2008 Smart ForTwo

2008 Smart ForTwo
It is so small the name has no capital letters. The smart fortwo, engineered by Mercedes-Benz, will arrive in the U.S., in three model choices. With 750,000 examples running around 36 countries, the U.S. will be among the last to get one.

Yet, when the 2008 Smart ForTwo arrives in the U.S. late this year, it will be an all-new version, not the European-market car being shown to prospective buyers over the summer.

With its diminutive dimensions (8.8 x 5.1 x 5.1 feet), two would fit side-by-side in one average freeway lane. Yet that yardstick applies only to the outside because the cabin is big enough for a pair of adults well over six feet tall to ride comfortably, not stuck together as in a small aircraft.

Storage space sufficient for overnight bags, one mid-sized hound, or a load of groceries is in back above the mid-mounted engine and accessed through a glass hatch with drop-down tailgate.