Sunday, June 14, 2009

Smart Car?

While driving along the NY Thruway yesterday I passed a Smart Car. Now I'm sure they get great mileage running on just three cylinders as they do, and this one seemed to be able to tool along quite nicely at 65-70 mph on the flat road, but--and there are actually a few "buts" involved here--it is extremely small. It makes my wife's Aveo and the daughter's Yaris look huge.

So small in fact that is the Smart Car that as I drove by in the Tundra I was tempted to pick it up, put it in the bed of the truck (and I've only got a 6' long bed) and take it home like one would a little lost kitten. I'm sure the semis on the highway could have easily fit a dozen or more in the back of their 53' long trailers. They could have been stacked like eggs in a carton.

I certainly hope the two women inside were very good friends. If they weren't before they set out, I'm sure they were by the time the ride ended.

How would this tiny little car handle travel in the mountains? Can it make it up a slope with as much as a 5% grade? What happens in a crosswind of 30 mph out on the plains? Does it become a new form of tumble weed due to its light weight, high (relatively speaking) profile and narrow little wheel base?

This might make a fine commuter car for an urban metroplex but out in the real world of North America...I don't think so. This is a case where Sinatra was dead wrong. It might make it in NYC but it certainly isn't going to make it everywhere.


(BTW The plates were from Massachusettes.)

3 comments:

JDP said...

I saw the my first "Smart" car on the road Friday, my first thought was if they get hit by a big SUV or 18 wheeler, they gonna have to change the name to "Dumb car.

JDP

Rev. Paul said...

There's only one that I'm aware of, in Anchorage. It's been sitting on a used car lot for over a year now.

threecollie said...

Friends have one. I often wonder how they find it in a parking lot as it is nearly invisible.