Daimler AG is lucrative if it sells tiny two-seater trucks here with a 73-1/2-inch wheelbase, even though American drivers have increasingly opted for larger trucks for their daily commute. I decided. Sales never quite lived up to Stuttgart’s expectations, but the Smart Fortwo was sold to Americans who had enough, with the occasional used individual appearing. my favorite car graveyard. Today’s Junkyard Gem is one of the Fortwo sold here in its optimistic first model year, found last month at a bone factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Allowed in many European cities street parallel parking For a vehicle as short as the Fortwo, this means the driver can squeeze two Fortwos into a space that fits a parallel parked regular car.In most cases, this parking method is not legal in the USnegates the main practicality advantage of smart.
Gas mileage wasn’t great for such a small machine. At 33 mph in town and 40 mph on the highway, it was worse than the 2008 Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid. not yet, Fuel prices soar With the average cost of gasoline reaching $4.11 in 2008 (about $5.91 in 2023 dollars in July of that year), the Fortwo’s decent fuel efficiency must have contributed to its sales.
The 2008 Fortwo weighed just over 1,800 pounds, about the same as a mid-1980s Honda Civic. In fact, his 70 horsepower in this car is just between the 60 horsepower of the 1985 Honda Civic 1300 and the 76 horsepower of the 1985 Honda Civic 1500.
The car was optimized for its excellent characteristics of short overall length. It’s even shorter than the Japanese kei car specification (it’s too wide to be registered as a kei car in Japan, but in the end the smart was registered as a kei car). Version narrowed down for the Japanese market).As Real light van owner and daily driver (60mpg gas mileage in town for 4 people), the only thing I envy about the Fortwo is its speed on the highway. That’s the advantage of a powerful 999cc Mitsubishi 3-cylinder over his light-standard 658cc Subaru 4-cylinder.
This is the Passion trim level and comes with air conditioning and a sunroof. The MSRP was $13,590, about $19,531 for 2023.
At some point the driver’s side airbag deployed and then appears to have been taped in place. That crash damage may have doomed this car.
After trying to sell an electric Fortwo here, Smart abandoned the Fortwo for the U.S. market after 2019. Europe still buys new 3rd generation Fortwo (but Ligier JS looks pretty sporty).
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