The Smart Cars are coming! The Smart Cars are coming!

[ZubenElGenubi]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/....htmlGotta say, I'd rather have one of them than a motorcycle. Although I don't know which one I'd look more ridiculous driving.

[Jahntassa]

I wouldn't mind that as a second car option. Just something tiny with rediculous mileage to get around town.It's too bad GM decided to kill their electric car..

[drunkenmaxx]

hell i wouldn't mind having one, you could put a box fan on the back of it and shave time off your 1/4 mile!

[xssiv1]

Not too bad.. Still not enough mileage in town for me to go run out and switch. I can buy alot of gas for $12,000

[AKLGT]

ya, i think they're kinda cute. i don't know if i'd actually buy one unless it was cheaper than that, but still a fun little car... for uniqueness

[SuperSpeedWagon]

Man there are so many of those cars down here in the Valley (Rio Grande Valley, TX deep south lol) cause we are so close to the border Mexico alreay carrys those things there fluippin ugly lol. You can fit one in a vibe lol I even saw one with 19 inch rims on it HOW CRAZY IS THAT!!!

[Mavrik]

An egg on wheels, I'd drive one.

[BlueCrush]

You can do an engine swap and beat a ferrari! http://videos.streetfire.net/v...e.htm

[Raven]

They've been around here for a couple of years now, I see at least one every day, and they still make me giggle I'd definitely own a Smartcar like the one that beats that Ferarri, imagine the looks on people's faces when you're street racing it.And of course, as soon as a car is marketed, some schmuck has to run out and spend more money on mods than they paid for the car itself.

[slvrvibes]

Those little Smart cars are all over in Italy. Saw them for the first time a couple of year ago when I was over there on vacation. They are cute, but tiny.

[ColonelPanic]

Damn straight I'd rather be in one of those than on a motorcycle as well! http://www.metacafe.com/watch/...crash/as discussed here: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=22735

[the1stacekiller]

Yah there are a whole bunch here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) the Mercedes Dealership near my house sells a whole bunch of them... with gas prices going up and up everyday.. I would imagine that people will only drive smart cars here in the future.. and only the Uber rich would drive SUV's...

[GrayFox]

I kinda like the little roadster top of the line even comes with a whopping 101 bhp (UK) engine!

[ramenboy...]

Quote, originally posted by ANO_Vibe »...top of the line even comes with a whopping 101 bhp (UK) engine! yeah but 'actual' power to weght ratio is more like 120...i guess you can think of it as what our vvti does to a lotus...

[Pyro-Andrew]

i went to Europe last summer, (3/4 of European cars are nice!! too bad thy dont make or send them here) and they are the rage their. theres actually like 3styles of them. the convertible styl looooks sweeeet. but i read that they only have 100hp and have 40mpg. (accordibg to Detroit news) the 2door is pretty cute. and that wagon stlye listed above is kinda ugly.

[MRCN RCE]

somebody out here has a lil car similar to that. every time i see those, i can't help but think of steve urkel...

[AzFusionGT]

What a cool car...they were on the local news here a while back. If I remember correctly, the base price was about $20,000 or so. Although I like it, I'm not sure if I'd be willing to pay that much. I have a couple variation of Siku diecasts of the Smart, but this is the best pic I could come up with.

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[MrRich]

Quote, originally posted by AzFusionGT »What a cool car...they were on the local news here a while back. If I remember correctly, the base price was about $20,000 or so. Although I like it, I'm not sure if I'd be willing to pay that much. I have a couple variation of Siku diecasts of the Smart, but this is the best pic I could come up with. Well in Canada the base price is $16,700CAN. So I think it will be like 14-15 in the US.

[joatmon]

I wsa watching a TV program about this years auto shows, and they did a bit on the Smart ForTwo, supposedly to be for sale in the US next year.The ad campaign for those cars pisses me off.American nothing. Yep, none of my american dollars are going to go for one of them. As much as I would like pople to use more efficient vehicles, I hope this company feels a serious backlash from their ad campaign.

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[Cougar Vibe]

Joatmon,Are you sure that is a real billboard and not something that's been photoshop'd? Knowing how well companies like BMW, VW and Mercedes do at advertising "German engineering," I can't imagine that the phrase "American nothing" would have made it past focus groups, etc.In fact, the more I look at the horizontal surfaces on that jpg, the more apparent it is that something ain't right. The letters are clear and defined, but the edges of the sign are blurry. I'm gonna Google this and see what's up...

