A buddy of mine said he just saw 5 Smart "fourtwo" coupes at Matson. Interestingly they were lined up in the "BMW rows" as he put it. That'd be funny if BMW sold 'em, as they're a Daimler-Chrysler product.

Supposedly www.zapworld.com is going to be the first US distributer. He said these cars all had markings in km/h and whatnot - all german cars. Maybe they're here for display to stir up interest?

Smart is going to sell some sort of (stupid) SUV in the US in 2006 I think. Like we need *another* tall station wagon... apparently the fourtwo, fourfour and crossblade won't be sold in the US officially.

Here's a photo - lets see if I can get it to work. The top is a Smart Fourtwo, and the bottom is a big 'ole fat cat Merc.

-Andy

 

wowza
that car is pretty.....



pretty ugly

 

I've been told that the SUV being introduced to the states is the forfour, but I have to say that I'm not 100% on that.

 

Here's a shot of one of the cars down at the dock - sorry, it was through a camera phone.

As for it being "ugly", there are those that say that the new MINI betrays the classic lines of the original....and consider it "ugly" as well. It's a style thing. To each his own.

 

"I've been told that the SUV being introduced to the states is the forfour, but I have to say that I'm not 100% on that."

The SUV is a completely different car than the Fourfour. It may share some parts, but from the drawings I saw it's much bigger than either of of the current models.

 

Holy C-rap! Those cars are already running around LA and now they are here! Like the MINI, it is a design that is "unique" while others will just give you strange looks. However, like the MINI it also provides the owner with suprising performance in a small package!

 

It looks like a golf cart!

 

I saw the Smart cars all over europe.
The small size might be trouble if something big ran into one of them.
Otherwise they are nice and efficient.
Good commuter or city car. Park two in a long stall.

 

You know they could be heading to a Waikiki car rental company. Lots of interesting high-end rentals have shown up recently.

Aloha!

JCW04

 

I looked at the photos I have again - they're headed to Maui.

ZAP cars got approval to sell 'em in the US with the appropriate conversions and whatnot. It'll be interesting to see what they sell for, as I think a base model is somewhere near £7,000 in the UK.

Run over by something big? I am constantly amazed at the size of vehicles we drive. I mean...a fullsize pickup I can see, but why on earth do you need a humongous vehicle that gets something like 12mpg and seats 9 people? ... then again, I'm sure they can say, "Why on earth do you need a 10 foot long car? (the original mini)"

 

I saw a red smart car in Florida. It drew a crowd just parking.
While reasonably tall it was very short and I could spot it coming in from way across the parking lot at Disney world- almost a mile away!

Only enough room for two adults.

Put a turbo in that!
Wheels are kinda small and narrow.

 

I went to Green Machine Transportation at 831 Queen street in town to check out the Smart Fourtwo. I had read that they are being sold in Hawaii now.

The salesman manager said he brought in 20 a few months ago and sold all by 6 with most of the sales coming from the last month.

He has "new" 2006 Cabrio (Passion) models for $29,995.
http://www.smartusa.com/smart-fortwo-passion.aspx
For 2008 model, Starts from $13,590 (yeah, right)
1.0 L, 71 HP, 3 cylinder engine
5 speed automatic transmission
Paddle shifters

The colors are quite MINI like-
http://www.smartusa.com/smart-car-color-selector.aspx

and used 2005 basic Coupes for $25,995 (some with 12,000 miles on them- dealer demos)

He says he's been selling them in Las Vegas area at $32,995 but they are discounted for Hawaii.

The conversion cost is listed at $5000 and you pay for everything like $1000 for alloy 15" wheels and $900 for air conditioning, etc.

He says soon the car will be a top choice for "drifting".
Yeah, right. It's got 145/65-15 front tires and 175/55-15 rear tires.

He was on the phone trying to sell one talking about how John Browning's Fourtwo got clobbered in an accident and sustained $5000 damage to the front end and is being repaired now at Central Auto but is waiting on parts.

