Fiat's ESV (Experimental Safety Vehicle) concepts the ESV 1500, ESV 2000, and ESV 2500

Posted by Custombi@reddit | WeirdWheels | View on Reddit | 17 comments

ESV 1500 (the short 2-door), which had a rear mounted 600cc engine with rear wheel drive, the ESV 2000, (the sloped five-door wagon) which had a front mounted 1200cc engine with front wheel drive, and the ESV 2500 (the sedan) with a the same engine except they made it rear wheel drive and moved the fuel tank to sit right behind the passenger compartment (please correct me if I'm wrong about some of this info)

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Zdrobot@reddit

The small guy (ESV 1500) is so cute!

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pol_pogg@reddit

I want to snuggle with him

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FireDragonMonkey@reddit

I agree, it does look cute! Like a road-worthy bumpercar.

We've sadly gone in the opposite direction where low speed accidents now cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars; if it was in one of these it probably wouldn't even leave a scratch!

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MoreThanComrades@reddit

Calling that hatchback a wagon is beyond hilarious.

But interesting find. I’m assuming the “visors” on the front are for pedestrian safety? It’s a bit odd.

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Pokesabre@reddit

They look suspiciously like the "low speed impact" bumpers that US regulations forced onto a whole host of cars in the (I believe) 1970's. The MG B was a major victim of these, ending up looking much less appealing than the previous chrome bumper versions

The LSI bumpers were designed to reduce harm to pedestrians, cabin occupants, and other vehicles in collisions happening below 15mph, but had virtually no impact on the damage caused at higher speeds

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MoreThanComrades@reddit

The MG B had to not only change its bumper, but also be lifted, cause its lights or bumpers or whatever were too low

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Pokesabre@reddit

Yeah, and it's generally agreed to have ruined the handling. There's a lot of reasons the rubber bumper models are selling for about 1/3rd the price of the chromes

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