Did you ever wonder how the smart vehicle come into existence?

By David McClelland

 

This is the first blog of a multiple-part series on smart. 

The smart car is spelled with a small "s" because it IS small, on the outside. 

 Everything about the smart is smaller than normal. It is only 8'8" long, less than 5'1" wide and 5'1" tall. The wheelbase is 6.1'2" and gross weight is 1,80852 lbs. Two can park, end-to-end, in a regular parking space by the curb. It is a concept that takes some getting used to since it has only two seats. The non-electric basic price of $113,990335, EPA estimated gas consumption of 41 mpg on the highway and 33 in the city (8.7 gallon fuel capacity), and lower insurance costs, gives it appeal to some baby boomers and empty nesters, as well as to others who are looking for something different. It also appeals to some commuters. Until 2013, the smart car comes with only one engine, a 70 hp, Mitsubishi built, 1 litere engine. The engine is in the rear for better traction. It also has Electronic Stability Programming which prevents the wheels from spinning in the snow.

 

   If you want to check smart out in Michigan, you must go to the state's only smart dealership, owned, until recently, by Roger Penske Automotive Group, which is located at 1765 Telegraph Road, in northern Bloomfield Hills. There, you can look at all of the models which begin with the lowest priced Pure Coupe and continue to the highest priced Passion Cabriolet convertible, the "show car". There is a complete list of options available. Several customers have ordered custom paint jobs. Penske even had two vehicles which looked like race cars during the Dream Cruise.

                       

    Roger Penske Automotive had the smart distributor ship for the entire United States under the name smart USA. It is interesting to note that the Penske Automotive Group' smart USA headquarters was also located at the same address. So, if a smart was sold in New York or California, the paper invoice was generated here. So far, about 80% of smart sales in Michigan have been sold to customers located in the greater Detroit area. 

 

     Look for my next blog on Thursday, March 19^th where I will discuss more about smart, quite some satisfied owners and discuss the new owner.