1998 was a great year for cars. Alfa Romeo gave us the 156, Ford introduced the Focus, Peugeot replaced the 205 with the 206 and VW revisited the past to unveil a brand-new Beetle. None of these cars though had the uniqueness of a tiny new German supermini, called the Smart Fortwo; which 20 years later is still selling in massive numbers worldwide.
The Smart was originally a joint venture between the CEO of Swiss watch company Swatch, Nicolas Hayek and Volkswagen. Due to a change in the management at VW, the proposal fell through and Hayek was left to find another partner. Mercedes-Benz were his chosen suiter and after striking a deal and agreeing financing, the Smart City-Coupe went for a concept to reality. Swatch and Mercedes formed a company called Micro Compact Car AG (MCC) and set up a factory in Hambach, France which quickly became known as Smartville. The car’s name is an acronym for the companies, ‘Swatch Mercedes ART’; SMART.
At only 2.5 metres long, the two-seater Smart City-Coupe or Fortwo has it became known was ideal the perfect vehicle for zipping through city centre traffic and squeezing into the tightest of parking spaces. In fact, you can park two Fortwo in one parking bay! It originally came with a punchy yet economical 3-cylinder turbo charged petrol or diesel engine connected to a 6-speed semi-automatic gearbox.
Over the 20 years of production, the Smart has evolved; we’ve have seen convertibles, roadsters, sporty Brabus editions, 5 door models and even hybrid and electric variants. There have been over 1.7 million Smart cars sold and the popularity of the little car is as strong as ever.
Cargiant currently have a wide choice of Smart Fortwo’s available. Take a look at our current stock here and book yourself a test drive; https://www.cargiant.co.uk/search/smart/all