Spare Time, we reserved a Smart last year for my daughter when she got her learners. She was rabid to get it. That's all we've heard about for months.
I had her drive my cabrio the other day, and she started ****ing the minute she got in it. Didn't like the steering, didn't like the braking, didn't like this, didn't like that.
Thankfully, she had enough sense to tell us she wasn't comfortable in the car. I would never put a kid on the road in a car they weren't completely at ease with. We've put her in our Honda, and my other daughter jumped on the chance to get her sister's Smart,and is now driving it and loves it.
Two teenagers, two TOTALLY different reactions to the Smart. See if you can have your son drive one before you commit to it.