photo courtesy of Toyota / Scion Pressroom

Toyota’s Scion brand announced this week that the long awaited MicroCar they have promised us is finally dropping in October! We at MicroCarMag.com are thrilled – We had the chance to scope this interesting piece of automotive art when it made its semi debut in San Francisco for fans of the brand. With a wheelbase of only 10 feet this iQ will compete with SMART and to be released TaTa Nano.

With one of the most interesting configuration the iQ sports a 3+1 seating arrangement that puts the front seat passenger in an offset forward position to allow for a full size adult to sit behind, the +1 means that a younger child or small adult could fit behind the driver.

Power for the iQ will come compliments of a 1.3 liter 4 cylinder VVT-i engine that will produce 94 hp and 89 ft lbs of torq. It’s one of the smaller engines that Toyota has put in one of its modern released vehicles, however you know that many of our project car sponsors will be chomping at the bit to modify the heck out of that little engine.

Not to stand too far apart from the rest of its Scion family – The iQ will have a standard 160 watt stereo with the ability to have a custom greeting screen, use your ipod and other mp3 devices.  For a little extra you can upgrade to a 200 watt system or one with a GPS.

The iQ will be available in seven exterior colors, including Blizzard Pearl, Classic Silver Metallic, Magnetic Gray Metallic, Black Sand Pearl, Hot Lava (personal favorite of MicroCarMag), Pacific Blue Metallic and Black Currant Metallic.

Starting at an MSRP of $15,265 plus delivery, processing and handling (DPH) fee for all Scion models is $730 and is not included in the MSRP. DPH fee for vehicles distributed by Southeast Toyota (SET) and Gulf States Toyota (GST) may vary.

As soon as we are able to get our hands on one we will have a behind the wheel report of this awesome little beast!

What are those partnerships?

Let’s start with Chrysler–they recently filed for Chapter 11 and partnered with successful European car company Fiat.  Now, with this filing of Chapter 11, the chief at Fiat has stated he is ready to pull Chrysler, once one of the Big 3, out of the bottom and back up to the top.

Meanwhile in Detroit, GM has partnered with another one of the European auto heavyweights Alfa Romeo. This marks the return of Alfa Romeo to the United States and yet some more possibilities for more microcars to drive!

What will they bring?

Before they left the United States market in 1995, Alfa Romeo had a reputation for having well-designed automobiles; however, the quality was lacking.  Fourteen years later, Alfa is ready to make its mark back in the US market and we at MicroCar Magazine are most excited about how the quality of an Alfa has improved over the years. The Mi To has been a well-received microcar in Europe and judging by the design, it will fit in very well here in the States.  What we are not sure about is how much power will be equipped in the Mi To and what the price point will be.

photo take by Fiat

Also making a return since it left in 1917 is Fiat, which comes to the United States to bring more micro goodness.  The 500 was first introduced in 2008 with a grand 500th hour reveal at the London Eye and it may not be the only possible microcar to be brought into the States.  Enter the FORD Ka, built through a partnership with Fiat and Ford in Europe.  This car could propose a challenge for SMART.  The Ka has about the same wheelbase as the SMART, but unlike the SMART, don’t look for the Ka to be easy to modify.

How powerful and how much?

No real information is available at this time, but as we receive news from around the world, we will update you. What can be said or at least questioned is whether these two European titans can unseat other microcar companies like Toyota or Honda.