Monday pick me up

Monday's are never fun, but when you are traveling to work and you are following a Smart car - you can't help but smile.  

smart Buddy

I was at the George Eastman House for an EYP (Eastman Young Professionals) meeting tonight...I park in the center of the two rows and when I came out of the meeting another Smart was parked in front of mine. I have seen this Smart around town but don't know who owns it.

Panorama roof

One of the things I love about my Smart is the panorama roof.  On sunny days it feels like you are in a convertible, but on rainy days (like today) it makes for some cool artsy pictures.

smart Rally

smart Center Buffalo had its first rally today and Jenny and I were there to take part in the fun. We drove from the dealership to Niagara Falls for a few photos and then back for burgers and dogs.

There were 32 cars that showed up for the rally. By itself a Smart turns heads, but in these kinds of numbers I think we could have caused a serious accident.

There were several people who had already begun to modify their cars but this was one of the most modified I saw.

Theavin' Squirrel!

I was getting ready to hop in my car today and this squirrel was trying to steal my Smart car!

Here he is checking it out - "yep, I'll juuust fit"

Here he's plotting on how to break in - *rubbin his grubby little paws together*

And finally trying to find a stick to try and jimmy the lock!

Luckily I got there just in time, otherwise he would've been cruising around in my car with his little squirrel friends having a great time!

smart goes to Scooter Club

Wednesday nights the scooter club meets at Open Face Eatery. This evening Jenny and I decided to take the smart car over to the club meet as I thought the other scooter riders might appreciate this ecofriendly transportation. As you can see there were people checking under the hood (well trunk) to see the engine and testing out how roomy it is inside. The Smart dealership might be getting a few calls for orders...maybe I'll get a tee shirt. Heh heh.

Experimental parking

Experiment one with the Smart car was checking if it could be parked in a regular parking space sideways. Yep, the Smart passed with flying colors!

smart out and about

Day one of having the smart car started like many weekends...a nice breakfast at Jim's restaurant. I should have parked sideways in the space, but decided to take it one step at a time and park like a normy.















After breakfast we went to Wickham farms to pick up some pumpkins or in our case "a biggie" and get some ice cream and apple pie. I was impressed that the ginormous pumpkin was able to easily fit in the back of the car. It puts my mind at ease a bit - I mean if the trunk can handle a biggie pumpkin, it can handle anything!

I finally got my very own smart!

Today Jenny and I headed to Buffalo to pick up my Smart Car! It didn't hit me until we were about half way there and then it hit me...in a few minutes I would have one for my very own! The year of waiting was finally over! (the remainder of the trip I was smiling like a goob and people probably thought I was crazy)

When we got there we were looking around the lot for my car but didn't see it...we walked inside, the dealer shook our hands and pointed to my car that was sitting in the showroom. He then walked me through the ins and outs of the cars functions, I signed the paperwork, and he handed me the keys. Now to get the car out of the showroom I expected some big spectacle - but nope - they opened up the double doors and "zoop" my pint sized car now was outside and ready for me to drive home.

J and I stopped at the Melting Pot to celebrate, and I must say it will take some getting used to people gawking at the car but it is a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.

Got the phone call

Finally! My Smart Car is here! I won't be able to pick it up until October 11th because I have to drive to Buffalo to get it and this coming weekend I have my Navy Reserve weekend. Guuhh, gonna be a long week, but wow, what a great early birthday present!







image credit: http://hotelpip.com

smart Poll Results

Ok, I admit it I geek out when it comes to marketing, so here are the poll results.


106 people voted and the results are:

66 people or 62% love it!

23 people or 21% think its ok

17 people or 16% wouldn't be caught dead in it

To those who wouldn't be caught dead in it..I hope that you get to sit and one and fall in love with it as I have.

Thanks to everyone that voted!

smart Purchased by Toyota

Recently I learned that smart has been purchased by Toyota and this will be the last year you can purchase smart cars. You can read all about it on the 451 website. I am crushed...this is a sad day for all!

smart President

Read a good article in the Detroit Free Press about the president of smart, Dave Schembri. I think one of the greatest lines in this article is from the new president when he states "Just like big SUVs once spoke volumes -- I am powerful and in control of the road -- the Smart sends an entirely different message: I am small, sensible and sharing.

'It's one of those cars,' said Schembri, 'that causes an emotional reaction.' "

smart Truth

After telling people that I will soon be getting a smart of my own they often look at my lanky 6'5" frame and say..."How do you plan on fitting in it?!" I have sat in them while in Toronto and much like the VW Beetle they are suprisingly spacious.

