The Mercedes-Benz dealer in Victoria, British Columbia had a Smart Cabriolet micro-car today and I was able to arrange for a test drive just to see what this thing is all about.

I've known about the MCC Smart since the days when Swatch was behind it but I never believed that we'd ever see them for sale in Canada. Well, the dealer says they'll be sold here starting next year and they had a couple in town over the weekend to gauge interest.

The Smart seems like a modern, shrunken 2CV Citroën. The Cabriolet adds to the impression with its fully retractable canvas roof (electric!) which then folds away above the small trunk. Then the roof bars above the side windows can be removed (if desired) and with the (electric) windows rolled down it's like a VW Golf Cabriolet - a convertible with a roll hoop.

The equipment is good, with a decent air conditioning system, a CD changer and all sorts of other goodies like heated seats (Smart seats are made by Faurecia, a Peugeot company!), and lots more. There's no getting around the fact that it's a relatively cheap car, though - it's fairly basic in many other respects (such as the bare painted metal inside the car, which I like, actually).

The rear mid engine (ahead of rear wheels) is 600 cc, turbo intercooled, 3 cyl with 61 HP and the car is quite peppy despite its 740 kg of mass. The CEE average fuel economy is 4.7 L/100 km, or 50 MPG US overall, with nearly 60 MPG US on the highway. The top end is 85 MPH.

The car is made in Alsace (open the hood, "Made in France" on the Mfr plate) and the tiny engine says "engineered by Mercedes-Benz" on the intake manifold. To top it off, the car's alloy wheels are held to the hub by only three bolts, just like a Citroën 2 CV or a Peugeot 404. So French.

The gearbox is semi-automatic, with a servo-actuated clutch. It has a self-shifting routine or you can shift it manually, though there is no clutch pedal. Just like a Citroën GS "Convertisseur" (I saw one of those on Saltspring Island on Sunday). Again, very French.

The steering is nice and light, the car is unusually stable for a 2.5 m long car due to its wheels being at each corner and the wide track - the rear wheels are outrigged quite a bit compared to the bodywork. The engine is not too noisy. Though the car does 0-100 km/h in over 16 seconds, it feels quick enough. Man, did we ever get some looks when driving this car in traffic, it was more disruptive than a Ferrari 360 Modena would be. Even a motorcyclist on a crotch rocket said "hey, your car is shorter than my bike", only slightly exaggerating. Well, we are thinking of placing a down payment on one of these.

The estimated cost is between $15,000 and $20,000 CDN ($9500-12,800 US), the lower figure being for the hardtop and the higher for the Cabriolet with most options. It's about the same price as some Korean cars here in Canada, and maybe a stripper Civic, which would never tempt me even though I know Honda makes a good vehicle.

Apparently Mercedes-Benz is not contemplating introducing this little French-built car in the USA at this time, too bad. I hope they follow through and bring them to Canada next year, in which case we'll have a German company to thank for returning French built cars to North America.

 

Sounds tempting....perhaps I should load it up with a Brabus kit! Let me find more info from my dealer..... :p Thanks Mike!

 

I don't know about you but I would not feel really safe driving a vehicle weighing in at 1600 pounds. The structural rigidity of a car with this kind of mass has got to be pitiful.

 

Actually it's quite safe, especially considering its size. It's a three-star EuroNCAP car. The main tub of the car is super-rigid thick metal and there is a large crashbox in the front end which absorbs energy in a crash. Check it out on euroncap.com. There are many larger cars with lower crash test results (such as the W 202 C-Class, if memory serves me well...).