The 98-inch-long ZAP have a fuel economy rating of 40 mpg for city and highway driving.

Three decades ago, the Arab oil embargo spurred automakers to build smaller, more fuel-efficient cars for U.S. drivers. Eventually, gas-sippers like the LeCar, AMC Pacer and Ford Escort yielded to gas-guzzling SUVs.

But with the price of oil surpassing $70 a barrel, Detroit, Tokyo and places in between are thinking small again. In April, American Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) began selling a U.S. version of the Fit, a subcompact car with seating for five passengers. The four-door hatchback averages 33 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway, according to Honda.

Honda began selling the Fit in Japan in 2001 and in Europe thereafter. Honda debuted the 2007 Fit at U.S. dealerships on April 20, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $13,850.

The Fit’s U.S. arrival came just two months after Santa Rosa, Calif.-based ZAP delivered its first fleet of 85 Smart Cars in the United States. ZAP, which stands for “Zero Air Pollution,” doesn’t have a direct relationship with DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX), owner of the Smart brand. Instead, ZAP buys the French-made cars on the open market and modifies them to comply with U.S. safety and emissions standards.

The narrow, 98-inch-long cars comply with regulatory requirements in all but five states — California, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine — according to ZAP. The two-door subcompacts also have a fuel economy rating of 40 mpg for city and highway driving, the company claims. Washington is one of six states where dealers are selling the ZAP-modified Smart Cars.

“It’s a paradigm shift for Americans,” said Susan Fahnestock, co-founder of The Green Car Co., ZAP’s lone distributor in the Northwest.

As of early April, drivers from as far away as Minnesota and Idaho had snapped up most of the Kirkland dealership’s initial batch of 43 Smart Cars for about $25,000-$30,000 each. Fahnestock said she hopes to get 30 more ZAP vehicles this spring.