Smart

The Smart car is coming! The Smart car is coming!

My mother worried there was something terribly wrong when I gasped loudly over the phone. Unbeknownst to her, my eye had alighted on the front page of today's Mercury News. It featured the adorable little two seater which is being shown off around the country to auto reporters in advance of a 2008 rollout. I was positively overcome, practically swooning and hyperventilating in turns.

I fell in love with this teeny little car (106 inches long, compared to the 145 inch long Mini Cooper) on our first trip to Greece in 2000 and have coveted it ever since. Some people prefer trucks and mansions. I'm more of a small space dweller myself (with lots of windows, whether in a car or a residence, not that you asked). The Smart car is as small as a four-wheeled, two person vehicle can get, I'm pretty sure. (I also dream of riding a motorcycle, but that is the subject for another posting.)

I won't actually buy the mid-teen priced Smart next year, for I am not such a consumerist as to act upon every product urge (else I'd have a house full of Porsches and peanut butter cups). I am content to simply admire things I covet (does that mean I am not truly coveting?). Yet again I digress.

The coming Smarts are Fortwo models, so-named because they are for two passengers (as opposed to the Forfour, which is a mouthful and thus thankfully not available). The car, sold in Europe for nearly a decade, will be available in the US starting next year through special Mercedes dealerships (like BMW did with Mini Coopers). I encourage you to go check out the Smart car's features, availability, a first-look review, or a test drive report. Isn't it just too adorable?

P.S. Is anyone else slightly disappointed that the Red Sox might go all the way again so soon after ending their century-long drought? I'd rather like to keep that 2004 come-from-behind World Series winning season special. There's nothing sadder than a really neat thing becoming trite, is there? *sigh* Maybe I'm just jealous because--let's be honest about this--my baseball and football teams suck. I've chosen wisely what to dream of these days. A Smart car, unlike a championship home team, is at least within my reach.

P.P.S. You will find that from here on forward, when you click on a link in my blog it will open a new browser window or tab. I'd hate to have you leave me and never return. :) Wanna do this on your own site? Here's how.