By: ben

ben — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:57:24 +0000

they were at Aristocrat oct 06. It took 2 hours to get through the line.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:58:59 +0000

I concur with Tim — why not bring the ‘smart car’ somewhere smart or cool? Plaza, downtown, city market (there was a car show there last weekend, afterall), waldo — heck why not show one of at the very posh Aristocrat motors if the desire is to be on the kansas side?

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:52:48 +0000

Oak Park Mall is a stupid/ridiculous place to unveil the SmartCar…do it somewhere where there are younger couples with no kids (Brookside or Plaza would be great) since this is a two-seater. That’s not gonna have much impact in the kid-ridden burbs…

By: Ron Gaus

Ron Gaus — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:36:02 +0000

Though most folks in the US have no clue what these little guys are like, they’ve been in Europe and around the world since 1998. Over 780,000 sold. Designed by Swatch and engineered by Mercedes, it was an unlikely marriage of modern style and proud history of auto manufacturing. Though these new smart cars will be sold in America in mass in 2008, their older brother has been with us about 16 months. In 2003, an auto converter became frustrated by Mercedes’ refusal to bring the smart car to the US since 1998. He went to the Dept of Transportation and EPA and asked for permission to change the European models to meet US safety and emissions standards. After three years of work, he was granted that approval and began selling the Euro Design smart cars in April, 2006. Just two months later, Mercedes announced that they had changed their minds and would introduce an Americanized smart car in 2008. They will be distributed through Penske Automotive Group, not Mercedes. Though the 1000 converted models are now almost all on the streets across the country, their selling prices are significantly higher than the 2008 models. Though the entry level smarts will be offered in 2008 at $12,000 according to their press releases, the currently available higher end converted smarts are at $26,900. The high cost of conversion, as well as the shipping and import costs from Europe forced this higher price. Still, the owners of these cars have all shared their common feedback… there is no car, at any price, that will attract the positive attention from passers-by, than the smart car. It is not the miles/gallon. It is certainly not the price. It is the unique style and design, so different from any car on the road, that makes this car magical. As magical as the only prior car in history to bring these smiles to this country… the fifties Beetle. The new ones in 2008 will share this attraction with their older, but littler brother. Converted smarts are 8′-3″. The new ones are 7″ longer. Current ones have Mercedes engines. New ones have Mitsubishi’s and are more powerful. The looks, however, will cause the same smiles. Get ready for this phenomenon, folks. When you see one in person, you’ll understand. There is no way to understand it until then. Smart cars will change America, one smile at at time.

By: Car News » smart Cars Invade Kansas

Car News » smart Cars Invade Kansas — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:32:57 +0000

[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptsmart USA, the makers of the itty-bitty smart car (itty-bitty when compared to typical US cars), will offer test-drives of their smart fortwo on October 7th (Sunday) and 8th (Monday). Ironically, the test drives will be offered in … [...]

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