After years of on-again, off-again false starts, the Smart ForTwo is finally headed to the land of the free and the home of the Escalade. If you've traveled anywhere exotic in the past few years, to places such as Europe or Canada, you've likely seen the original Smarts scooting around and dicing up traffic like motorized pygmies on speed. Depending on your point of view, you've either thought, "Those things would never work in America," or "Golly, I wish we had those in America." Well, soon enough we're going to find out which camp is right, because Roger Penske is bringing the second-generation Smart two-seater - in coupe and ragtop forms - to his vast dealer network, and he's promising that a $99 deposit will get you a Smart of your own within six months. So far, 30,000 people have signed up for that deal, so it appears that the Age of the Microcar is off to a good start.
But what about the rest of us, those who haven't plunked down a deposit? This is undoubtedly an intriguing car, but does it really live up to its name? Is it, in fact, a smart alternative to more conventional compact cars like the Chevy Aveo or the Honda Fit? We headed to Phoenix, one of the two initial launch cities (San Francisco being the other) to find out.
Now, Smart's U.S. Web site includes a "frequently asked questions" section, but it's somewhat lacking in answers for the real questions that run through your head when you climb behind the wheel of a car that measures 40 inches less from nose to tail than a Mini Cooper. Questions such as, "Will passing an eighteen-wheeler on the highway cause me to wet my pants?" and "Will girls laugh at me?" After 655.... Read full article