Posted on 03/10/2016 11:55:29 AM PST by nascarnation
Let’s face it: when it comes to modern cars, no model is as maligned as the diminutive two-seat Smart Fortwo. Well, maybe the Mitsubishi Mirage.
Measuring just 8-feet-10-inches in length, the rear-engined Smart looks less like a car than a rolling phone booth, or perhaps the bubble that would take Patrick McGoohan back to The Village in the TV show “The Prisoner.”
Jokes and instances of car-tipping aside, the Smart harbors a secret ability that sets it apart from its larger peers — and it took an Ontario mechanic to find it.
A regular day will find Tod Anderson working on mainly European imports at Autobahn Tuning Inc. in a town just south of the Canadian capital of Ottawa. However, when free time allowed, Anderson spent the early part of this winter turning a 2006 Smart Fortwo into a snow-eating beast.
As it turns out, with a little elbow grease and imagination, you can convert a Fortwo into a snowmobile fairly easily at a cost of $7,000 Canadian (roughly $5,300 U.S.), plus the cost of the car itself.
“(The car) was something I’ve had my hands on for about six months,” said Anderson, who decided to convert it last November.
“It looked like something interesting to do. I’ve got buddies who put tracks on their trucks, and because the Smart is rear-engined and rear-wheel drive it seemed natural to try. There’s not many cars you can put tracks on, except a few Ferraris and Porsches.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thetruthaboutcars.com ...
If it weren’t for those nasty lithium batteries they would make great anchors.
A Smart has lithium batteries? I though it was more like a motorcycle battery to start that little 3 banger.
Cool! But I hope it doesn’t get too cold! Negative temps and batteries don’t work together very well.
7K? That seems like a lot.
As small as the engine is, you could probably use a recoil starter (like my Polaris ATV) if you had thin oil in the crankcase.
Canadian
I believe the Smart car has a 3 cyl motorcycle engine.
Eh?
So it is. Still not cheap.
The nice thing about those cars is you don’t have to worry about parking. They come with a convenient carry handle and shoulder straps.
I thought it was a hybrid. This sort of mixup happens when the only reason to pay attention to them is to keep from squashing them. That temptation is over-powering sometimes.
The ones sold in Europe use a little diesel.
Here in the N. America they plug in a Mitsubishi 3 banger.
Somehow, a picture of a sno-go prepped Smart Car, in front of a sign that says “Autobahn”, and “European Performance and Repair”...it’s just not right.
A Ferrari snowmobile - that's what I want to see.
Yes, that is equivalent to "0.95 C and ten tons". One of those little things wouldn't stand a chance.
Or a wheel chalk for a bigrig.
And yet I witnessed someone who couldn’t get the whole thing between the lines!
My wife saw one stuck one of the concrete “stops” in a parking place. The woman drove over it, and when it got to the middle of the frame, it just teetered.
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