Smarts on e-Bay

I don't know what the heck you do with one of these Smart cars, but there are a bunch of them for sale on e-Bay right now. None have engines, trans, or TITLES! Maybe convert to a weird autocross car or golf-cart. This one is at about $400 USD right now and the guy has a bunch more (apparently, he was starting an electric vehicle compay and it went bust). Surely, this is an "arcane" car. I saw one at Lime Rock last year....kinda neat in their own way. Link:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2456761332&category=46093




Motor for above:
https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2456761760&category=6755

[ 01-30-2004: Message edited by: aeronca65t ]</p>

In his ad, "Not legal for road use in USA" That doesn't seem to stop the dozens of golf carts, go-carts, and scooters roaming the roads around here. Maybe that smart the next "big" thing

Seems to me, if you purchase the pieces, you have purchased a "kit" car. Kit cars are exempt from EPA and highway safety requirements....

Thats only partly true, I think. I'm sure if you're somehow still subject to local emissions and safety inspections (if you have them), and if it's unsafe or operated unsafely law enforcement can still get you on it.

My gripe is with the proliferation of illegally operated cheap forms of transport that have taken off. Primarily golf carts, but also go-carts and scooters, etc. Seems like everywhere I see them people are using them without giving any kind of turn or braking signals, they tend to ignore normal rules of the road, and are sometimes operated on roads they really shouldn't be (an unregistered, uninsured golf cart crawling along a busy 45mph road is really kind of stupid).

By the way ThomP - watch for construction on 98/441 sometime - I just surveyed it.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by aerog:
....the proliferation of illegally operated cheap forms of transport that have taken off. Primarily golf carts...<hr></blockquote>

When people in New Jersey become too old to drive (due to bad eyesight or whatever), they all retire to Florida. No need to get a driver's license in Florida! Just get yourself a golf cart!
We saw a lot of those electric scooters at the boardwalk last Summer....many NJ shore towns have banned them this year. The Segways are pretty cool though.

[ 02-02-2004: Message edited by: aeronca65t ]</p>

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by aeronca65t:
No need to get a driver's license in Florida! Just get yourself a golf cart!
We saw a lot of those electric scooters at the boardwalk last Summer....many NJ shore towns have banned them this year. <hr></blockquote>

re: Golf Carts - precisely the problem, that's the attitude - no license, just get one and do whatever you feel like. I got in a confrontation with two gentlemen because I was "speeding like a G**D*** maniac," and "don't you know this is a f*****g golf course!?"

Ahem.

The entrance to the airport has a golf course on one side, and the cart path crosses the road. Apparently these two gentlemen thought (a)They have the right away in a golf-cart and can ignore stop signs, and (b) 25mph in a 25mph zone is speeding (not including their colorful adjectives of course).

Problem is those same people have the carts in the neighborhoods and think it's great to drive them a mile or two down the main road to the grocery store. No registration, no license, no lights, no signals, not caring about the signs and such (see above), and then they're mixing it up with traffic. Doesn't work real well.

I've got neighbors that bought their kids go-carts and have them racing (literally) all over the neighborhood. Same deal, ignore stop signs, weave all over the road, etc. Just for variety they like to go the wrong way on the one-way loops, quite a surprise when you turn in and see one flash by.

I don't have much of a problem with the scooters so far. Three kids in the neighborhood have them and all three are very well behaved, obey all the signs, and are very courtious and alert. They're illegal as can be, but at least they're using their heads.

[ 02-02-2004: Message edited by: aerog ]</p>

Hey, aeronica, when folks get too old or are physically or mentally unable to drive, I thought they all came to Virginia where virtually ANYONE is allowed to drive!

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by vagt6:
I thought they all came to Virginia where virtually ANYONE is allowed to drive!<hr></blockquote>

Nah - in Virginia they figure if you're patient enough to wait in line at DMV without hurting someone you deserve a license. But then again my road test (Virginia) took all 10 minutes, if that, and consisted of four left turns to make the circuit around the block and back to DMV.

I'm pretty sure kit cars are "test exempt" to protect the industry. By highway safety devices I meant Air Bags and 5 MPH bumpers and crash data are not necessary. You would be required to have the minimal safety devices: Brake lights, horn, and turn signals, not much more. The thinking for the emissions is that there aren't going to be thousands of the kit cars made so the vehicle will have very little environmental impact.

I personally know of two 1999 year Minis here in the USA that were imported as "kit cars". They arrived in in pieces, and cleared customs as kits. When the Minis were off-loaded from the truck, they looked much like the Smart cars in the photos: stripped interior, engine sitting in back seat, windshield stowed in front seat, etc.

As for 98/441: They are already widening the portion by my house to six lanes. Where did you take your aerial surveys? Out to Okeechobee?