I think KATHLEEN O'BRIEN from the Seattle Times put it best when she said, "Its design is deceptive: It looks like passengers should be horribly cramped, yet they aren't. It's like Narnia's wardrobe, a seemingly small space that widens upon entry". Its true, the driver and passenger seat space is much like other cars..the difference is there is no back seat..the car ends right behind the driver.

smart Bunny

In a count down to Easter Lindt did a "Where is Lindt Gold Bunny" promotion where this customized smart car traveled around the US. Wish I could have seen this out and about, or even in my Easter basket! Hope to see more companies utilize smart in the future!

smart Car of America

For anyone looking for some info on smart cars I found that Smart Car of America is an interesting site. They say that they "launched North America’s first independent Smart Car Fortwo information and news website in 2001. Since that time Smart Car of America has been totally devoted to all smart enthusiasts.."

What i found even more interesting is that they came up in the search results before the official smart USA site.

smart Configuration Complete

I completed my configuration last night, basically that means I confirmed what I want on the car. Seeing that I reserved it last year, I changed two things and that was I added a sun roof and powesteering. I am going to be getting the Pure and I can't wait...next call will be the dealership to ask about delivery! Woo hoo!

smart Configuration Email Received!

While on the trip back from PA with ljc, I was very excited to see a message on my phone from smart! The message was a follow up to the email that was sent while we were in PA for Easter and simply stated that I needed to configure my smart and confirm details! I can't believe it happened this quickly! I had started to think that I would not be seeing or hearing anything until April or May. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter, I know I did!

In NYC for SES 2008

I am just leaving the SES 2008 conference in NYC; and although the conference was great, one think I was disappointed in was the lack of Smart Cars in the city. I never even saw one the entire week I was there. I thought the city would be ripe with Smart drivers but maybe they are in the same boat as me and they are eagerly awaiting their configuration email.

451

Found a great site for any other of you Smart Car fans! The site is called 451 and is a great community for Smart owners and lovers. Check it out!

Smart on "How it Works"

How it Works did a cool article on Smart Cars. I got an interesting fact about how the name came about and that is "The name "Smart" came from a combination of Swatch, Mercedes and the word "art." The company also markets the cars with the brand and model name in lowercase to emphasize their small size.". Now I can sound like a know it all Smart snob. Heh heh heh.

I think one of the ironic things is that when you come to this page the new Batmobile is pictured on the upper left corner.

Nothing Yet

Was hoping to have a follow up email to my initial one, or a call from the dealership in Buffalo, NY (found out that is where the dealer is in the area), but nothing as of yet. Hope to hear something soon!

Got the EMAIL!

I finally got the email that stated that my Smart Car is on the way over! Smart is setting up dealerships here in the US and after they have their network set up they should be contacting me in the next 90 days! Yahoo! I can't wait to pick it up, and with it not coming until around May, that should give plenty of time for the snow to melt here in Roch-cha-cha!

Love me some NPR

NPR is something that I have started listening to on my morning drive in instead of some of the other morning shows that drive me crazy with the promos. Anyway NPR did a piece on Smart Cars coming to the US. For the most part the bit was very favorable but Andrew Bragman raised the issue that gas would have to rise to 5-6 dollars a gallon to really have this car take off, but seeing in this piece that already 30000 cars have been pre-ordered, I think the design and hot factor will really make this car take off. There is nothing like it in the US right now and as soon as people see it they start talking to all of their friends about what they saw. Can't wait til they are talking about mine!

Smart Bashing

This article about Smart Cars ran in Nov 07 from CNN starts out interesting enough, but then goes into questioning the safety of the vehicle. The thing that kills me is that the argument is that there are other large cars on the road so we should be cautious to purchase smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. If this train of thought continues we'll never change the emissions...everyone will always be scared to take the step towards a change. I think there should be more support for vehicles like this and more disdain for the larger gas guzzlers. (ok, now I will get off my green horse)

Questions about safety

One of the biggest questions I get when people hear that I am getting a Smart Car is.."Aren't you afraid that a semi truck will squish you on the road?". Honestly no. Not to be one of those "hey if its my time.." type of people, but honestly, an accident is never pleasant and with Mercedes backing this car I have a little more confidence that the engineering is there. Plus, if a semi wants to crush you on the road it doesn't matter if you are on a bike or in an SUV the physics will always favor the semi. I think the only thing you could feel truly safe in would be a tank. Anyway Smart has some of their safety specs online, but I think the best example is this video.