Now that’s smart: giving city cars a good name.

by Scott Corlett

Tired of circling your favorite restaurant like a vulture over carrion? Sick of blowing a month’s gym dues with every fill of your gas tank? Done with making car payments that could cover a mortgage on a South Beach condo? Well, urban dwellers rejoice—freedom is at hand.
In January, this freedom whips into your tight parking space in the form of Mercedes Benz’s smart fortwo. If you traveled to Europe during the last decade, then you know the smart fortwo—tiny and colorful, like a rolling Swatch, which is no surprise since the Swiss designers styled the original smart. In Europe, the variety of smart models rivals that of Swatches; in America, we get two versions: a hatchback and a cabriolet, both with two doors, front seats sized for tall Germans, and a rear hold that carries enough groceries to feed said Saxons for a week.

The smart fortwo is as cute as a puppy chewing your ex’s Manolo Blahniks, but how does it drive? I zipped around San Francisco in a fortwo, and it was like the gods of parking and traffic were riding shotgun. I shot into gaps heretofore accessible only to steel-nerved motorcyclists; I nosed perpendicular into parallel parking spots (two smarts fit in the space of one, full-sized vehicle); I parked alongside stubs of curb that would barely accommodate a Harley. In short, after the New Year, the smart fortwo will rule America’s city streets.
But what about on the freeway, amid all those SUVs reined by cell-phone yapping soccer parents? I drove the smart fifty miles to San Francisco, on a hilly highway at speeds far in excess of the posted limit. Although I never cracked a sweat, the ride was a bit jiggly, and afterwards, my ass felt as if I had done a few too many squats; that said, for sprints to the airport and modest daily commutes, the smart fortwo will compete with any compact car. Moreover, on the freeway, this little hottie runs at a hybrid-like forty miles per gallon.

So, how much will command control of the urban street grid cost you? The 2008 smart fortwo bases for $11,590. Now that’s, er, clever.

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