If the Porsche gets you no attention, try this!

[VaSteve]

My brother works for Mercedes Benz who makes these things. They will be in the US in 2006. He brought this one to my house last weekend.

It's like a Sportomatic, you have to shift, but it has no clutch pedal. It's either all the way engaged or all the way disengaged. There's no real power to this thing so it eliminates erratic performance.

My dog wanted to sit in it, doesn't he look bored? Couldn't care less about what kind of car it was, only that it wasn't moving.

We took it to Lowes and had to fight back a crowd of onlookers to get back inside.

[ronin]

hehe. I was wondering how long it would take for them to be available in the US. probably just now finally got DOT approval. darn those crash tests

[techweenie]

They've been all over Paris for years.

There's one here in Malibu, but it's not legal.

I foresee a lot of Hummer and giganto-SUV drivers cutting them off -- just like they do sports cars now. "Oh, I couldn't see you!"

[trj911]

Funky brake pedal. Funky car! And I think it sprung a leak!

[thamlin000]

Can you drive it on the fairway?

[mikester]

Yeah, I remember when we were in paris last they were all over the place. They are cool - I'd love to have one.

[k9handler]

them little suckers wil go pretty good on the autobahn....just takes them awhile to reach the higher speeds.

[Don 944 LA]

I may be mistaken, but I have seen a few here in So Cal ...

Unmistakable body on them..

[Z-man]

VaSteve: does your brother work for MBUSA US headquarters? 'Cause that's where I work!

Drove one a couple of weeks ago - really a neat little car - quite peppy for it's little 3 cyl engine.

In a sea of SUV's, this car's a breath of fresh air, IMO.

-Z.

[VaSteve]

Originally posted by Z-man
VaSteve: does your brother work for MBUSA US headquarters? 'Cause that's where I work!

-Z.

Yup!

[MFAFF]

These Smarts are great fun.....0-30 times to keep everyone happy.

Loads over here as you can image.

Done a few 300Km plus trips in them, mix of freeways and seriously fun twisties.

Ok so its no 911 but you can have grest fun at low speed and not lose you licence....and still go about 80mph on the freeways.

Gearbox is either full auto or clutchless manual. best used as a clutchless amnual under hard accel. withmomentary lift off before selecting next gear.

If I could justify another car simply for myself then I'd get one.....

[Rufblackbird]

I first saw them in Italy a few years back...I'd love to have one of these! Then again...a VW Lupo would be a bit bigger

It's as long as most cars are wide!

[}{arlequin]

they are everywhere in Europe.... now they have a sporty (targa) mid enginge version too... but these are a good solution to city congestion. I think Evo has a Brabus version in their long term fleet...

[Z-man]

BTW: The Smarts coming to the USA will not be the little ones you see pictured above. I think the plan is to bring in the 'Smartformore' first, which is a Honda CR-V sided mini-Ute. Then the plan is the bring in the 'Smart Forfour' and the Smart roadster. (check website: mbspy.com for some early details)

-Z.

[}{arlequin]

Z,
Since you've got the inside info, will any of them be manual or are they all automatic?

[Z-man]

Harlequin: As far as I know, all of the Smarts will be equipped with a clutchless manual that also has an auto mode. IIRC, the internals of this tranny is similar that found in sequential trannies, and as such, there is no power-robbing torque converter to speak of. (You don't have much power to begin with!)

-Z.

[yetidave]

Anyone know the sticker price?

[VaSteve]

My bro told me around $16K. Supposedly you can do all kinds of mods and different things to them, like the Coooper and the Scion.