Calling all 1173s

[partsrme928]

How did you find out about the reservation program?

I'm 1237 and it was just luck that on that day I Googled smart, just to see if there was any new news.

[FWOIII]

I had read an article about Penske bringing smart to USA. Found the website on January 4, 2007 and signed up for newletters as an "Insider".

[prash]

I really don't remember. It was either a car magazine (I get 3) or on one of the many websites such as Edmunds, Thecarconnection, or others. Then I became an insider. Did the same when the Vespa was returning to USA. I told friends and some of them signed up, but a little later than I did. They have not gotten their cars yet.

[BandSofC]

I saw one on the highway in VA. I think it was Feb 07. It must have been a 'grey' 450. So I looked it up on the internet and saw they were a'comin. So I signed up for the newsletter, and put my reservation in on the first day.

I've always thought a car like the fortwo would be a good candidate for certain US markets. So I had my hopes up they would be here someday.

I thought there would be 100,000 reservations on the first day! After all, the $99 was refundable.

[2mutch]

Being a nearly 30-year driver of micro cars (Subaru 360s, Fiat 600s, Crosleys, etc), I tend to notice anything tiny with 4 (or 3) wheels). I had been following the smarts since the original Swatch design showed up in the mid-1990s. I also have a friend who worked for Mercedes (Design and Prototyping) from 1992 - 1999 and he had a 'very small' hand in part of the collaborative design process on the smarts as part of the MCC team.

Anyway, I saw and drove a couple smarts in France in 1999 and again in 2000. I also drove a Canadian diesel version in 2004 in Montreal. I have followed a couple of the European boards for the past 2-3 years and saw all of the early pre-announcements and a US version. I signed up with the smartusa e-mail notification process as soon as it became available and then reserved my smart within 2 hours of that first day they were available.

- FRED "2 MUTCH"
Is it a car? Is it a mind set? It's BOTH!

[srroth]

I saw my first smart in 2002 on my first trip to Germany and it was love at first sight! I tried from then on to find a way to get one to the USA, even followed with much excitement when ZAP announced that they would bring them over, only to have my hopes zapped when they announced the price! As much as I wanted one, the process then available was shady at best and I was not willing to pay 3x the price the little cars were selling for in Europe! I was watching the Internet closely for any sign that the smart would come here and became an "insider" when that became available. I reserved within the first hour of availability to do so, and picked up my car 11 months later on 02/19!!!