Clear Blue Dei

Here is the latest update from Smart Car USA. The Smart Car Dealerships are due to open in January and the reserved Smart Cars will start to be delivered at that point. We know someone who has reserved and is getting a Smart Car, hopefully in January. He and his wife are very excited! I hope to get a ride in it when he gets it and I will take pictures and post them.

Also, here is an interesting article from the Associated Press (on sfgate.com) that is an interesting read in that it contains some rather negative thoughts about the Smart Car. Here is an excerpt:“Some industry analysts are skeptical about Smart’s chances in the United States, where trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers still command more than half the market and gas prices, while rising, still don’t approach Europe’s.

Schembri won’t say how many vehicles Smart hopes to sell in 2008, but Aaron Bragman, an analyst with Global Insight, said he doesn’t expect more than 20,000, and sales will probably fall off after that. By comparison, the Toyota Yaris — the most popular subcompact on the market — sold 73,874 units in the first 10 months of this year, according to Autodata Corp.

“I think it will be a novelty,” Bragman said. “It’s a very niche market, and I’m not very sure it has much staying power.”

Bragman said for the price, buyers could get a used car with a lot more space and practicality. Unless gas prices hit $5 to $6 a gallon, he said, it’s hard to picture Smart gaining much ground.”

I think they may be surprised at how popular the Smart Car will be. People were very surprised at how popular the Scion XB is, not only among it’s intended audience - young, hip college kids, but also with baby boomers, older people, active people and just a lot of people in general. We own one and are thrilled with it. It is a very, very practical car and I think that they underestimate how many people want a practical car.

And especially for city commuting, the Smart Car is perfect, as near as I can tell. It exactly fills that spot and does so better than any other car available. It is small, inexpensive, gas-efficient and attractive. Not everyone wants or needs a big, gas-guzzling SUV, although the industry seems to think so. Well, we’ll see.

Also, I apologize for the formatting on this, I cut and pasted it from the email newsletter I received and it didn’t come through as well as I’d like. I could edit it to make the columns a little less wide, but the white space I just couldn’t seem to get rid of. But the information is all there

Enjoy,

~Susan Mellott

Vol.11 in this issue .01>> from the smart USA team .02>> smart dealership announcements .03>> road show wrap-up .04>> enthusiast site .05>> smart merchandise

11.01>> from the smart USA team

Dear smart Enthusiast, Thank you for your continued interest in the smart brand. If this is your first e-newsletter – welcome to the smart USA family. This month we have many exciting announcements for our smart enthusiasts. The Reservation Confirmation Program is well underway. Our smart USA team is currently contacting groups of reservation holders every week. Once contacted, reservation holders will have the opportunity to change and confirm their vehicles’ model, color, and add options, as well as update personal information. Upon confirmation, your reservation will be converted into a production order. Your order will then be assigned to the dealer nearest you who will contact you once your order is actually in production. The smart USA team is creating an enthusiast site just for you! Here you will have the opportunity to chat about the smart fortwo, exchange ideas and interact with insiders across the country. This website will be ready for your participation in the new year. smart USA will also be announcing the majority of our dealership locations throughout the month of January, and as they open throughout the balance of the year. Please read below for more details. The US version of the smart fortwo made its debut at the LA Auto Show November 14-25. The smart fortwo will also be featured at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit in January 2008 and the New York auto show in March 2008. Lastly, we are pleased to share with you the official technical specifications for the US smart fortwo model. We hope that this information is helpful as you await the arrival of this amazing vehicle. Again, thank you for your continued interest. Best regards, Dave Schembri President, smart USA

11.02>> smart dealership announcements

We know that many smart enthusiasts have been anticipating the formal announcement of our dealerships around the country. In addition, our Reservation Holders are patiently awaiting phone calls from their local dealer regarding formalizing their order. At this time, smart USA will begin announcing the majority of our dealerships throughout the month of January, and as they open throughout the balance of the year. This is to ensure that all national and state government requisites have been met by smart USA and the local dealers. After the announcement has been made, dealers will begin calling Reservation Holders to discuss the status of their reservations and formalize purchase agreements and delivery of confirmed orders. We are on track to open the majority of our dealerships by the end of January, and begin deliveries when dealerships doors open. Until then, we will continue to contact groups of Reservation Holders by email weekly with our Reservation Confirmation Program. smart USA appreciates your continued patience and enthusiasm for the arrival of the smart fortwo. Please continue to direct questions about your the smart fortwo or Reservations to 1.800.smart.USA or by using the “Contact Us” tab on www.smartusa.com.

