Most of us are familiar with the Daimler-Chrysler Smart car, scheduled to plunk down on U.S. roadways in early 2008.
There are chat rooms devoted to sightings, and the funky vehicle — reminiscent of the bubble-covered kids’ trailer that some parents drag behind their bikes — careens through Paris in the film “The Da Vinci Code.”
There have been sightings in Baltimore — a few have made their way to the United States, some modified for U.S. safety standards by JK Technologies, a shop tucked discreetly in a Hampden alley.
Smart marketing is feverishly trying to get the word out.
A video on its Web site (www.smartusa.com) shows a “big man” wedging his legs under a computer desk, towering over people in the elevator, and finally, having to stretch his toes to reach the gas pedal in the Smart.
Another clip shows a rampaging Godzilla unable to crush the car with his giant taloned foot.
But even though the car has room for two, and even if it benefits from a reinforced safety cage to protect it in a crash, the one thing most haven’t thought about questioning — its fuel efficiency — may be the area that lets consumers down.
“We’re promising 40 miles to the gallon,” says Ken Kettenbeil, director of communications for Roger Penske’s United Auto Group, the company contracted to handle U.S. distribution.
“The Da Vinci Code’s” Sophie had it wrong when she boasted to Tom Hanks that her car got about 100 kilometers to the liter (that translates to about 235 miles per gallon).
Could Kettenbeil be exaggerating? After all, unwilling to release sales projections, he will only venture: “We’re anticipating double-digit sales.” You mean in thousands? “No, as in at least 10.”
The Smart will cost about $15,000, and early shoppers can reserve vehicles at a series of road shows scheduled around the country beginning this spring.
Room for two adults and their groceries. Forty miles to the gallon.
A Honda Civic could do that 25 years ago. Plus, it could carry three passengers and a rolled-up futon in the back.
Not to mention a milk crate full of Grateful Dead records. Now that was smart.
