MBCanada: smart car enthusiasts

"Here you will find a friendly forum devoted to the smart car in Canada, chock full of information. Many smart car fanatics lurk and post here, so if there is something you need to know, we will either have already talked about it before, or someone should have an answer!"

smart Shine and Show

Want to show off your shiny new fortwo? Want to meet other smartcar owners in an informal setting?

We'd like to meet at the Street Classic Show and Shine held at:
Canadian Tire, 1608 The Queensway, Etobicoke (427 & Gardiner)
5 pm to dusk, Saturdays from May to September.

It's a great (free!) family event featuring muscle cars, hot rods, trucks and more from years gone by. Buy a hot dog, listen to some oldies music and stroll down memory lane. There are many restaurants nearby on the Queensway and plenty of parking.

Questions? Write to: annettelt@sympatico.ca

Molly's Arthur 

Molly's smart adventures

By all means, blog about it! It is called Arthur - because it's 'alf a car. I haven't ever photographed it, but it's a blue-and-silver Passion. The first one was a blue-and-black Passion, and I shall probably revert to blue-and-black for the next one, which I'll be getting soon - the second one is nearly three years old. I was one of the very first in the south-east to have one; I had it imported from France long before they started producing right-hand drive versions. Oddly enough, having it imported wasn't as expensive as you would think - the total price (including inspection, registration etc.) was pretty well equivalent to the UK price I paid for the second one.It cost a fortune to insure the imported one, though - most insurance firms wouldn't touch it, so I had to go a firm which specialised in imports, and they very much held the whip hand. Naturally, as soon as it reached the age of 3 and I swapped it for a by-then-available UK model, I switched insurers and saved hundreds of pounds.I'm not really sure what else to say about it, other than it needs a good hoovering-out at the moment!

smartcar forum

For news and views about smartcars and their owners see: http://www.smartcarsint.com/ -
an interesting forum for discussion.

smart bike rack seen at the CIAS in February. 

smart racks

Start with: basic attachment for special racks has a load-bearing capacity of 30 kg, does not rust and is easy to fit. ($316)
Add: either the bicycle rack $167 or the ski rack $88.

Ermintrude the Beautiful. 

Ermintrude

On a recent visit to our smart dealer, we were told that we weren't the only purchasers anxiously awaiting the arrival of our smart fortwo. Edward said, " We get people who come in every week and ask when their car is expected".

Smartcar purchasers, it seems, are like expectant parents who have chosen a name, bought accessories and told all of their family and friends in anticipation of "the big day". We went through several rounds of suggesting names until we agreed on Ermintrude. For British ex-pats like us who grew up with the television program "The Magic Roundabout" the name of the pink cow brings back childhood memories. Our "little girl" will be called Trudi for short.

A computer animated feature film very losely based on the tv show was released in the UK in February 2005. Believe it or not, actress Joanna Lumley of Absolutely Fabulous! fame is the voice of Ermintrude.

smartclub uk meet at Brooklands 2001 

The UK smartcar club

This group of smart enthusiasts will soon be celebrating their fifth anniversary. Their website is part forum and part swapmeet. The club plans rallies, tours and other events. On the schedule for 2005 are the London Brighton run and a trip to smartville in Hambach, France.

The Stratosphere Chamber built in 1947 at Brooklands for Vickers-Armstrong was used by Barnes' Wallis team to test aircraft pressure cabins. 

smartcar rally at Brooklands Motorsport and Aviation Museum, Weybridge, Surrey, England, August 2001.

smartcar rally at Brooklands

We met up with fellow smart enthusiasts in August 2001 at Brooklands. We had only just returned from Germany after buying our car there. The event was hosted by the UK smartcar club and was a grand day out.

Brooklands, the world's first purpose-built motor-racing circuit, opened in 1907. Its banked curves, distinctive green-domed Clubhouse and changing rooms for competitors were state-of-the-art. In its golden age, the 1920s and 1930s, Napier, Delage, Panhard, Bentley and Bugatti ruled the track.

Brooklands Motorsport and Aviation Museum, Brooklands Road, Weybridge,Surrey KT13 0QN

Sundberg's custom smartcar. 

Custom smart

Seen at the Marlboro Masters, Zandvoort, Holland 2000: Swedish Formula 3 driver Peter Sundberg had a funky custom chopped smart for paddock use. I wonder what Sundberg is doing now?

smart camping. 

smart Camping 2003

During July and August 2003 we toured England's "West Country", including the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. This scenic, friendly and relatively quiet part of the UK is dotted with interesting historic sites including Stonehenge. We raised many eyebrows when we showed up to register at campgrounds and then proceeded to pitch our tent. Camping smart-style is great fun, but you have to be organized and travel light.

Visit to smartville

We went to smartville, Hambach, Lorraine, France in the summer of 2000. The smarcars were lined up as far as the eye could see. It was amazing to see truckloads of them leaving the plant. Tours of smartville can be arranged for groups but booking must be done well in advance.

City-Coupe in numeric blue. 

smart transport. 

Year 2000 smartcars ready to roll. 

smartville logo. The orientation system divides smartville according to the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth. 

Body panel display, smartville 

smartville, Hambach, France 

smartville, Hambach, Lorraine

"Today, smartville shows itself to be a progressive, harmonious and well-structured production park. The buildings surprise through their open architecture, which give(s) and impression of transparency and through their unconventionally cross-shaped formation. An extraordinary internationally understandable direction system, which works with pictograms and colour-coding, helps with orientation in the grounds and halls.

There are no typical(ly) industrial lawns in smartville, but rather natural open fields, ponds and clusters of trees. And this is not simply for the sake of nice appearance. The powder spraying process (Surtema) has earned smartville the 1998 environmental Prize of the ADEME environmental agency (Trophee Environnement). In addition all buildings are free from harmful substances such as formaldehyde, CFCs and asbestos. 80% of the facade cladding consists of European fast-growing wood. The fenced area is registered and validated according to the EUI-Eco-audit regulations. smartville is managed by MCC France SAS."

Our First smartcar: with German plates & before conversion of lights and speedometer 

Brightling, Sussex, Summer 2003 

Our first smartcar: 2000 Pulse

In the summer of 2001 we flew from London to Dusseldorf, Germany to buy a smartcar. After doing the deal on an all black 2000 Pulse we stayed at the Lindner Hotel Rhein Residence for two nights while the alloy wheels and other upgrades were sorted out. Driving on the Autobahn in Germany proved to be no problem for the smart.

We made the journey from Calais to Dover via Hoverspeed and paid the motorcycle rate. Back in England, we had to have the speedometer, head and tail lights converted to meet UK regulations. Another necessity was the cupholder we purchased at the same time.

smart has arrived in Toronto at last! 

smart fortwo winter drive at Ontario Place, February 2005 

fortwo Winter Drive

On Thursday February 24 we drove the smart cabriolet at the smart fortwo winter drive promotion at Ontario Place in Toronto which was great fun. The closed course was set out on ice and snow and the car handled well in the tricky conditions. smart Canada had contracted the event out to a driving instruction firm whose staff were pleasant and knowledgeable.