11.03>> road show wrap-up

The smart USA “street smart” road show has come to an end with one final stop in the Washington D.C. area December 7-9. The road show has proven to be a major success in every city we’ve visited! The road show visited 50 cities, reaching over 75,000 people through our street team static displays, and test drives. In fact, over 50,000 people had the chance to take a test drive and experience the smart fortwo firsthand. In each city, the smart fortwo was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and excitement! Some people drove as far as three or four hours to attend a road show event. Others test drove the vehicle and were so excited that they got back in line to take another drive. We thank you for your enthusiasm and patience and apologize if you experienced a long wait. We hope you think it was worth your time. Thank you to those who attended the show, met our smart USA team, and took the time to share your questions and ideas with us. With your help, the “street smart” road show exceeded our most optimistic expectations and was a hit!

1.04>> enthusiast site

Attention Insiders: Want to be a part of something new and exciting, and exclusively for smart fortwo enthusiasts? Here is your chance! The smart USA team has created a special enthusiast website where insiders are invited to chat about their car, exchange tips, questions and ideas, and meet other insiders across the country. Before we start, we need your help to name our enthusiast site. Click here to participate in our short online poll and submit your vote for the website name! Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity!

11.05>> smart merchandise

smart merchandise items are coming! Make the sidewalk your catwalk with a new smart tee, baseball hat, keychain, and much more. We would like to see what items best suit your style! Please click here to participate in our one minute online poll.

this message was sent by smart USA Distributor LLC 1765 S. Telegraph Rd. Bloomfield, MI 48302 1.800.smartUSA www.smartusa.com

© 2007 smart USA. All rights reserved.

All illustrations and specifications contained in this email are based on the latest product information available at the time of sending. smart USA reserves the right to make changes at any time, without notice, in colors, materials, equipment, specifications, and models. Any variations in colors shown are due to variations in monitor resolution. Illustrations may include test situations. Some vehicles may be shown with non-U.S. equipment. Some vehicles are shown with optional equipment.

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Well, I had originally planned to write about a cool set of posts I found on Dark Roasted Blend about weird and wacky cars. But as I started looking at their blog, I found myself reading more and more posts of theirs and being totally amazed and amused.

So while this post is mainly about the amazing cars they have written about, it is also a huge recommendation to go surf round on their blog. But only if you have plenty of time! And don’t forget to bookmark it because you’ll want to go back again and again.

So without further ado, here are some of the wild and wonderful cars and similar forms of transportation that I found on their site.

This is the picture that I originally viewed that led me to their blog. How could you not go look to see where it came from.

And if you’ve read my prior posts, you will know how much I love the new fortwo Smart car. Check this smart car out!

This is from their World’s Smallest Cars. It is a 1954 Mivalino small car (truly rare find) - Italian Mi-Val motorcycle company’s own version of the Messerschmitt KR-175:

Smallest ever car to go into mass production was the fascinating “Peel” P50 car (you could almost carry it as a suitcase) - more info here.

Despite having only one light (of any kind) and 5-inch wheels, the car was nevertheless deemed street legal.

Here’s some seriously lit up trucks:

From their Future Tech Review, the Moovie concept car built by Peugeot has a length of just 2,3 metres (7.6 ft) and width and height of 1,5 metres (4.9 ft). Access is created by two large sliding doors placed in the centre of the hub-less side-wheels.:

And what about these Super Recreational Vehicles?

Too fancy for you? Try these:

Not really cars, but mechanized mobility suits “i-foot” and “i-unit”. The units can climb the stairs and are part of “The Wonders of Living and Moving Freely” and “The New Relationship Between People and Vehicles” exhibits.

These are just a very small preview of the cool cars and transportation (and related) things they have written about.

And then when you’ve spent hours looking through these, check out another of their categories, like Architecture or just plain Weird and start all over again!

~Susan Mellott

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This is information I received from Smart Car USA via their e-newsletter:

Dear smart Enthusiast,

Thank you for your continued interest in the smart brand. If this is your first e-newsletter – welcome to the smart USA family.

This month we have many exciting announcements for our smart enthusiasts. To begin, we started our Reservation Confirmation Program for current reservation holders, which is the next step to owning a smart fortwo. Please be patient as the smart USA team will be contacting reservation holders based upon the date the reservation was placed. Our smart USA team is currently contacting approximately 350 Reservation Holders per week. Reservation Holders will now have the opportunity to change and confirm their vehicle model, colors, and options, as well as update personal information. Upon confirmation, your vehicle will be sent to the factory for production and delivery.

smart USA also officially released the initial pricing for all three models, as well as all available factory-installed options and pricing. All of this new information is on our redesigned and comprehensive website, www.smartusa.com. Finally, we plan to announce our entire dealer network for 2008 by the end of this year, so that enthusiasts will know where their future smart centers will be located.

