British-built "Smart" MG Midget ? ? ?

[MGA Steve]

From Hemmings eWeekly comes this story about a Kimber-built Smart roadster:
_______________________________________

Smart Roadster: Not dead yet

DaimlerChrysler unveiled this final, collector’s edition of the Smart Roadster at the Geneva Motor Show.

Even as DaimlerChrysler bids farewell to the Smart Roadster with the unveiling of a final, limited-run collector’s edition at the Geneva Motor Show, talks are underway that could result in the continued production of the car under a new nameplate.

DaimlerChrysler has agreed in principle to sell the rights and production equipment for the two-seat Roadster and Roadster Coupe to a British consortium called Project Kimber. The consortium is one of several parties that expressed interest in taking over production when Smart announced that it would pull the plug on the Roadster. Project Kimber had earlier made an unsuccessful bid to take over MG Rover, losing out to Nanjing of China. Although Project Kimber reportedly would love to see the Roadster reborn as the MG Midget, Nanjing is considered unlikely to sell the rights to the MG name.

Smart has never turned a profit, although DaimlerChrysler boss Dieter Zetsche told analysts in a conference call earlier this month that the brand is narrowing its operating losses and may break even next year. Still, Zetsche has asked financier Goldman Sachs to begin screening potential buyers for the brand. The death of the Roadster leaves Smart with two models, the ForTwo and the ForFour.

If Project Kimber succeeds in producing the Smart Roadster under another name, can we hope to see the car in the U.S.? There’s no word yet, but let’s hope there won’t be a continuation of the endless waffling by DaimlerChrysler that has kept all Smarts out of the U.S. to date. The special-edition Roadster is just the latest car we can look at but not buy; with its 101hp engine, brown leather interior and silver-and-matte-brown color scheme.

- By David LaChance
_____________________________________________

Believe it when you see it!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[Sherlock]

European and British car companies have been ignoring the North American market for so long, I'm not holding my breath...

I sometimes wish I had been around when more of the European cars were sold over here. Say, the 1950's or 1960's.

For those who grew up back in the 1950's and 1960's in North America... Were import cars seen much on the roads? Now it's almost entirely anonymous Japansese cars plying the roads here.

 

[DrEntropy]

"I remember back in th' day... when ya could look down th' road.... an' see nothin' but...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Miles............
.
.
.
.
an' miles.......
.
.
.
.
.
an' MILES....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
O' HORSECHIT!"

 

[mccalebr]

Yes, Sherlock, there was a day...

I graduated from high school in 1969 in southwest Florida. In tenth grade a buddy of mine, couple years older, who was going off to college drove up in his "new" '59 TR3 and took me for a ride. I never got over it! A few months later I was looking for a car and went for a spin in an AH 3000; scary fast! It was ratty inside from rain and would NEVER be worth the _$600_ he was asking. I never got over it! And then one day soon afterward I spied in the used car lot of the local Ford dealer a red '65 Midget. I had worked in the hot sun for two summers and saved every nickel and I bought it. I never got over it! My two best friends bought Midgets that year and we had a blast. Had to sell mine for college tuition money and I really never got over that. A year later I was headed home from Tampa in a (new to me) '68 cougar when a white Tiger blew my doors off. I knew at that instant I had screwed up...and I never got over it. It took 30 years for me to FINALLY get my head back on straight...and I hope I never get over it!

Ray

 

[AngliaGT]

We used to have a lot of British daily drivers running around.Of course,we also had our local MG/Triumph dealer.
You could also pick up a lot of cars just a few years old,for around $1000.This was in the early/mid '70's.
I bought a '59 Healey for $1000 in '75.
Toyotas & Datsuns were not as common as they are now,& there seemed to be a British car type bond with them.
It was a good time to be young (& driving)- gas was
24.9/gallon.

- Doug

 

[MGA Steve]

[ QUOTE ]
I was looking for a car and went for a spin in an AH 3000; scary fast! It was ratty inside from rain and would NEVER be worth the _$600_ he was asking. I never got over it!

[/ QUOTE ]
In the late '50s and early '60s, it was all about drag racing in my part of the world. So, sports cars were a rarity . . all except one--the Corvette. In the summer of 1963, a friend took me for a ride in his '62 Vette and I still haven't gotten over it. I still want one!

But that same summer, I came to Colorado and went to my first sports car race. I saw my first XKEs. And they were all beating the pants off the new '63 Sting Rays in every corner. I still haven't gotten over that one either and I still want one!

Finally, a year later as a college freshman, one senior went to the dealer in Denver and bought a brand-new 289 Cobra as his graduation present from Mommy and Daddy. One day he pushed the pedal to the floor as he passed a group of us lowly underclassmen and smoked the tires for a block. I really haven't gotten over that one because, by the time I graduated, Cobras hadn't been built for over a year. And I still really want that Cobra! And I could have one too if my wife of 38 years would only let me sell the house and move into . . . the Cobra? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nopity.gif

But by the late '60s the Japanese invasion was already faintly visible. A very attractive high school senior got a Datsun 1600 "Fairlady" for graduation. She loved to cruise through our college campus with the convertible top down. But sports cars were never the same after the 240Z came out a couple of years later. Not because they helped kill off the British sports car (although that did happen), but because high school girls couldn't put the top down (pun intended)!

So in answer to Sherlock's question: Yes, there were days when an MGB or TR4 or Fairlady, and even an occasional Cobra or XKE, could be seen driving down the streets of college towns all across the country. But, outside the college towns, the '60s dream cars were Mustang GT-350s, Chevelle SS396s, GTOs, Hemicudas, and other assorted muscle cars.

 

[bcliff]

It looks like the Smart cars are finally here. I took a drive in one last week. A snappy little thing, and it handles nice too.
When I got my first MGB in 1979 (it was a "69), it was not unusual to see one or two other MGs on my way to or from work every day. This was about a 10 mile drive. Now I rerely se an MG even once a month, and the drivers seem reluctant to wave at a guy driving a Morris Minor.
And a note for MGA Steve, If you are interested in an XKE let me know, I'll send you some pictures of some for sale in Denver.
Bruce, the lowly Morris Driver in Northern Colorado