Why SmartWombat ?

I thought I'd give you a quick look at why I use the name SmartWombat.
Among my many obsessions is the Smart car.

It's all my wife's fault, she found the original City car while looking for something small, with automatic gearbox and air conditioning. Rather hard to find in the UK.
After buying that, I took it (OK, and her) up to Scotland for the weekend and fell in love with it ... so I just had to get one of my own - but a Cabrio model.
Then the car became more than just a car as we discovered the owner's club and went to meetings all round the country, then Europe.
Even though it's 600cc (don't laugh!) with its turbocharger it's capable of 115mph, fast enough to survive on the autobahn.

Three years on and they launched the Roadster, again I just had to get this and sold my Cabrio to get the new toy. I insisted on one of the first 70 in the UK, a left hand drive model so I could get to the office in Frankfurt from home here in Oxford, as I'd be spending more time on the "other" side of the road :)

Now that's one year old, and after 4 years in the club we're known as Mr & Mrs Wombat (my wife is resigned to it!) and we're on the management committee.
So we attend every major event: Edinburgh last week, Blackpool this week, Perth week after next, then Track day and London - Brighton run next month.

Top to bottom: Mr & Mrs Wombat at Blackpool Mayor's parade today - with cameras.
My new toy and a German sunset, 2003.
Hers (blue) 'n' his (grey) back in 2001.

So that's the Smart bit, the Wombat?
Well, that's another story.

Love the middle one. Looks like an ad.

And those are cute cars, we were in Gaitlinburg (did I mangle that?) Tennessee on Saturday and they rented "fun buggies" which look similar, only no doors.

adina

I loved those cars too. It makes me think that they have you sit down with your legs outstretched, and they build the car around you.

I just had to take a picture of one when I was in London. Are they more common on the European continent than in the UK?

Great car! We had a Mini show near here a couple of weeks ago, new and old. This looks much more high-tech than those - esp the turbo. I have a VW TDI and love to show it off to people unfamiliar with it. Once we've blasted out onto the highway, I tell them it's 90hp and 50mpg or so...

Thank you! Glad you like the photo.

Ad?
I had that in mind when I took it.
I was hoping it would get on the cover of the Smart Times (fan) magazine produced in the UK.
But as it was only a Mavica, it's not high enough resolution.
When I buy my 10D, I'll go back & do it again.

More high tech than a mini (even the new BMW one) and just as much fun!
At 60hp it's adequate, and it's electronically governed to 85mph.
Except my grey one which was re-mapped and did 115mph before I bottled out :D
My wife's is standard, she gets into enough trouble as it is burning off BMWs and AUDIs at roundabouts.

The diesel Smart is great, 800cc, turbocharged, 90mpg, 85mph - and they make a Cabrio!
But they don't sell them in the UK, only in Europe.

The City car is a very upright position, which is great for my wife's joint problems.
Hers is now a registered disabled vehicle, and as it's LHD the driver's door opens to the pavement instead of the road and it's far safer for her getting in & out.

Mine, you practically fall into it - particularly with the roof rolled back and the side bars removed.
But my wife can't get in and out at all easily, so she gets in and stays in all day :D

We went out to the factory where they're made, in Hambach (France).
Just across the border from Saarbrucken (Germany) so we went out to eat in Germany while staying in a French hotel !
Lots and lots of Smart snapshots (enough to bore you to tears) at http://www.smartowner.co.uk/gallery/smartwombat mixed in with a few good F1 photos.

I must do some work on a website of only the good photos :o