I have had my present smart fortwo cdi cabriolet here on Vancouver Island for over five years and 90,000 miles. I LOVE the car but my university-age kids are using it all the time. Wanting to be able to drive a diesel smart myself, I thought I should get another one.

Then I heard about a couple of Canada Concept 1 BRABUS diesel cabriolets that had come off lease in Toronto late last year and slowly it dawned on me that I should consider looking into one of those, despite the fact that they're located 2700 miles east of here.

So there were two cars: a red one and a white one. Dilemma. Both had under 1000 km on the odometer! One under 850, the other under 350. I communicated with the salesman at Mercedes-Benz Midtown Toronto and it became apparent that the price, although over the odds for a "regular" 2006 smart cabrio, was reasonable considering the condition of the car, its rarity as a special model and the free two year factory warranty extension, taking it through October 2012.

The Canada 1 is modified aesthetically by BRABUS in Bottrop Germany. The entire shell is stripped and painted in either red or white. The upholstery is all leather and alcantara, on the seats, doors, dash, steering wheel, shifter, handbrake gaiter...The body has the BRABUS body kit consisting of the grille, front spoiler, side skirts and stainless steel rear valence. All outside panels are the same colour as you can see. The engine is a stock 450 diesel. I suppose I could have it remapped to give 65 HP and 100 lbs-ft but why bother? I bought it for the fuel economy!

Equipment includes paddle shifters, softouch driver-selectable automatic, tach and clock, sound upgrade with subwoofer, ipod connectivity with radio head control, heated/electric mirrors, air conditioning, heated seats, block heater and more. I will be adding OE cruise control in Vancouver. The wheels are black BRABUS Monoblock VI.

OK so I bought the white one. It will be driven back to BC in the depth of winter on the snow tires and steelies that were part of the deal. The drive home begins February 9th. I will have to put some protective coatings on some of the painted surfaces for the trip, some Stone Guard. And long, temporary front mudflaps. The black alloys are being shipped back to BC at no charge.

I like the black look on the BRABUS rims (hard to see in the photos!) and look forward to not having to worry about brake dust any more !

OK I am pretty excited, this one will be a keeper and one of my kids will probably end up owning the green cabriolet several years from now.

A friend of mine bought the red one, and it too will be in British Columbia.

There were no more than ten of these supposed to be available to Canada but we think that only 4 to 6 were made, and mine is likely the only white one.