The miniscule Smart ForTwo is celebrating its 10th birthday this month as the first model rolled off Daimler’s assembly line in Hambach, France on July 2, 1998. The Smart ForTwo began as the brainchild of Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek who joined forces with Mercedes-Benz in 1994 creating the Micro Compact Car AG. However, the joint venture experienced heavy losses and dispute which caused Swatch to pull out. In 2007, Smart introduced the second generation ForTwo that like its predecessor is offered in Coupe and Cabriolet forms. Since the beginning of 2008, the ForTwo is available for the first time in the U.S. and starting from mid 2009 it will also be sold in China. Over 150,000 customers have purchased a second-generation Fortwo since the model was introduced in March 2007. All in all, more than 900,000 ForTwos have been sold since the two-seater mini car was launched in 1998. Smart’s future plans for the ForTwo include the introduction of an electric drive version equipped with lithium-ion batteries in 2010.

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Check out 10 of this year’s most outrageous, extravagant and, simply put, cool autos to look for in the coming year, from green car to supercar and beyond!

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smart car limousine

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The real danger of driving Mercedes-Benz’s twee new half-car, the e e cummings-named smart fortwo, isn’t that a strong wind on the highway can make you hold that wheel very tight. It’s the buffoons who honk and yell at you as if you’re Woody Allen in Sleeper. Or John Malkovich on the New Jersey Turnpike. “Hey Malkovich! Think fast!” Clunk. Going 65 miles per hour, heading from New York City to a friend’s house in Vermont, one douche actually started yelling at me to open my window. Like an idiot I did. And it was about the fourth time I had done it earlier in the day in the city. I do not learn.

“Hey guy! Guy!” this strap-on brayed at my already terrified wife and me in some Upper Yankee blue-collah accent that says “ayuh” instead of “okay.” “How much they want for one of ‘dose things?” (Answer: from $11,590 to $16,590, the latter for the convertible model). I had a navy-and-silver number that fell somewhere in between. Vinyl, not leather, seats, respectable in every way.

I went through this same traveling freak show nearly a decade ago when I test-drove the new incarnation of the VW Beetle. And, of course, the Mini-Cooper, now as ubiquitous as the word “hipster.” But truth is, you can understand why people gawk, yell, beep at the thing. It’s like seeing “Little” Mike Anderson from Twin Peaks hitchhiking on some back road.

In Europe, mostly, and in 36 other countries, the smart fortwo is now part of the status quo of the Incredible Shrinking Automobile trend. Goodbye Ford. So long Chevy. And why not? It gets 40 to 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Nothing to sneeze over (whatever that means). I drove an automatic with “paddles,” but I’m not a turtle, so I left the gear-shifting to the transmission. Even driving automatic, you can feel the tug of the shift, which I liked for some reason I cannot explain. It’s like you’re more part of the machinery.

I warmed to it immediately, like I do a well-behaved pug, but my wife was having none of it. She looked at it, and actually considered passing on a lovely road trip when I suggested we take the five-and-a-half-hour scenic drive to Vermont. “It’s missing its back. It just … ends … like it’s been chopped off by the Jaws of Life,” she said, furrowing her brow. (The car is 8.8-feet long, the size of an average pro-basketball player.)

Once you get inside of it, though, you begin to forget it’s so small. We were able to pack two modest bags behind our seats. The ceiling height is just fine. The CD-and-stereo system was kind of awesome despite being modest. The visibility cannot be beat, since it seems like it’s made of windows, including the sunroof.

But then there is the issue of holding the road. This is a city car. To be able to park in the same spot that a motorcycle has just pulled out of in the West Village gives you a real sense of, well, pride! If it becomes a hit in New York, it is going to change a lot of lives for those people who sit reading their newspaper in normal-sized vehicles, waiting for a spot to open up or the street zambonis to scrubbing-bubble through.

The highway, however, is a different story. We felt winds as if we were in Dorothy’s Kansas home swept up in a tornado. Granted, I shouldn’t have been pushing the pedal to 80 miles an hour (the smart fortwo goes maximum 90; don’t do it). And sometimes it snows in April. Arriving on the unplowed streets of Wilmington, Vermont, we slipped about like we were children on their first ice skates. We could not get traction on hills—despite what the information packet on it tells us about weight distribution over the wheels, etcetera, anti-lock brakes, and all-weather tires. It weighs about 1,800 pounds.

That did not mean, though, that it wasn’t a lot of fun. As the snow fell, we could see from all directions. Windshield wipers and the defroster worked ably. It was like being in the proverbial snowglobe, a moving snowglobe. Momentarily, I hallucinated.

We made it home safely, and my wife said she’d consider buying one for the city, as that is the only place we live.

Over yonder on the West Coast, we drove the same entry-level model. Pulling up at valets, which is what you do in LA all the time, there was the obligatory question-and-answer routine, often in broken English. Driving it down Sunset toward the Beverly Hills Hotel, on a Sunday, for mimosas, I felt rather diminished, as every other passing car was a Range Rover or Lamborghini or another such Viagra alternative. But it was a blast taking the sweeping curves toward the Pacific Coast Highway. If you’re not on a seriously long trip, more like a day trip, the smart fortwo is near-perfect. You can only go so fast on the PCH (ask Gary Busey, Robert Downey, Mel Gibson) before getting pulled over by the jack-booted LA Gestapo.

