a working office or somewhere to rest whilst users are in the city.

Unveiled at the Paris show last year, the Citroen C-Metisse Concept is another attempt to create a diesel hybrid car. What’s so exciting about that? well this particular vehicle can operate in a Zero Emission mode, an all electric mode perfect for city cruising, while giving you access to the power of the diesel engine when needed in the motorway. While not as fast as the Saab, the fact that it has a mixed mode engine puts it just a bit higher in our list.

Looking like something out of a spy movie, the Venturi Fetish is the world’s only in production electric sports car. While its top speed is only 100mph, it’ll give you plenty of power in the initial acceleration as it does a good 0-100kph/60mph in about 5 seconds. sadly, only 25 cars are being produced a year. But this list wouldn’t be complete without it.

It’s encouraging to see car manufacturers look for alternative fuel sources to power their vehicles. This particular concept by Saab comes equipped with an ethanol guzzling 2.8L twin-turbocharged V6 that can get you from 0 to 100kph/60mph in 4.2 seconds. Even cooler, the car has no doors, rather, the entire top canopy section of the car opens up, making it one of the most unique designs out there. Sadly, the car is still on concept stage. But one can still dream.

It is often said that for green cars to be taken seriously, serious car buffs must realize that they can compete with the big boys. You see, most people think that you just can’t get proper mileage out of electric cars, that they are ugly, and most importantly, that they just can’t go fast. Well, to prove them wrong, and to start out our brand new Transportation Tuesdays series, we’d like to bring to you the top 5 greenest, fastest, and sexiest beauties on wheels that we’ve ever seen. Counting down from 5 to 1, here they are…