Rounding curves on city streets, the body roll was pronounced, causing a friend to reflexively grab the dash.

In Los Angeles, most city streets are as wide as Italian autostradas, and finding a parking space on the street is usually no problem.

There is no great secret to the car’s appeal: the Smart Fortwo may be the cutest and most unusual-looking production vehicle to arrive in this country since BMW’s front-loading Isetta 300 of the 1950s.

To see if the Smart was more than a fashion statement — the charm of its shape and colors draws admirers as if it were the latest gadget from Apple — I drove the company’s better-equipped model, the Passion, for two weeks, scooting around the San Fernando Valley suburbs and across the freeways to Venice, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.

Starting at $14,235 ($15,475 as tested), the Smart Passion came with many features Americans have come to expect: air-conditioning; power steering, windows and door locks; CD player; front fog lights; and a huge moon roof. For all the bells and whistles — it even comes with an electronic stability system — cruise control was left off the list. Perhaps Smart’s product planners didn’t think many drivers would take their cars for extended freeway trips.

But I did. The 3-cylinder 1-liter engine had no problem getting up to speed, joining the flow and cruising at 80 miles an hour, the prevailing off-peak pace of Southern California freeways.

But once at speed, the engine thrashed and the car was buffeted by the wake of passing tractor trailers, giving me pause when I thought about taking one hand off the wheel. The experience was akin to crossing the upper level of the George Washington Bridge in a 1960s Volkswagen Beetle on a windy day.