The visibility factor also played in nicely while cruising up killer-on-the-road Topanga Canyon Drive. Mulholland, on the other hand, was a bit spooky, what with those scenic drops and missing safety guards. One carpenter bee in the car, and you’re suddenly “down there,” an amputee making porn videos in the San Fernando Valley.

I would not likely take a child in a smart, despite that it has a great deal of reinforced steel and air bags in all the right places. It has, however, tested well in driver magazines and safety tests comparing it to other diminutive roadsters. If you’re not fond of your toddler, then go to town. Live a little.

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With gas prices almost doubled, consumers are looking for much needed relief. Maybe “Smart Cars” are the answer, but is it too soon? Every day we drive to work, to the store, or over to our friend’s house and we see these huge trucks on our highways.
I think the way to deal with the gas crisis is to drive smaller more efficient cars, but not to drive smaller cars until something is done about the huge trucks on our highways. Have you ever pulled up beside an eighteen-wheeler and just looked at the size of their tires?You can read the size of the tire out your window…What would happen if that truck hit you?
Our accident construction expert has always stressed that, “mass is important.” When you put a “Smart Car” up against an eighteen-wheeler, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out who wins. That is why truckers are held to high standards.NHTSA did something about the diverse size of vehicles on our highways and protected consumers. Trial lawyers every day are working hard to increase safety on our highways. You can help these trial lawyers by contacting your Senators and Representatives and telling them it is time to take action to protect consumers.

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The Smart Car Fortwo, the tiniest car for sale on the US market, on Wednesday received top marks in its class in crash tests by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the group said.

The positive safety ratings, combined with rising fuel costs, could spell good news for the Daimler AG vehicle which was introduced this year amid skepticism from a US public that tends to favor larger trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

The car “earned the top rating of ‘good’ for front and side crash protection,” the institute said, adding that it earned the “second highest rating of ‘acceptable’ for protection against whiplash in rear impacts.”

The test results “generally demonstrate how well vehicles stack up against others of similar size and weight,” the institute said, noting that a “small car that earns a good rating isn’t safer than a large car that’s rated less than good.”

The frontal crash test involved a 40 mile-per-hour (64 kilometer-per-hour) crash test with a dummy in the driver’s seat, while the side tests involved a moving barrier striking the car at 31 mph (50 kph).

The rear crash simulation involves a stationary vehicle struck at 20 mph (32 kph).

“All things being equal in safety, bigger and heavier is always better,” said Adrian Lund, institute president. “But among the smallest cars, the engineers of Smart did their homework and designed a high level of safety into a very small package.”

The Smart Fortwo falls into the microcar category, meaning it is even smaller than a minicar. At 1,800 pounds (816 kilograms) it is 700 pounds (318 kilograms) lighter and three feet (one meter) shorter than a Mini Cooper.

Although commonly seen on the streets of Europe, the Smart Car Fortwo was introduced to the United States in January, and Daimler hopes to sell 20,000-25,000 models at 68 points of sale.

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The smallest car for sale in the U.S. market has earned the highest rating in front-end and side-impact testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The 2008 Smart Fortwo’s seat and head restraints also earned the second highest rating of  “acceptable” for protection against whiplash in rear impacts.

“The Smart engineers have done their homework,” IIHS spokesman Russ Rader told CTV’s Canada AM on Wednesday. “They’ve designed safety into a very small package.”

The IIHS classifies the Smart Fortwo as a micro-car, meaning it’s smaller even than mini-cars such as the Mini Cooper.

Frontal ratings can’t be compared across weight classes, says the IIHS.

That means a small car that earns a good rating isn’t safer than a large car that’s rated less than good.

Still, Rader said the Smart car is ideal for a certain demographic of drivers.

“If you’re someone who just drives in dense, city traffic where speeds are low and high-speed crashes are rare, then a small car may be practical,” he said.

Rader said if drivers decide to go with a small car they should research the standard equipment that comes with the vehicle.

The Smart Fortwo includes seat-mounted combination side airbags designed to protect both the heads and chests of the driver and passenger.

It also has an electronic stability program which helps avoid accidents in the first place, said Rader.

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The Smart Car, and it’s tiny in size and price.

At 106 inches long, the Smart Car is smaller than a mini cooper. Popular in Europe, it’s now being sold in the U.S. It costs between $13,500 and $16,500 for the convertible.

Most people who saw it for the first time loved it. Tommy Payne was one of them, so he purchased the 2008 Smart Car.

It seats two people, and with a 71 horsepower, three-cylinder engine it could be the next big thing.

Payne said he gets attention everywhere he drives.

“You stop at a traffic light and people are honking and rolling their windows down to asking questions,” he said.

The smart car doesn’t stop TXA 21 auto analyst Jerry Reynolds in his tracks. He’s not impressed with the gas mileage, and worries about driving it on the highway.

“If you actually look at the car, drive it, compare it to what else is out there, I don’t think you’ll buy this car,” he said.

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