Monster Smart Car

The first time I ever saw the sub-compact car known as the Smart car was on a high school trip to Spain.  As you can imagine, there was very little actual Spanish learning being done on this trip, but we did manage to spend our free time in pubs speaking Spanglish with the locals and admiring the sights.  While in one of the local eateries near our hotel, a bar named Jacko’s that was haphazardly decorated with Michael Jackson memorabilia, we spotted this tiny little car the size of a golf cart that was sliding, with ease, into a parking space about half the size of a regular car.  Not sure if I was awestruck at the time at being able to drink a beer in public at 15 or because of the car, but either way, it was an amazing experience.

What do you know, right on time about 8 or so years later, I finally started seeing Smart cars in the states.  I still can count the number I have seen on the road on my fingers and toes, but at least we are making some progress.  In fact, there is an older gentleman that lives next door to a good friend that has one as his main mode of transportation.  I figure if this car can be adopted by this age group, the sky is really the limit for the manufacturers of the Smart car. I think we even have a dealership in the area now too.

I thought that Smart had sold me when they came out with the Passion Cabriolet model, with its fully automated soft top, but then I came across a video on You Tube that put the cabrio to shame.  The people affiliated with these Smart cars really are just that – smart, no, freaking geniuses.  Somehow they have manged to create, without any input from myself, a car I one day dream to be able to own and drive (over other Smart cars).