Whether I’m about to get in or I’m parking, or I’m stopped at a red light — wherever it is, it never fails: someone asks me about my Smart Car. I’m beginning to think if everyone who stopped me actually bought one, parking and traffic wouldn’t be a problem and DaimlerChrysler would have no financial worries. I don’t mind talking about it. I realize a lot of people think of the microcar as a novelty, but I feel as if I’m keeping a secret. And it’s a secret I can’t wait to tell.
First I’ll answer the most asked questions. Yes it is safe, it tests as safe as any compact car. It has a steel cage, which its engineers compare to a walnut shell.
I estimate my gas mileage at around 40 mpg. I spent a month commuting in it before I ever need to buy gas. It cruises easily at highway speeds. Since you aren’t driving around a lot of extra car, it doesn’t take as much to get it going.
And yes, there is a lot of headroom. I don’t feel cramped. It claims to comfortably seat a passenger up to 6’6”. I can’t attest to that, but my brother is about 6’4” and he was fine.
I picked up my mom and she wanted to know what she was going to do with her luggage. She was surprised when her suitcase and carry-on both fit easily in the area behind the seats. This reminded me of the Peanuts comic, when Woodstock would climb into his nest and Snoopy into his doghouse, and they both were multi-room houses on the inside. The car doesn’t defy the laws of physics, but it sure surprises a lot of people.
Perhaps the thing I enjoy the most is everywhere I go it’s like I have my own private parking space. If my husband and I want to get Thai food on Clement, at less than nine feet long (talk about “small footprint!”) we can now park easily in all those previously too small spaces between driveways. Before the Smart Car, we may have nixed the idea of going out for dinner as being too much of a hassle… all because of parking. Also, now that constantly empty, impossible space by the elevator in the parking garage is my sure thing. I used to wonder why it was there at all? Now I drive into it instead of just driving by it.
Microcars have long been popular in foreign cities where gas prices are higher and streets are narrower. But look for more microcars, designed with ergonomics in mind, to be filling American cities. While Smart Car sales aren’t doing that well in some parts of the US, Daimler is being boosted by it’s sales in the more crowded urban markets. And now Mitsubishi, Toyota, and others are about to jump into the market. Even Aston Martin is designing a micro! The diesel Smart Cars already get 60 mpg, and soon hybrid and full electric versions will be available as well.
I’ll admit, I may have made a joke or two about Arnold Schwarzenegger and his fleet of Hummers, so I’m willing to take some ribbing on the opposite end of the spectrum. I may not be ready to take place in any Smart Car rally soon, like the one a few years back that fit 133 cars on Lombard Street, and I didn’t choose the car because Robin Williams, George Clooney, or Redman own them. I chose it because it is enough car for my needs 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time? If you see me pulling into a parking space, stop and ask me. Maybe I’ll have an answer for you.
Good things come in small packages. —Proverb
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