You think that one looks funny, how about the convertible verstion?
They seem to be used a lot for advertising in Europe. When I was there last summer every other Smart car had logos on it, something like this:
You almost NEVER see them on the Autobahn however....just too small to cruise in. Comfortable and actually roomy for two in the city...and they work especially well on Europe's small city streets. One cool thing is that Smart cars can be parked perpendicular...in a parallel place...two actually in one parking place, as they are only as long as a typical car is wide.
Safety-wise , being Mercedes they are really very safe...the cabin is a kind of geometric cage, and their 10+ year history has been very good, as far as safety is concerned...(granted very few ever make it to the Autobahn, so...)
It will be interesting to see if they ever catch on here...my European friends are skeptical that will ever happen.
I saw them in Germany in 2000 and 2001 on my business trips. I knew they would be a hit there, and I believe they will eventually be a hit here, too. Remember, everybody laughed at the first HONDA cars in the early 70's. Nobody is laffing now...........
Rolling off the assembly line in July 1972, the first-generation Civic greeted a wave of hopes and expectations.
It will soon have a diesel descendant on the US roads......
1970: The first Honda automobile imported to the U.S. was the 1970 Honda N600 2-Door Sedan. It was introduced in March 1970. This car was powered by a 2-cylinder, air-cooled engine and featured front-wheel drive. These cars were very small by U.S. standards at that time, and with a price of around $1,300, those first Hondas in the U.S. sold for about a dollar per pound!