Smart Car

I read in yesterday's business section that Smart Cars are poised to invade America. When I was in Italy, I fell in love with the Smart For 2. I photographed this one in Florence. I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home as a pet.

I normally drive a retro-designed Thunderbird (love that car!) or a big all wheel drive Tahoe (love it too), but this cute little toy car appealed to me. In Europe they get almost 70 mpg, but to meet EPA standards here, they'll get much less--maybe only about 30 mpg which isn't any better than the Buick LaCrosse my husband drives for the daily office commute. Heck! My old Tahoe gets better gas mileage than the new ones.

I have a feeling the price tag is going to be a lot more also. Over there, you can get one for about 9,000.00 Euro (about $13,000. USD at current exchange rate). My brother who has a car dealership in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said they're all over Vancouver. He's even seen a couple go through the car auctions, but they were pulled because they didn't reach the minimum bid of $15K. So look for the new ones to sell for a lot more in the U. S.