The Smart Car Comes to Portland
Written by Sam on December 2nd, 2007I have been in Portland, Oregon the past few days and will be here for a couple more. If you’re unfamiliar with Portland it is a bastion of hippies and beatniks, but also a very interesting city nonetheless. The people here are environmental extremists so it wasn’t much of a shock when right near my hotel in Lake Oswego I came across a car dealership that is actually selling smart cars.
While I have seen smart cars all over Europe, I have never seen one in the U.S. They are the ugliest automobiles ever made, even uglier than the Gremlin. I haven’t actually seen anybody driving one, but if this place is selling them there must be a market here. I am an environmentalist, but a sensible one. I may very well buy a hybrid when I replace my current car, but there is no way you will ever get me in a smart car. I’ve seen kids driving cars in soap box derbies that are bigger than these things.
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Ugly but probably easy to park …
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I think my friend who is 6 feet said she couldn’t actually FIT into one of these things. People are probably smaller in Europe.
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I’m 6′2″, fit just fine in the smart. And 30,000 people have but down $99 to reserve their place in line for the smart.
The car show above is the older version of the smart. The new version can be seen at http://www.smartusa.com
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Ugly?! I think these cards are *adorable.* When I first saw one in Europe my reaction was so enthusiastic that my friend insisted I needed a picture with it. Being both from Oregon, and rather small myself (finally a car that seems to be built for me), perhaps I’m biased. But seriously, with gas prices being what they are (what, around $3.70 in the bay area?), and city parking being what it is, I imagine these cars will only grow in popularity.
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I doubt I can fit two child seats in that monstrosity. Ugly is a kind word for it, but obviously different stuff appeals to different folk.
It really looks like I could flip it over with one hand. How do they fare against a pickup truck or worse yet a semi.
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Warning to environmentalists: When you have a fender-bender with someone driving a giant SUV (i.e. myself), this car and its contents will be utterly destroyed.
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Dave is correct. I heard a report on the radio once that these cars are not that safe as far as collisions go.
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Folks, these have passed the crash safety rating and are plenty safe. Maybe it is all the fatties in the giant SUVs who should consider what they are driving. In case you SUV drivers haven’t noticed, your ill-handling, gas-guzzling, allegedly safe beasts are prone to roll-over. In the mountains, we call clueless SUVers “gappers” since they are frequently driving into the gaps. I’ll take a Smart over a bloat-mobile any day.
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Hey, if y’all want to drive around in a motorized roller-skate, then by all means enjoy yourself. But can some Portlander explain how the hell these things make the steep climb up to Washington Park and some of the other hilly parts of the city?
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Maybe we need to get Dave and his big SUV off the road. Then we could all safely drive small, efficient cars and have fun doing it.
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Yes Dooglas, Dave does drive a big SUV, a big hulking SUV in fact. It’s almost a Sherman tank. He drives it down the road everyday spewing pollutants into the air and funding Saudi sheiks with his oil addiction.
He is crapping on our planet. Shock and awe, Dave. Shock and awe.
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LOL sam. Those were the days!
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mercedes came out with a car like that
ITS SO COOOOOL
ITS THE WII CAAR!!!!
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The one year wait list to purchase one is too long.
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I agree with the “environmentalist” warning: DON’T drive a Smart Car in the US because you’ll be olbiterated if you get into a crash!