It is not, in even the broadest definition of the word, a sports car.
Despite being a little more than 50 millimetres wider than the original as well as longer in wheelbase by the same amount, the new Smart is about as adept at unravelling twisty roads as fish are at climbing the Pyrenees in the Tour de France.
That’s, of course, unlikely to bother Mercedes since the Smart’s multifarious roles do not include chasing Corvettes around race tracks. Mercedes Canada has sold 10,200 of the minicars in the last three years and I’m sure car enthusiasts weren’t the main buyers.
On the other hand, even those committed to fossil fuel frugality and low emissions will welcome the 2008’s major step forward, the substitution of a 1.0-litre gasoline engine for the old diesel.
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