The smart USA team couldn’t be happier with the excitement enthusiasts continue to show about the smart fortwo coming to the USA. Because of the enthusiastic response to the $99 Reservation Program, we have decided to leave it open until further notice. Therefore, if you haven’t yet made your reservation “fortwo”, please take advantage of this opportunity by clicking here. And don’t forget to tell your family and friends about this unique opportunity.

Again, thank you for your continued interest.

Best regards,

Dave Schembri
President, smart USA

Smart Car Pricing

Last week, we announced the initial pricing of the 2008 smart fortwo. Unlike most small cars that offer only the bare essentials, the smart fortwo comes with a long list of sophisticated performance elements. All 2008 smart fortwos are packed with standard safety features, including the protective “tridion safety cell”, electronic stability program (esp®), anti-lock brakes (abs), and four airbags, to name a few.

The base model, pure, will come standard with many convenience features such as the 5-speed automated manual transmission that can be driven in either manual or automatic mode. In addition, central remote locking system, a 2-spoke leather steering wheel, stylized wheel covers, and much more are standard. We are pleased to make this car available for $11,590*. Options for the pure include air conditioning with climate control, a variety of radio choices, power steering, panorama roof, heated seats and more. Pricing for these options is available on the pure product page online.

The value packed and extremely well-equipped passion coupe will sport a panorama roof, alloy wheels, air conditioning with climate control, electric/heated side mirrors, paddle shifters, power windows, power mirrors and an AM-FM radio with CD player. All of this for only $13,590*. If you need more a little more spice, you can upgrade your music experience to a 5-speaker surround sound system, and add heated seats or an alarm system. Or get truly comfortable with our luxurious “comfort package”, including power steering, leather heated seats, rain and light sensors and an auto-off headlamps with exit delay for nighttime security. See all the factory installed options for the passion by clicking here.

The passion cabrio only adds to the fun of driving. This convertible has all of the same great features as the passion coupe, plus much more. The passion cabrio’s uniquely designed soft top with heated rear glass windows is fully automatic, allowing you to adjust it to any position. It also comes equipped with an mp3 compatible in-dash 6 CD changer. Imagine the wind in your hair for less than $16,590*, believed to be the lowest priced convertible in the USA. Already well-equipped, you can add additional options, like an alarm system, heated seats or the “comfort package” to really ride in style. To see how you can further outfit your cabrio, visit the passion cabrio page online.

The complete list of standard features, as well as available factory-installed options for all three models is also available on www.smartusa.com. Initial pricing for models and options is also shown. Now that you know what’s out there, get ready to personalize your own smart fortwo!

* Excluding tax, license, registration, destination charge and options
Smart Car Road Show

The “street smart” tour is still under way and has proven to be a major success in every city we’ve visited. All of your positive feedback was greatly appreciated! Although our west coast tour has wrapped up, our central and eastern tours are still well underway and will continue through the first week of November.We are pleased to announce that we will be visiting certain cities again, including Chicago and New York City. For reservation holders in these areas, please keep your eyes on your email as smart USA will be sending detailed evites inviting you to these special events. Don’t forget to look for us in your area or visit www.smartusa.com to see when the “street smart” road show will be in your city. We look forward to seeing you at one of our many events and test drives of the smart fortwo. Here’s a look at our remaining cities: Louisville Sept 28-29 Charleston Sept 28-30 St. Louis Oct 3 Atlanta Oct 5-7 Kansas City Oct 7-8 Jacksonville Oct 12-14 Tulsa Oct 13-14 Orlando Oct 19-21 Dallas Oct 20-21 Tampa Oct 27-28 Austin Oct 25-27 Miami Nov 2-4

I want one of these so bad!

~Susan Mellott

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I just have to say that I really, really, really want one of these cars! You can see them at the Smart Car website. They cost under $12,000 for the basic model, up to under $17,000 for the Smart fortwo Passion Cabrio which is a tricked-out convertible model. I like the middle of the road model, the smart fortwo passion, for under $14,000.

I’ve seen this car overseas and admired it and now it is coming to the U.S. The vehicle is designed to achieve 40 plus mpg under normal driving conditions and current standards. The top speed is 90 mph, which is plenty for me. Here is a link to the FAQ page on the smart car.

You can reserve a smart car for $99 which is applicable to your purchase of a smart car and is refundable any time.

We just bought a new Scion XB a couple years ago, which I also love (its name is Squeezle :). We are lucky we got one when we did because they discontinued the original XB and made a new one that is not nearly as cool. And we have a big Dodge Ram truck since we live in the country and get firewood and all.

So we just don’t need another car and certainly can’t going buying everything we want. But I have some serious hots for this car!

~Susan Mellott

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