It’s Smart to be small
QUESTION How would 1967’s Ford Comuta compare with today’s Smart car?
other than size (both cars are about 7ft long), having four wheels and being a vaguely similar shape, the Ford Comuta has very little in common with the Smart car.
the Comuta was an experimental batterypowered vehicle produced by Ford’s UK branch in 1967. According to the sales particulars: ‘the Comuta has a fibreglass body and a sheet metal, Lotus elan-type backbone chassis which keeps its total weight near 1,200lb.’ the car featured an electric drivetrain driven by a quartet of 12volt, 85-amp, acid batteries.
the twin 5bhp DC motors gave the Comuta a top speed of 37 mph, but to eke the most range out of the machine, a 25 mph pace was required, allowing it to travel about 40 miles. one of the two Comutas built is at the Science Museum in London.
the Smart Fortwo electric drive cars have been around since 2007, but will be available in Britain only from September this year. Now in its fourth generation, the electric drive uses a 17.6kWh lithium-ion battery and an 81bhp electric motor. the car is much sturdier than the Comuta; the smallest two-seater version weighs 2,200lb and boasts safety features the Comuta could only dream of, including steel cage bodywork, airbags, crash boxes, deforming tyres and hydraulic brakes.
It has a top speed of 80 mph and can do 0-62 mph in 11.5 seconds — about what you’d expect from a modestly powered family hatchback — but it accelerates to 40mph with alacrity. It has a range of about 100 miles.
It’s incredibly nimble with quick steering and 22ft turning circle — the smallest of any car on sale. the electric Smart has a dual charging system. An overnight charge using an at-home wallbox with 3.3kW takes seven to 11 hours, but its 22kW fast charge equipment can charge in an hour.
It retails at around £15,000. Andy Richards, Coventry.
QUESTION Does the United Nations have a definition of democracy?
WHEN the United Nations drew up its charter in 1945, many of its member states didn’t espouse democracy as a system of government and it didn’t include the word ‘democracy’. on December 16, 1966, however, the UN General Assembly signed up to the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR), a multilateral treaty setting the legal framework for the principles of democracy under international law.
In particular, these are: freedom of expression ( Article 19); the right of peaceful assembly (Article 21); the right to freedom of association with others (Article 22); the right and opportunity to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives (Article 25); the right to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors (Article 25).
the Covenant is binding only on those states that have ratified it. As of 2016, the number of parties to the Covenant was 168, about 85 per cent of the UN’s membership.
A specific body, the United Nations Democracy Fund, Undef, was created by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2005 as a UN General trust Fund to support democratisation efforts around the world. Philippa Bowdler, London W8.
QUESTION Was William I, King of Sicily, known as ‘the Bad’, actually quite ‘good’?
Norman raiders arrived in southern Italy in 999 and functioned as mercenaries, fighting the enemies of the Italian citystates, sometimes on the side of the Byzantines and sometimes against them. During the following century, they gradually became the rulers of the major polities south of rome.
these mini-states were secured under roger de hauteville (1095-1154), who was crowned roger II, the first king of Sicily. It was during this period that Sicily became identified as a region of europe, rather than Africa (under the Saracen Arabs) or Asia (under the Byzantine Greeks) and the Sicilians were recognised as a distinct people. roger began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, and King of Sicily in 1130.
roger had at least six children with three wives and the deaths of his three eldest made his fourth son, William, heir apparent in 1148. William, called the Bad or the Wicked, was born in the 1130s and was the son of roger and his first wife elvira of Castille. After roger’s death, he was crowned king in the Cathedral of Palermo on easter Sunday, April 4, 1154.
When William ascended the throne he controlled a sizeable kingdom, consisting of Sicily and all land south of rome. he also inherited a host of unruly barons. William’s reign was characterised by suppressing these rebel noblemen and it was their black propaganda that earned him his nickname.
on the advice of his minister, Maione of Bari, William energetically pursued his father’s policy of strengthening royal authority over the towns and the barons, who rallied around his cousin robert of Loritello and looked to the holy roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa for help.
When Frederick submitted to the authority of the Pope, the rebels turned to the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus.
In 1155, the Byzantines invaded southern Italy and overran Apulia, but William won a resounding victory at Brindisi and reconquered the province. he cemented his rule in 1156 with the Concordat of Benevento, winning Pope Adrian IV’s acknowledgment of his authority over all the territories that had come under Norman control.
the loss of Sicily’s African possessions was the one failure of his reign. the assassination of Maione in November 1160 exposed him to a new threat from the barons, led by a Norman noble, Matteo Bonello. rebellions broke out across the kingdom and the palace in Palermo was plundered, but William acted decisively to suppress the insurgents.
At his death his kingdom passed intact to his son, William II. In medieval terms William was an excellent king. Norman Browne, Stafford.
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