Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company
The SynUS is bulletproof.


Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company
Ford Fiesta


Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company
Ford Mondeo

Designed to transport the traffic-weary suburbanites who are expected to come flooding back into the cities by the end of this decade, the SynUS is small enough to maneuver through tight city streets; yet it's also solid enough to withstand repeated cart smacks in the supermarket parking lot or a barrage of bullets in the more questionable parts of town.

The SynUS is built on the same frame as the Ford Fiesta, the miniscule European "B-car" car that is roughly the size of the MINI Cooper.

The SynUS engine and suspension are also borrowed from other Ford models -- the European Ford Mondeo sedan and the Ford Fiesta.

Because of their size, the vehicles in the B-car category have taken off in the tightly packed streets of Europe; but aside from the MINI, B-cars are virtually unknown in the States.

On the next page, we'll break down the SynUS specifications.