>>I've seen a Smart two days ago. Here, in my street. Worse: it was bright yellow, so far from the only permissible metallic gray. This world can't last.
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>What did you think of them ?
I'd like to try one out. I drove a bunch of cars which were just as small or even smaller per capita (FIAT 600, 126, 128, Tippo and derivatives, Yugo, Renault 4, Trabant) so I figure I'd be able to compare them in a way - Smart is newer by about twenty or thirty years than most of these, though, so it should run smoother and more silent.
After a number of years on the road I have come to conclusion that it's not the ease of handling nor the general comfort that means the most, it's the noise level. The smaller car isn't so much worse just because of its dimensions, it's because it's made to be cheaper - and the sound isolation is the first thing that goes when cost is reduced, because it isn't noticed even during a test ride. You notice it after a couple of hours. In a Yugo, I was tired after just a 3-4 hours of driving. In just a Corolla, I can take 8 hours anytime. So it would be very interesting to hear Smart from inside.
>I think they are a bit too small. Also over here they are a bit of a status symbol and people tend to drive them quite fast which is not very economical.
Still better than a personal armored personnel transporter at its most economical.
Just heard this weekend about someone having paid their mastodon $70K a year ago, and having sold it now for $31K. The car shops around have yards full of them, they don't seem to go... except in the nearest shop at the end of my street, where everything's gone, including the shop.
>Yes car colours. Ford said any colour as long as its black but we seem to have ended up with metallic grey instead. I leave the roof rack on my car so I can find it in car parks.
They actually started making them in nice colors last summer, but either the trend has stopped already, or so did the sales, because I don't see too many new ones (probably more expensive - remember monitors, B/W was sooooo much cheaper).
