People-Movers On Parade

PEOPLE-MOVERS ON PARADE

IF THE UBIQUITOUS VOLKSwagen Beetle was the "people's car," then meet the people's trike and the people's scooter.

Frankfurt's Motor Show was the location for the debut of two concept vehicles from German auto-makers MercedesBenz and BMW. First up, Mercedes' F300 Life-Jet threewheeler-half motorcycle, half car, all weird. Described as an "active-lifestyle vehicle," the F300 is powered by the same 100-horse, 1.6-liter Four that goes into the company's just-released A-class Euro commuter car. Claimed perfor mance is 0 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, with a top speed on the good side of 130 mph. Allaluminum construction has the F300 prototype's weight down to 1760 pounds, though the goal is to shave another 450 pounds if the vehicle goes into production.

Most novel feature is the Life Jet's automatic leaning ability in corners. Details of the so-called "Active Tilt Control" system are sketchy, but it seems that sen sors take note of speed, yaw, lat eral acceleration, steering-wheel angle, etc., then feed the info through a computer to a hy draulic arrangement that cranks the F300 side to side upto 30 de grees. The claim is an impressive 0.9 g cornering ability.

While the Life-Jet's produc tion is an iffy proposition, BMW'S people-mover is a sure thing, scheduled to be in Euro pean showrooms by the spring of 2000 at a projected price below $6000. Safety will be a strong selling point for the Cl Urban Personal Commuter (Beemer-speak for "scooter"). Thanks to X-configuration shoulder belts, a crushable nosecone and an energyabsorbing roll cage (which doubles as a roof), BMW is claiming head-on collision pro tection comparable to a small car. ABS will be an option.

To be built in Italy by noted coachbuilding firm Bertone, the Cl is powered by a 15-bhp, four-stroke, 125cc Single, good for a top speed of 62 mph. A 250cc version is also in the works. BMW is currently eval uating whether to bring either super-scooter to the U.S.

David Edwards