i was going to order beige before seeing it, inperson, at the july 2007 event.
when i saw it, it did not seem to blend well with, well, any exterior, i saw it on that day. (blue, not sure if other colors had it, dont recall)
my impression was, it was too light, especially on the dash. so light, it would likely show dirt badly, with only the slightest bit of dust. and looked like it would be very hard to maintain, even if you only drove it wearing a suit.
you definitely should try to see it first, before ordering. if it pleases you, that is all that matters, and order it if you like it best of the group of interiors. you will be driving it, so, what ever pleases you most, is what you should get.
i switched my first choice from white ext and beige int, to red and beige, prior to seeing any smarts inperson. then after seeing red in person at the event (a lot more orange in the red than what i had in mind), i switched to silver ext with red interior on the convertible. to my eye, in person, the silver with red interior convertible, top down, sunny day, shade trees around, was the clear best of show that day.
i later sat in a black ext coupe, with a silver tridion ( the sivler tridion against the black was strikingly sharp looking) with a nice black cloth (or dark grey/black cloth). i liked the dash board cloth of the black better than the red dash, which seemed a touch more orange than i liked.
as a total, the red interior on the seats was a nice christmas red, so i liked that, and it made the silver exterior look great. the dark gray/black cloth interior, would be my second choice. i don't remember seeing a leather there, in black. so, if i did, it didn't impress. but, i would like to spend ten minutes looking over the leather, to take another look. before on completely passing on it.
at this point, my order is in, final, silver with red int, and i'm still pleased with the color choice, and its still my first pick preference.
the red interior, was so bright, fun, it just seemed to be the easy decision choice. especially, with the top down, on the silver convertible.
bottom line. definitely, you need to see this beige interior before ordering, to make sure, its your first choice.
as a side note, the red 'exterior' in person, outside, is more orange that everyone (men and women) i talked to at the july event, wanted. so, if you or anyone is thinking about red ext, you want to see in person, to make sure, its your first choice. (but, they are switchable panels, so, if you didn't like it later, you could always switch it out for a new panel purchase)
be careful, of the photos going around, that show it a more red red. those photos are a false red, with blue filters, or otherwise, distorting the true color. the guy that took those, cant even see, how bad they are, in not showing the cars true orange-red, and a not typically expected red ext color.
in outdoor sunlight, in person, the red has a lot of orange in it, that red buyers generally don't like or want. on the other hand, a orange buyer, where orange is a popular car color these days, may like it. but probably, it wont be a enough orange, for an orange buyer. so, the smart orange-red, not appealing to pure red nor pure orange buyers, may be only of interest to a very narrow limited market audience.
as a side note, i checked today with the toll free smart line, on several pending issues, and asked briefly about the red. ie, if it may come with more red, than the july or december event smarts. he said, it would be the same, as shown, at the events.
which means, if the toll line staff is right, the smarts will have that same lot-of-orange-in-the-red, and will likely not be a red that red buyers, sight unseen, would have in mind and expect.
however, the orange-red ext may be a color, that could grow on a person, over time. if one is looking for an off orange-red, and not a red red.
we'll have to see, after they arrive on the lots, and see them around on the roads.
if it does look better over time, one may be able to get a great deal on a possible backed-up large inventory of ext orange-red panel sets. as, the dealers may end up switching many of the red panels off of in-coming smarts, due to buyer disappointment of the red, not being a red red, they had in mind, sight-un-seen.
Today
Linear Mode
