we came across the 450's while vacationing in Alberta , summer of '05 I believe. Began researching them afterwards, and must have stumbled across the early smartusa site, placing my email address on a mailing list, which I guess became the so-called "insider's list". I had actually attempted to register around the onset of the reservation program, but for some reason it didn't go through. Wasn't until July '07 that we finally did reserve one. But that's okay as the timing was just about right.
I too recall seeing the first generation Smart in the flim Pink Panther as well. The flim was kinda blah for a Steve Martin flick, but the car he was in was pretty cool.
My parents stopped by the dealership in Tysons corner to take a look at the Smarts that were there, and then my mother mentioned the car to me, and i was pretty skeptical at first, and as well had a car loan on a 2001 Chevy Malibu that was a real piece of work. This was in the month of May, and days before my birthday. Being really curious, I decided to sneak off to that dealership to get a look at the car for myself, and the moment i walked in that place, i was greeted by this person who was larger than life, and extremely cordial. I then had a long list of questions to ask about the car, and from the time i sat in the showroom car to the maden test ride in this sliver Passion that posssessed graphics resembling a car from the flower power days of the late sixites i was wowed, shoomzed, and drawn to the Smart hook, line, and sinker.
The car i had tested was a Passion, but my interests lied towards the Pure for cost reasons. Wanted to see in a Pure, but the only one around was up on a display ramp, and the dealer had offered to sell that one to me right then and there, but the old car had a lien. The man even showed me his own ride which was a Passion convertible. After all that, i was like a kid in the candy shop, and eager to drop down the 99.00 deposit.
However, after my folks loaned me the cash to pay off my old car, i was just getting a little antsy, plus going to my first Smart meet did not ease the waiting pains as four people told me they did not wait long at all. I then began to get mildy agressive, and that was after one of the other guys who works for that dealership told me i was number two on the orphans list i had asked to get on.
Before i knew it, i had gotten a surprise e-mail at 11.10 am informing me of a Pure that had become orphaned one minute ago. After a lot of screaming for joy, and two frantic phone calls, i was able to sweetalk the boss into letting me leave early that day. Arrived at the delarship with anticiaption, about 1.30 pm. After all the fromalites of getting my old car assessed, waiting for an answer from Dahmler about the loan, and soon with wall to wall smiles on my face, i became the owner of that car, and been that way ever since. BTW that was on July 24, 2008
I can't believe I'm the only one who read about it in Popular Science mag. They did a road test and an article on one back in early 07. I read the article , at the end they directed me to the smart website. I immediately read everything on the website and got my wife out of bed to read it. She said "go for it"! I got out my credit card and sent my $99. 14 anxious months later we drove 100 miles to KC and have loved all 4000 miles since. I'm 72 years old and it's my first drive-it-off-the-showroom floor car and I love it.
Saw one 10 years ago in Amsterdam and set a goal of importing one or buying an American model if they came to the US. I don't recall how I learned that they were actually coming. . .but from there, the rest, as they say, was history.
Originally saw them in Italy and fell in love with them. I've been watching for them to come to the US ever since so hopped right on the list when I heard about it through an online article.
I had read about them before there was even a thought of them coming to the US as I try to keep up with all neat and interesting cars in the world that may not exist here (i.e., KTM X-BOW and Ariel Atom...the later can now be purchased in the US). I stumbled upon the smartusa.com website when it was still in its infancy...none of the links worked at the time, but they pointed you to the fact there was going to be a US tour where people could test-drive them as they were thinking about brining them to the US. I waited and waited till they finally started the tour and waited even longer till they finally made it to the south-east. I finally had a chance to test drive the car and was instantly hooked. Because it hadnt been publicized that well there really wasnt a huge crowd lining up to drive the car, so I test drove every car they had there that day...and multiple times! The car route was around a 3 mile loop at most through the city, but it provided enough of a chance to test turning ability, shifting ability, acceleration and what other cars looked like compared to the smart. I still remember when a MINI Cooper S pulled up to me and thinking how much higher I sat than it did and how much bigger it looked than I would have imagined. From this test drive I learned that for a car like this it seemed almost silly not to get the convertible as driving both of them around...the convertible was far superior in feel (aka being out in the elements). Also, I wished later when they did finally bring the smart to the US that they had changed the gearbox from the one that was found in Europe. I loved how the European gearbox looked as apposed to the one that we finally got and how it worked to select gears (they dont have a D and such). In the end though, when it comes time to buy another car and replace the one I currently have, I may never get a smart. Why you ask? Well, its pretty simple. For the money it costs to get a smart there are many other cars that provide better platforms...less qwirky and potentially more reliable. Its a lot of money in my eyes to spend on a 2 seater, even though it does look amazing! Im looking forward to the day when there is a bit more competition for this microcar segment.
I saw them first in Amsterdam in 2001 and loved them. I then kept hoping they would come to the US. My only mistake was waiting to drive one before I got on the waiting list...
Read about the earliest development stages in the late 90's while in Switzerland, SWATCH (first with VW, then with MB) was busy trying to have the first prototypes to NOT FLIP in sharp turns.
Saw them at the Geneva Auto Show and got in touch with Nicolas Hayek to try to get one in the US. His office answered that, because of maintenance issues, they couldn't sell me one for shipment stateside.
Learned about the $99 just when it did open (March 07) but I wrongly waited until early May to reserve. 363 days later, took delivery.
The rest is...
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2008 Smart Pure
"the car", "la voiture"
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