Get Ready: Smart is USA bound and $300k gets you a dealership!

May never be as quick or fast as a motorcycle, but a motorcycle could never to an inflated bags landing like this little scooter looks like it could do. Maybe there'll be a market for clip-on exterior air bags???

When these things were tested on Top Gear in England their Trident safety cage was indestructable. The forces it could withstand were so strong that the person driving would die from his own internal injuries, before the cage would fail.

As naff as they look and their 10 year old design is somewhat dated now, they are extremely well engineered, and are well suited to metropolitan cities.

But it is hard to imagine the highways of cities like Houston full of Smart Cars.

This video?

Did you happen to see this one - Smart v. S-Class

Smart v. S-Class (Audio in German)

Well, safety cage or not who wants to die of "internal injuries"?? Issac Newton said it best, F=MA. I will not trade my 4,200lb Chevrolet Suburban with airbags for one of thse low-mass bugs. I don't want to give up airconditioning either. Besides, considering battery replacment, the cost per mile is not any better than a real engine driven compact auto. Carbon savings....BUNK!! Until we quit generating electricity to charge the battries with coal, oil and gas they are still ultimately causing atmospheric contamination.

Harrison McDonald PE

"Besides, considering battery replacement, the cost per mile is not any better than a real engine driven compact auto. "

The Smart isn't an electric vehicle - is a 698cc petrol or 799cc turbo diesel. I'd assume naturally the diesel version won't be available for US sales.

I stand corrected on the battery issue. You are possibly correct on not bringing in Diesels. Diesel fuel is now about 10% more expensive than gasoline and is not worth the stink and bother. The fact that it is driven by an IC engine makes it even sillier. I checked out the economy claims: " More than 40mpg". Some of the small Japanese cars do that well and are far more useful. I stand by my comments on their lack of mass. The video clip of the Smart VS the Mercedes is very instructive. The producers tried to show that the dummies were both undamaged, but I am sure that a real occupant of the Smart would have had their guts scrambled. Imagine, Smart VS Suburban. I will keep my Suburban, thank you very much!!

H. H. McDonald PE

We have had Smarts in Canada for at least three years now. They don't sell well because of their high cost per volume compared to the smallest Toyota or Suzuki. However, they do deliver very good mileage and cruise along just fine at highway speeds.

If you smash a big vehicle and a little vehicle together the little vehicle usually comes out worse. If you smash two big vehicles together they both usually comes out pretty bad. You can protect yourself by driving the biggest thing you can find and hope that you don't smash into something even bigger. Or, we can all downsize like we did when the last gasoline crisis hit and have some kind of equality. The Smart is a small step :) in that direction.

"Or, we can all downsize like we did when the last gasoline crisis hit and have some kind of equality"

And what form of totalitarian government does our Canadian Guest have in mind to impose this egalitarian society upon us? Hitler's? Stalin's? Mao's? Would he/she also propose banning trucks, buses and emergency vehicles from the public roads in this "Brave New World"?

Inquiring minds want to know.

H. H. McDonald PE

settle down.

They may sell a couple to enviro-cooks but with Hyundai selling much nicer cars with better styling, comfort, and power for thousands less, they are doomed to the scrap heap of failed auto marks of history

maybe in the united states. but look at how much they are used in italy ... Smart is going to be around for a while. and if they have to make one that looks like an SUV but functions better than any SUV on the market today, they will. Smart is simply that ... Smart.

Well the picture above is what it will look like so its not actually SUV styled. I have to agree with the "Guest" above to some degree - the price point will be a difficult challenge for "Smart" to over come here in the states. Car buying is ultimately an exercise in emotion rather the common-sense so we'll see how it goes.

I would get one.

Can we put paint it yellow and put little wings on it?