The successful introduction of the Mini Cooper here in the states -- due in no small part to an almost unfailingly clever series of marketing campaigns -- illustrates once again that, while Americans remain obsessed with the big and the gaudy, there's still a soft spot in the public's heart for the small-in-stature, big-on-imagination means of personal transport.

For those of us who are fascinated by exactly how little it really requires -- in metal, rubber, glass, horsepower, leather -- to create a genuine, usable, and even cool little car, the Petersen Automotive Museum has just the ticket: a show called Microcars: TheMinimum in Motoring, running until early February, 2008. (Pictured: The Eshelman, which the Petersen site informs us "was offered as both a child's car having a two horsepower engine and an adult car with a three-horsepower engine. It was intended for short, local trips and could be readily transformed into a riding lawnmower.")

The exhibition's website includes, of course, some remarkable photographs of microcars through the years, as well as an informative essay on the phenomenon, which begins thusly:

"The world's smallest vehicles, microcars are minute passenger automobiles normally powered by tiny gasoline engines. In countries where vehicles are taxed based on their engine displacement, microcars are far more affordable than full-size cars and accessible to virtually everyone. In certain areas, the smallest microcars are even classified as motorcycles and no license is required to operate them. People from all walks of life drive microcars, especially in Japan and older European cities with extremely narrow streets, and they are also used by businesses for local deliveries of small goods. Microcars are inexpensive to maintain, can be parked in even the smallest spaces, and handle better than traditionally sized cars due to their lower weight. But the microcar's biggest attraction is its extremely low cost of operation, a quality appreciated by motorists in countries where gasoline costs three to five times more than it does in America."

On that last point, if on nothing else, we beg to differ. The microcar's biggest attraction is not, in fact, its "low cost of operation." The appeal of microcars is that they're tiny!

Take our advice: If you live in LA, or are headed there any time soon, make your way to the Petersen, if only for a few hours. These days, how often do you get to see cars that make a Mini Cooper feel like an Escalade?

The Messerschmitt Tiger was one of very few microcars with sporting potential and many were raced. Unlike other Messershmitts, which had a single rear wheel, the Tiger was equipped with two rear wheels for improved traction and stability.

(Read David Knowles' test drive of the barely street legal GEM car here.)