Saw the 450 today

[propes]

Unlike many of you, I missed any of the information about the roadshow and totally found out about smart by accident; I decided, based on what I'd been reading, that it would be a pretty safe bet to put $99 down and wait for my number to come up - after all, it's refundable in case I decide it's not the car for me.

My wife has been tolerant of the growing obsession - she's used to it when it comes to computers, but I normally don't give a fig about cars. We finally got a chance to see and get into one (a 450); we're current taking a vacation in Winnipeg, and knowing there's a smart dealer in town, wanted to go see one in person.

Pictures really don't give you the proper perspective on how small the car is, so we were both a little taken aback when we were actually able to get up close - followed naturally by the same shock most people get once they climb inside and get acquainted with the ****pit (alas, the dealer only had one smart, on the showroom, and it was already sold - so no test drive available).

The storage are in the back will be more than adequate for the parts and equipment I carry for work - considering the 451 is supposed to be larger, it won't be a problem for me at all.

We also ran into someone else in the parking lot who has one; he's really disappointed that smart's not offering the diesel in North America. I think his words were something like, "But you won't get the good ones down there." He was rather amazed at the grey market prices his car was fetching, and was very very friendly. Definitely a lot of the same enthusiasm you see on here and on Club Smart.

If only it wasn't going to take me the better part of a year to get to the front of the line.

[propes]

We're leaving Winnipeg tomorrow to head back to Minnesota; I've seen a total of four smarts: three parked and one on the road (while we were walking from our hotel to The Forks).

Three of the four cars were red; the fourth was white (and quite dirty - even though there's no snow here, I've seen white cars during slush season, and it's one of the reasons I won't get that color combination, the other being our alleyway, while short, is gravel). All had black tridion.

I forgot to add in my last message that, despite my wife "putting up with" my growing obsession over the smart, she broke into a whole lot of smiles when she saw, and was able to get inside the 450 - especially when she got into the driver's seat. Bummer we couldn't take a test drive, but I have the feeling anyway that we may be fighting for the car, whenever my (our) number comes up.

C'mon # 1360!