Smart Cars

[Trevor Triumph]

It was too good to pass up. Target Stores through Legacy Marketing actually paid my wife and I (along with several other friends) to drive the two-place Smart cars around the cities of Phoenix and Tucson. Driving red and white cars with Target logos all over them, we promoted the Speedjam concert (Velvet Revolver- never heard of them)at the Indy Racing League week end at Phoenix International Raceway. We GAVE away concert t-shirts, tickets, and sale stuff AND drove the cars.
Actually a lot of people were impressed with the cars. When we told them the cost, $13,000 to $15,000 many of them thought that sounded like a terrific deal. The things are just a bit more that eight feet long. A 700cc., three cylinder, turbocharged engine moves them along very well in city traffic. The agreement among the drivers was that something needs to be done about the transmissions. It feels like the engine has to slow to a specified RPM before shifting. It makes one sea sick! What a deal... drive the cars on a sunny day, give away free stuff, and smile. T.T.

 

[vagt6]

"Smart" cars are prevalent in Europe, I saw tons of them in France when I was there last year.

I'm sure they'll be popular here, too, especially in urban settings where parking space is at a premium. You can park a Smart car on a dime, it will almost fit in a motorcycle space.

I'd like to invest in a Smart car dealership after seeing them overseas. Any takers????

 

[78Z]

Those are currently sold here in Canada. Starting to see more and more out on the streets. If I didn't have kids it would make a good commuter car.

 

[Steve_S]

Won't see them here in So Cal. People think anything smaller than a full-size pickup truck is a deathtrap.

 

[John Loftus]

[ QUOTE ]
Won't see them here in So Cal. People think anything smaller than a full-size pickup truck is a deathtrap.

[/ QUOTE ]

partly true, especially if you head out on the 91 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif but you do see a lot of the new Mini's. I've already seen a few Smart cars in Laguna Beach (some local company was doing upgrades to make them legal in the US for the last few years). They are not really my cup of tea but figure any smaller cars on the road are a good trend .. safety in numbers and all that.

Cheers,
John

 

[Steve_S]

Drove by a neighborhood park the other day. There were 15 cars parked along the curb in front of the park. Every one of them was a large SUV, Yukon or larger. Looked like an SUV commercial. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Bruce Bowker]

If you want to feel small, drive a Super 7 into a hotdog/ice cream stand after a little league baseball game.

And I do like the Smart cars.
Bruce

 

[PC]

[ QUOTE ]
Won't see them here in So Cal...

[/ QUOTE ]Already have. I saw a Smart convertible parked out in front of a local coffee place the other day.


PC.

 

[Steve_S]

Guess I should have rephrased that since I've also seen one. Should have said I don't expect them to become popular here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Hayfever]

I'd love a Roadster. Front end is TVRish, and probably autox's wonderfully. The Forfour isn't too bad looking either. Don't personally like the Fortwo though.

 

[William]

I saw the Smarts at the Chicago Auto Show. I've never taken them too seriously, the egg shaped ones at least. Mostly because they just look daft, and gimmicky (I think the same of the new MINI, however). I like the engineering side of them, and they appear very well built as well.

The roadster, however, is another matter entirely. That's a good looking small sportscar, and would probably be taken far more seriously than the eggs.

-William