In August of '01 I took a 3 1/2 week long trip across Europe, starting in Copenhagen, Denmark, and finishing in Grenada, Spain. It was during my stay in Amsterdam, the second city I visited, where I first saw a smart Car. It was love at first sight. For me, at least. The vehicle's emotions were very hard to read.
Smart Gmbh, the company that originally produced the smart, was a partnership of Daimler and Swatch. Apparently the car was Swatch's idea, not Daimler's. The former approached the latter about production and distribution. Swatch's original concept was to create a vehicle under 250 cm in length, short enough to fit "nose-in" to what would normally be a parallel parking spot. The idea was to enable three smart cars to park where one standard vehicle would normally fit.
The model that I first saw, the Fortwo, pictured at the top, was also designed to be extremely fuel-efficient, safe (on European roads), and affordable. Playing to its younger target demographic, the Fortwo was easily customizable, sporting snap-off exchangable colored plastic body panels. A hybrid engine was planned, but never implemented.
After our torrid, if one-sided love affair was sparked, I was hooked. I wanted to own one so badly, but importing into the US meant costly shipping fees, and extensive customization to meet U.S. road requirements. All I could do was sit drearily at home, watching the uninteresting U.S. street legal cars buzz past my window, and fantasize about that bright day in the future when either the U.S. was annexed by Germany, or Smart rekenoodled their cars for the U.S. market.
Thankfully the latter (and not the former) has arrived, as I'm sure anyone with eyes and a brain is aware of. The new smart Fortwo is a bit longer than the original (8.8 feet as opposed to 8.2 feet), and considerably heavier, but still all smart. The interchangeable exterior panels are still there (I'm pretty sure), and the interior is just as mod as the original. It's now rated as having the highest fuel efficiency of any vehicle in its class (hybrids aren't included in this), and it gets very high safety ratings.
Plus the price is right, starting at under $12,000. Unfortunately, my original infatuation has been tempered by pragmatism. Not that the car itself wouldn't fulfill my vehicular needs. It's just that my Civic is nearly paid off, and the thought of living without a car payment is extremely sexy. Sexier than that smart little vixen, much to my chagrin.
One day though.
that is my first car
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