SMART Car to make debut!

[chromeazone]

It warms my heart to think Ed "Big Daddy" Roth is probably smiling down while he sees the coming of the new Daimler Chrysler Schmart Car, Yah?
As an advocate of creative freakmobiles, how could he be disappointed? I'm sure the only thing he would do different is either put them little 13" spoked Player wheels on it or manage to stuff 22's with spinners under it!
Watch for one in your neighborhood with a Rat Fink behind the wheel!

[DanL]

There's a dealer about 20 niles from me who has about 15 of 'em on the lot right now. $27,800 will get you 60 MPG or so.

Of course, $27,800 will also buy about 9,700 gallons, or 136,000 miles worth of gas in my pickemputruck, or 270,000 miles worth of gas in my Intrepid, at today's price. Think I'll stick with my current cars as long as they're running OK. Besides, the roads around my place would beat that little rollerskate to a pulp in a year or less, I imagine.

[chromeazone]

Shall we agree this is a Mopar? Or, a No-car?
Will there be a separate tread for exciting technical details? I added Flowmasters and KN Filter, Kool Aire, etc. and added 1.637 mpg?:jackbox:

[DanL]

Maybe a NoCarMoPar?

It actually looks like a pretty cool little ride. IF I lived in the city and IF I only drove on city streets and IF I never needed to carry anything bulky and IF I was looking for a car, I might give it another look.

[bjoehandley]

Originally Posted by DanL

Maybe a NoCarMoPar?

It actually looks like a pretty cool little ride. IF I lived in the city and IF I only drove on city streets and IF I never needed to carry anything bulky and IF I was looking for a car, I might give it another look.

I was thinking the same thing Dan, and once they're produced for the US market and not modded to meet the US specs they should only be around 11-15k. Then again that's what I'm paying on my second hand XJ which will be paid off by the time this car hits the market.

These little cars are diesel right?

[Dick]

Originally Posted by DanL

There's a dealer about 20 niles from me who has about 15 of 'em on the lot right now. $27,800 will get you 60 MPG or so.

Of course, $27,800 will also buy about 9,700 gallons, or 136,000 miles worth of gas in my pickemputruck, or 270,000 miles worth of gas in my Intrepid, at today's price. Think I'll stick with my current cars as long as they're running OK. Besides, the roads around my place would beat that little rollerskate to a pulp in a year or less, I imagine.

Dan, you bring up a good valid point, something I have preached for years. Trading a vehicle for better fuel economy is foolish, when you consider the cash outlay/payments/interest required for a new vehicle and how many gallons of fuel that would pay for. Change your formula to real numbers.......figure the DIFFERENCE in mpg. If you get 15 in your present ride, that $27,800 will get you an additional 45 mpg. Nothing to sneeze at but it certainly comes at a high price.

No, buy a new rig because you want it, it looks better, has a new vehicle warranty, can do more (or less) work, comes with new tires, wiper blades and brakes. Just don't buy it because it will save money on gas.

[chromeazone]

The latest Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin may not be your type of movie (I thought it was a riot ), but movie has some good footage of Inspector Clueso wheeling one around! It actually looked pretty functional for congested traffic. (Do any remember when the very first Honda cars came out? They had the water cooled motorcycle engines in them as I recall.) The Smart may be a good daily beater if you don't have to Dodge semis on the Interstate.

[1973Swinger]

You wouldnt catch me hopping in one of those, youd be a small ding in the bumper of an SUV if you got t-boned or rear ended in one.

[Stoga]

Originally Posted by chromeazone

Shall we agree this is a Mopar? Or, a No-car?

It's a Mopar, but kind of a Mopar cousin, like the Simca or Jensen-Interceptor.
Like I've stated elsewhere, I'd hate to hit a deer while driving one, but in certain areas with tight spaces and slow traffic, it may be the machine to own.

[pcrmike]

Anyone got a pic of one of these clown cars? :-) PCRMike

[Stoga]

Originally Posted by pcrmike

Anyone got a pic of one of these clown cars? :-) PCRMike

http://www.astrofegia.com/images/fon...s/SmartCar.jpg

[pcrmike]

OK, I have to laugh. That is not gonna sell worth squat here. It is a glorified golf cart! :-) PCRMike

[nhdriver]

For 27,800 they can keep em. If they shaved 10K off the price they might sell a few of them

[DanL]

I agree. Maybe when DC gets them here on an "official" basis, the price will come down. Can you imagine paying $27,800 for one of these rollerskates, only to have them sell for half that a year later? I suppose, if someone buys one now to make a statement, the price doesn't matter.

[72Challenger]

Yeah, I can't wait to get me one...

[bjoehandley]

Originally Posted by 72Challenger

Yeah, I can't wait to get me one...

That was a VW Golf, '72, even looks like a model that was sold here when that platform was new.

[Bob7z7]

Personally, I think they're awesome little cars. I spent 3 weeks in Germany earlier this year, and seeing them in action convinces me even more that they are, in fact "Smart." But $27,000 is WAY too much. These things should be selling more around 10K-15K if they want to actually sell any. At that price range, I'd buy one (anyone know if there's plans to bring the Roadster to the states? Way cooler looking!).

[Stoga]

One thing I wonder, while with the good gas economy, you'll be able to drive them much more for the same money compared to most other vehicles, how do they hold up with high miles?
Is it going to be a rattley, oil burning, overheating wreck at 20,000, 50,000, 100, 000 miles? Will they last as long as your typical Mopar which will run 200,000 miles easy with decent maintence, and some have ran much longer than that.
Reason I ask is I remember when Yugos were introduced, it was not unusual to see one of those fall to pieces in less than 50K.
I wonder what the expected longevity of a Smart car is?

[c318cuin]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...66&q=smart+car

This is a testing of one not some photo of a Vdub that who knows how got wrapped around a pole! Just wish the first video worked cause it showed that the doors still opened.... In this vid watch how the green car just folds right up but the smart does not appear to!

a ha! i got it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-...car+crash+test

[bjoehandley]

I'm offically impressed.........

[Bob7z7]

Originally Posted by Stoga

Is it going to be a rattley, oil burning, overheating wreck at 20,000, 50,000, 100, 000 miles? Will they last as long as your typical Mopar which will run 200,000 miles easy with decent maintence, and some have ran much longer than that.
...
I wonder what the expected longevity of a Smart car is?

Well they've been running around europe for a few years now havn't they? You'd think any 20 or 50 thousand horror stories would have popped up.

Heard a story on the radio today...
German bus driver was rolling along, thought he felt himself drive over a large rock or hit a divet. Police pull him over down the road and to his surprise he hit a smart car and had been pushing it along the roadway. Passanger was fine and had been tryign to wave at the driver through the roof. I'm not sure how damaged the car ended up.