A while back, I did a google search for "smart car cold air intake" and came up with a horrible, horrible picture of a guy who was crushed head on by a big rig truck. Everyone on that forum swore it was a Smart going into this truck, and at first glance, I assumed it was.... But the point of it wasnt the crash, it was the spare tire mount on the back of this thing... I thought that it would be perfect for our Smarts, as I have looked on here and the 451 website, and numerous people are trying to figure out an idea on how to mount them.... So I was thinking if no one is capable of making this particular mount, that if I made a mount similar to the bike rack that smartmaddness / cisco sells that comes out of the tow hook area and mounted a spare for us, and perhaps hinged allowing you to drop down your tail gate, similar to a jeep, would anyone be interested in buying this if I go through the trouble of R&D and making some.... Here is a picture of the vw that was in that crash, and if you're curious here is the link for the forum of the crash.... keep in mind it is VERY VERY graphic.... but its kind of funny that everyone thinks its a smart, when you can clearly see that the wheels are 5 lug and that they have a vw emblem on it....
-Chris
Last edited by Dunerunner; 11-17-2008 at 10:34 PM.
Reason: Link removed due to graphic content
well, from the pictures of this vw, it hinges to the left, similar to a jeep, far out of the way to drop the tail gate... and yeah, i told you guys that thread was a mess... man oh man, think how i felt, when i was simply trying to do a google search for smart car cold air intake in google's picture area.... strange thing is, is that there is no mention of the cai on the whole site that i can find haha....
This one used to be available in Canada from Smartieparts for the 450. No reason why it could not be fabricated for the 451. It does not swing away from the rear cargo hatch.
The ugliness could be helped with a tire cover with a cool picture painted on it or a funny something...However, the road grime might mar it and maybe the heat from engine wouldn't be good for the tire or cover...Who knows?
So is being stranded on the side of the road with a sidewall-punctured tire...
To some people, that would make it a very attractive spare tire.
I did not say anything about not having a spare. The solution I like is the owner who put the spare directly behind the driver's seat. Obviously, this won't work for taller drivers, but this will work just fine for me.
And, as I said in my post, it was "just my opinion"
I agree, that dune runner's pic, isnt the neatest, but I don't plan on having it on my car 24/7... Every once in a while, I take my son to the san diego zoo, and its a good 100+ miles from us, and on long trips I would like to install it just to have peace of mind...
So I'll make a tire mount myself, and I'll post a picture with in a couple weeks for you guys to see / judge... I plan on making one comming out of the two tow hook areas but hinged like a jeep or the above photo I posted.
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