D R I V E N

If William Shatner was transporter-beamed straight from the set of 1960s' Star Trek and into Germany, 2003, he could be forgiven for thinking that he had jumped straight to the 24^th century.  Sure, there aren't any people being beamed about and no one has pointed ears.  But people are conversing using wireless devices even smaller than his prop communicator, and they pull out palm-sized computers that can display their exact location and destination.  Before he can say, "Kirk to Enterprise," he'd see a fleet of cheeky, funky runabouts, humming about the crowded city streets.  Welcome to the 21^st century, Captain.

The smart city coupe has become the car of choice for many urban dwellers in Deutschland, selling more than 100,000 units in 2001.  That's not a bad sales figure, considering that it certainly didn't get voted "most likely to succeed."  It's quite limited, having only two seats and about 260 liters of luggage space (little more than half of a midsize sedan's).  It has a puny engine and its body panels are made of plastic.  Not that any of these things are inherently bad, but these will tend to scare off conventional buyers.  Sales-wise, however, it does have one major thing going for it: it's made by Mercedes-Benz.  Having the Mercedes name behind it—on its engine cam cover too—lends credibility to the concept of the smart. 

Still, it will surely take more than a hidden badge to pull in a regular stream of buyers.  Forget that it's made by Benz; take a long look and the smart is quirkily attractive.  For starters, it has just about the cheeriest face you can find in automobiledom.  The headlamps have been changed to pairs of melted ovals, a not-unintentional (we suspect) similarity to the C-class' lenses.  The smiling mouth, er, grille, now incorporates a pair of foglamps.  The wheels are quite literally at the car's corners, the fronts even bulging beyond the grille. If anything, it looks like one of those Alessi kitchen gadgets, and you half-expect it to start dispensing pepper when you open the door.

What you'll find instead is an interior that is surprisingly roomy.  The seats are set well back from the windshield's base, and the seats themselves are sufficiently wide and deep.  The roof is quite high, and there's plentiful elbow and hip room all around.  The overall impression is of sitting in a conventional midsize car.  Until you look at the dashboard.  A pair of round gauges pops mischievously up from the center dash: one for revs, the other for the time.  Similarly, the side vents protrude upward from the corners.  There's a proper thick-rimmed leather steering wheel, with the usual light and wiper stalks behind. 

To fire up the smart, slot the key into the center console, behind the gearshift, then twist it on.  The engine's rorty sound comes from behind, as it's mounted below the trunk floor, just in front of the rear wheels.  Three cylinders and 599 cc are all in there.  All smarts have turbos to boost output—this one's good for 60 bhp, and 88 Nm from a low 2250 to 4500 rpm, with power fed to the rear wheels. 

The factory pegs the 0-100 km/h time at a lethargic 17.1 seconds, but on the road it's able to keep up with city traffic, both from traffic lights and while on the move.  The engine was smooth and willing, and we didn't feel deprived of power.  We weren't able to drive it on the nearby autobahn, but it had no problems going up steep mountain roads.  The left lane of the famed German highway is out of the question, though, as even with infinite patience, it will be maxed out at 135 km/h.

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