Road smart

The new ultracompact smart fortwo brings its road show to the Charleston area

The ride complete, Lisa Ray spoke into a communicator clipped to her shirt to notify a fellow product specialist that "Blue Dragon" was available.

Blue Dragon? That would be the navy exterior smart fortwo, which is all of 8-feet, 1-inch long. A companion tomato- colored model has a nickname, too. "That's Big Red," she said.

When dealing with one of the tiniest passenger cars to hit U.S. roadways in decades, it helps to have a sense of humor. Even the brand name, spelled all lowercase, seems pint-size.

Yet smart USA specialists such as Ray, who has driven Big Red and Blue Dragon from coast to coast, also appreciate that big things come in small packages. Sold in Europe for close to a decade, the smart fortwo is a solidly built two-seater with rounded features, a peppy 71-hp engine, fuel economy topping 40 mpg, 28-foot turning radius and a price tag of about $12,000 to $17,000. The interior is designed so a 6-foot, 5-inch driver and passenger will feel comfortable. It has more headroom and 1 inch less front legroom than the Mercedes luxury E-class, the company claims.

Smart got the go-ahead in the U.S. last summer and has been building its market and customer base. Buyers can make reservations to purchase the car. Thus far, about 30,000 have done so nationwide, said Ken Kettenbeil, director of communications for Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based smart USA.

"There's been a ton of interest everywhere," said Ray, who has been involved in the road show from the beginning. The half-dozen or more drivers and specialists were in Charlotte before Charleston and then headed to Atlanta for one of the final legs. Not surprisingly, the smart car attracted long lines and large crowds in places such as trendy, conservation-conscious California. But people lined up for two to three hours to take rides in stops in Rust Belt Ohio, Ray said.

It's not just young or old. "We've seen all age groups," she said.

Baker Motor Co. in Charleston has been tapped as one of 70 dealerships nationwide for the smart rollout in early 2008. Penske Automotive Group is serving as the U.S. distributor. A Mercedes-Benz affiliate builds the smart car in a plant in France.

"We put a lot of effort into the design and revamp," Kettenbeil said.

To give buyers, eventual shoppers and the curious a chance to see and drive the mini car, smart USA set up a 50-stop road show May 17 to Nov. 3 to bring models to many of the initial markets. Ray and her colleagues spent a week in the Charleston area, which she liked but gave it the title of "most humid." Smart USA sponsored a drive Sept. 27 at Baker Motor primarily for people who reserved cars this spring, as well as an open event at Mount Pleasant Towne Centre last Saturday where anyone could stand in line to go for about a 10-minute jaunt.

"I like it a lot," said Bill Guiffre, a resource planning analyst who lives in Mount Pleasant. "It's a cool car," he said.

Guiffre, who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid, said he favors cars that are different. But he said it wasn't just the smart fortwo's looks. "It's got a really good feel for the road, almost like a motorcycle."

Citing the almost nonexistent cargo space, Guiffre quipped, "I'm not going to go camping." But he said he travels to Charlotte for business, and the fortwo would be a fine commuter car.

"I didn't expect it to have as much pickup," said Kelley Suhr, also of Mount Pleasant, who said she had seen smart cars in Europe.