The tiny, two seat smart car was perhaps the ultimate expression of Mercedes massive burst of creativity during the 1990s. Like the A Class, the smart re-thought the way cars were put together. But Mercedes also managed to invert a new brand as well as re-thinking the way car factories operated. The smart City Coupe concept was first dreamt up by Nicolas Hayek, the brains behind the Swatch watch brand. Hayek wanted to create cheap, innovative, modern, city centre transport and originally conceived Volkswagen to investigate the idea.
VW pulled out, and Mercedes stepped in. Mercedes was influenced by the environment and global warming scare of the early 1990s and became conceived that driving in European city centers could became restricted to all but the most fuel and space efficient vehicles.
As a result, the rear engine Smart powered by tiny three cylinder engine and was just 2.5m long. The ‘Tridion’ steel chassis was strong enough to provide impressive levels of crash protections and many of the body panels were self colored plastic that could be swapped. The interior was also completely bespoke with stylish, colorful post modern switchgear.
A brand new factory in Hamback, France was built for the smart. Much of the smart arrived in large sub assemblies from the component suppliers, which were than assembled. The smart family had grown to include a four seat sister car and clever tow seat long slung roadster, but in 2005 these were scrapped and plans for a small off roader canned. Even so, Mercedes decided to stick with the concept and launched a much improved Smart Coupe in 2006.
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