Browning seems to like trendy cars as he bought a MINI back when I had mine new and added the JCW kit and huge sound system upgrades then sold it within two years.

 

I saw a few of these in vegas a couple of weeks ago. Hawaii cost seems high. Might as well buy a Corolla!

 

Might as well buy a 2007 MCS with turbo and lounge leather, automatic, preium package, etc. It's almost the same cost plus two back seats and a boot for storage. You don't get the extra mpg but who's counting.

He claims he is selling on the mainland for $32,995 so the $3000 discount for Hawaii is "fo real".

Yeah, right.

He says next shipment is on the way (he put in his order already), roughly 6 months from now is what he was told would be the delivery window. And you thought the MINI was hard to get.

Each car is brought over from Europe and converted to US specs one at a time.

 

I think our friend at Green Machine is in another dimension :impatient !
…………………………………………………………………………………………….

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/06/auto...cing/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Smart ForTwo, a wild-looking two-seat economy car produced by DaimlerChrysler, will go on sale in the United States at a starting price just under $12,000.

When the ForTwo goes on sale in the first quarter of next year, it will be the smallest new car you can buy in the U.S. At 105.6 inches, the redesigned ForTwo will be about 40 inches shorter than a Mini Cooper.

It will also be one of the cheapest. Only the Chevrolet Aveo 5 hatchback, with a starting price of $9,995, costs less.

The entry level ForTwo will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $11,590, not including taxes and destination charges. It will have a 5-speed manually-shiftable automatic transmission. It will not be equipped with a radio or air conditioning.

The highest-priced ForTwo, the convertible Passion Cabrio, will have a starting price $16,950.

 

I already feel the need to drive vigilantly since I know it is easy to be missed by road tractors, I cant imagine driving something as tiny as that on the highway.

 

I see one parked at one of the buildings in Kalaeloa.

Crazy prices! I'd hate to be rear-ended in one of those!

 

I found the new ForTwo engine contorl unit

 

I saw one being tailed by a Ford F150 along Market St in San Francisco.

After seeing the relative size, I wouldnt even want to ride in one.

e

 

They've been doinf a rolling road show of these all around the mainland for the past year. Penske is bringing them to the US starting with the '08 models.

A woman I know in MD test drove one last week... Read Here

I'm sure there will be a dealer in Hawaii.

 

One the corner near the Century Center near Waikiki there is one up on a flatbed. Not sure if its for sale or rent or what.

Back in 2000 I got to drive one around Balwil, Switzerland (near Luzern). It was fun to try out, would make a great city car thats for sure. Back then there was a big lag between gear changes. I hope they've fixed that, it was kind of annoying.

 

The salesman I talked to at Green Machine seemed to imply that they ARE the Hawaii dealer for Smart cars.

I could not confirm this at the smartcar.com site.

However the site lists only 2008 cars and much much lower prices.

Not sure why I was only seeing 2005 and 2006 models- other than he said it takes a long time to get them converted then shipped to Hawaii.

 

I think I read about this group a while ago in one of the auto magazines. As soon as they got approval to sell the converted Smart cars, DaimlerChrysler (back then) announced that they would import the Smart car. I didn't think they'd go foward after the announcement but evidently they did. They've been pushing real hard recently and have been on the morning news a few weeks ago with a couple of segments with Manolo driving around.

Whoever jumps on it now is going to be kicking themselves in the okole when Daimler starts selling it for the correct price with newer amenities and features.

 

Click to read the whole article (MSNBC/AP)-

The first U.S. Smart car dealerships will be announced later this year, with sales and service handled by Smart USA, a division of the Penske Automotive Group, which is distributing the car in North America and Puerto Rico.

 

So if the 2008 base price is closer to $12,000 to $13,000 and this guy is selling them now for $26,000 to $30,000 don't you think he is a

"reseller"

and not a "dealer" since they haven't announced the dealer network yet???

I guess 100% dealer markup is not bad for importing 2005 and 2006 Smart cars.