It's not often The New Yorker writes about the automotive industry. But there it is in the Talk of the Town section in the Sept. 17 issue of the wondrous weekly. It's a piece on the Smart Car Fortwo.
Author David Owen writes humorously and seriously about David Schembri, president of Smart USA, visiting New York City and touting the attributes of the highly anticipated pending arrival of the mini car to the U.S. market.
According to the article, the two-seat Smart Fortwo, manufactured by DaimlerChyrsler is/will:
* 106 inches long;
* Nearly 3 1/2 feet shorter than a Mini-Cooper;
* Less than one-third as wide as a Lincoln Navigator is long;
* Has a passenger compartment protected by a steel cage;
* In a crash, according to Schrembi, "will act like very much like a NASCAR roll cage."
* Will have a base price of $12,000.
The Smart Car, which has been bee sold in Europe for the past eight years, is scheduled to make its debut in the United States in January, 2008.
What do www.automil.com readers think of the SmartCar? Would you buy one? Have you already submitted a deposit for one like many others have?
Links of note:
http://www.adhurl.com/2007/07/smart_car_smart_choice_but_not.html
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/richard-newcomb/2007/09/19/newsweek-shills-smart-cars
Comment Preview