[ramenboy...]

according to this, its a real ad, in south africa... but not used anymore. http://jalopnik.com/cars/news/...8.phpanyways, not sure if its made anymore, but i really like the brabus smartforfour

[Nervous_Dog]

They are already available in the Chicago area. http://www.smartcarchicago.com/index.html http://www.smartcarmidwest.com/

[WaveAction]

they're nice lil cars..for the size of the car itself..it's quite roomy..dont expect to put anything in the trunk tho..they dont really have a trunk at all..and no back seats..but they're nice to drive..almost like a tall go-kart..we've had them up here for the past 2 years or so

[TJinPgh]

Quote, originally posted by Nervous_Dog »They are already available in the Chicago area. http://www.smartcarchicago.com/index.html http://www.smartcarmidwest.com/ Are the forfour and roadster available there? I was under the impression that only the fortwo was available here in the states?The forfour actually looks pretty sweet.

[TJinPgh]

Quote, originally posted by MrRich »Well in Canada the base price is $16,700CAN. So I think it will be like 14-15 in the US.Keep thinking. According to that link to smartcarmidwest that nervous_dog provided, they're going for around $27k.They're a novel little car, but for $27k, you can get a Prius, that gets better gas mileage.

[WaveAction]

i think the reason the car is so expensive is cause it's built by mercedes benz...kinda like the mini cooper...if someone like gm made an identical car to either of them..they'd only be going for like $13-15k and not 25-30k

[TJinPgh]

I'm not sure if they're build by Mercedes here, or just marketed by them.Anybody have any details on that?

[kevera]

The original idea behind the very short "smart car" is that the vehicle is easy to park. It is short enough to allow it to be parked "nose-in" where a conventionally sized car would have to parallel park. Its length of 2.5m (98.4 in) equals the width of a truck or a regular parking slot, allowing two or three smarts to park in the same space as one normal car if parked side-on to the usual parking direction. smart Fortwo cabriolet The project idea was originally supported by Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch, and was nicknamed the "Swatchmobile". The name SMART is an acronym for Swatch Mercedes ART [3][4]. The car was supposed to use innovative features (such as a hybrid engine) and to be an affordable car for young people. Similar to the objective for the Citroën 2CV in the 1940s, its purpose was to "transport two people and a case of beer" (later replaced by a case of water).Being inexperienced in automobiles, Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek sought an established car maker to produce his Swatch car, and found a partner in Volkswagen. Plans never reached a final stage so Swatch teamed up with Daimler-Benz. The purpose-built factory complex Smartville in Hambach, Lorraine, France, was established in 1994 as a joint-venture of Daimler-Benz and the Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch.The final car design proved to be far from Hayek's expectations: its engine technology was more expensive than many small 4 and 5 seater cars sold in Europe. The joint venture experienced heavy losses and Swatch pulled out.In 2005, DaimlerChrysler decided against purchasing a 50% share in the Dutch NedCar plant used to manufacture the Forfour supermini. DC also halted development on the Formore and decided to discontinue production of the Roadster.In 2006, after dwindling sales DaimlerChrysler announced that it would also cancel the Forfour and redesign the Fortwo to debut in Europe in 2007.An electric, rechargeable version is being released in the UK, by a separate company, as a lease vehicle on a limited basis.This is from smart car website.Hope this answers your question.

[n2ho]

Quote, originally posted by slvrvibes »Those little Smart cars are all over in Italy. Saw them for the first time a couple of year ago when I was over there on vacation. They are cute, but tiny.There are no big SUVs in Italy in quantities we've here, to drive this tiny car between those behemoths - God forbid.

[TJinPgh]

Ok.Some of this I already knew. But, it still doesn't explain why the car costs nearly double here what it costs in Canda (in US dollars).It can't possibly cost $12-15k to convert these things to American standards.

[kevera]

You didn't ask about price.I guess that's one thing us Canadians have on you.To be honest,I wouldn't even pay 12k for one of these.They are too small,only good for city parking and have no storage what so ever.We have had them here for a while now,and I think the novelty has worn off.I would rather buy a Toyota Yaris or equivalent for the same money.

[WaveAction]

http://www.smart.com/-snm-0140...ctionhere's a link..the fortwo starts at $16,700 cdn and the cabriolet is $19,700 cdn

[lil red wagon]

can't believe i didn't see this post earlier, I just saw a smart on the 15 in San Diego last week. It had Oregon plates, and had one of those advertisement paint jobs promoting a real estate service.

[kevera]

The Vibe is a monster truck compared to the smart car.

[Vibr8tr]

I think if they lowered the price, and sold them cheap, there would be a BOOM of them, think about it, college and high school kids could buy a new car instead of driving around junkies. I would be impressed if a car came out and was under $10,000 american.I would get it if I had the money, but it would be a second car. I would love that mileage, and could get over how it looks.... but I would need something for those times I need to haul stuff, or me and the wife are taking the baby out.... It's a great idea, but not for every one.

[ramenboy...]

Quote, originally posted by Vibr8tr »I think if they lowered the price, and sold them cheap...AND had Mr T as their spokesman...