I am from that area and i saw the smart for the first time in this test drives. I fell in love how diferent it has. Went to the dealer and reserved one without then even knowing the lunch date.
That LWB coupled with mid-engine, light-weight (barely 1/2 of a Mk1 TT) and relatively big rubber mean ridiculously confident handling. Gearbox is easily handled if you're a mechanically minded driver, at which point it becomes part of the character. Top tip people: take the ten minutes it needs to de-power the steering rack. There's a RU-vid vid on it. It's quick and free and suddenly you have finger-tip steering that squirms and writhes like a proper sports car, loads up at higher speeds and is an absolute delight. Transforms the car!
I'm guessing you've never actually driven one? Tiff may have been harsh on the looks (which are subjective), but he was too kind about the gearbox. How it ever got into production is beyond me: it was beyond terrible.
@@bmurphy737 I'm guess you've never driven one? I've driven three, and happen to own a Brabus. I've also driven a Ferrari 360 Modena F1, the gearbox is similar of the era. Far from perfect, but once you drive it properly, they are just fine. But then perfect cars don't tend to have character.
@@IngramCars I guessed wrong! I should have seen that coming: the only people I think who could summarise them as brilliant are those that have never driven them, or those who know them very well and are willing to overlook their flaws. As I said, I guessed wrong between those possibilities. I owned a ForTwo Brabus for a couple of years (a real hoot to drive) and drove a few Roadsters along the way as I’d considered changing it for one, but was scared off by their other serious flaw - the leaks. I’d modify your “brilliant” assessment to “brilliant, but deeply flawed” (Maseratis around the same time had the same unfortunate status). I still think Tiff underplayed the gearbox issue - there’s a RU-vid video from Jeremy Clarkson that gives a more realistic assessment. It’s a real pity - it really would be transformed by a modern dual-clutch setup (which is on the car I have at the moment). I’d agree with you that perfect cars not having character (I’ve owned a few Alfas, so know all about character in cars), but in this case the flaws were just too much for me. Each to their own!
@@bmurphy737 You clearly don't like them, so you must be right. But many wouldn't agree. Ask Gordon Murray. Wouldn't life be boring if we all thought the same.
@@IngramCars Indeed! I've just re-read my original comment, which should have read "the gearbox was beyond terrible", not the whole car. My overall opinion is as I said: "brilliant, but deeply flawed". Very frustrating, as it could have been so much better with more work on resolving the flaws before making production; it's not like they can't have known about it.
Thanks for uploading this and the Top Gear clip, clearly you're a fan of the roadster like me. I found this on an old VHS recording I had but the quality isn't anywhere near as good as this.
