Autoblog

Hermes has decided to continue its recent trend of modifying iconic cars and celebrating their birthdays. First it was the Bugatti Veyron Fbg by Hermes, followed by a special commemorative edition of the Citroen 2CV for its 60th anniversary. Now, Hermes has taken on the smart fortwo, issuing a special edition of the diminutive city car, which has now been on the market for a decade. As you'd expect, the Hermes fortwo sees its interior swathed in leather along with a special canvas called Toile H. These two unique textures cover everything from the seats to the car's tridion safety cell. On the inside, the Hermes signature orange is a nice color option, as are nine others including indigo, gold, lime and, uh, pink. High fashion never comes cheap, and the Hermes Smart is no exception coming in at $48,500 in U.S. dollars or 38,000 euros and on sale now in both hardtop and convertible versions. Hey, at least you get a standard umbrella. Thanks for the tip, JW!


[Source: Sybarites]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Black Deere smart from SEMA

Tom Mutchler at Consumer Reports says his first drive in a SMART reminded him of his John Deere x300 lawn tractor. Slow and noisy, but they both fit in his garage. Apparently, Black Deere LLC had the same impression of the little car and showed up at SEMA with one in John Deere's green and yellow livery. Other than being painted to match farm machinery, the SMART ForTwo Passion Cabriolet sports four air horns and an air-compressor powered truck horn. You might not see this thing coming at you, but by God you'll hear it. Unfortunately, we can't find out much about the car's customizer, Black Deere. SEMA's information lists an inactive URL and Google turns up only the story from SEMA.


Photos copyright ©2008 Frank Filipponio/Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Batsmart from SEMA

George Barris has officially gone batty. While he is one of the men generally acknowledged for creating the original Batmobile, he hasn't shown anything with those trademark wings since Joel Schumacher almost ruined the franchise. And then we passed this in the North Hall at SEMA today. Maybe it was Catwoman standing next to it, but the Batsmart instantly takes us back with those trademark high-mounted rear wings, a rear jet exhaust, roof-mounted flutes and vertical doors. We don't have many details, but we really don't need them. Just look at it – it's a smart fortwo wearing a Batmobile costume for Halloween!

Maybe gas has risen to $11 a gallon in Gotham and this is the best Bruce Wayne can do. Who knows? We've actually heard that 40 lucky Bat fans will be able to get their hands on one of these in the near future. The standard package won't include the roof flutes or rear chutes and exhaust, but they will be available options. Keep your eye on smart42parts.com website for updates. Meanwhile, we don't think our modern day Caped Crusader has any plans to replace his Tumbler with this toddler.

Those looking for a little bit more punch from their microcars are in luck as smart will begin offering the BRABUS-tuned version of its fortwo in the U.S. beginning in February 2009. News of its impending arrival was apparently emailed to potential smart owners who have already placed reservation deposits but have not yet configured their new fortwo. These people in line for a regular smart fortwo will have the option of changing their reservation to the limited edition BRABUS model beginning 8PM EST tonight. The American-ized version should feature the same 98-horsepower turbocharged three-cylinder engine as the BRABUS fortwo in Europe, as well as the same styling tweaks and handling package. Even with the increase in power, the European BRABUS fortwo is still able to achieve 45 miles per U.S. gallon. While it's 10-second run to 60 won't break any records, that's a precious few ticks quicker that the standard model and would surely make the microcar a lot more fun to drive. Still, we'll take what we can get.

UPDATE: Sources on the forum indicate the U.S.-spec fortwo BRABUS will not get the turbocharged version of the microcar's three-cylinder engine (probably because it's not certified in the U.S.), though a BRABUS Sport model may arrive later with the turbo. The BRABUS package will reportedly include a sport exhaust with dual center tips, sport suspension, 15- front and 17-inch rear wheels, power steering and all the BRABUS visual cues.


[Source: All Cars All The Time, smart of america]

Chalk this one firmly in the rumormill category, but Johnathan Bodily over at Street Import Online is reporting that he's seen what appears to be an electric smart fortwo at Tesla's facility in San Carlos plugged into a Tesla-branded charging station. What's more, this particular smart differed from other fortwos in that it lacked a tail pipe. We know that Daimler has been running second-generation smart ed's (with lithium ion batteries from an unknown source) around various locations for a little while, and that Tesla has stated that it has signed a few deals to supply batteries to other companies for their electric vehicle projects. Putting this final piece of the puzzle together, it appears we have enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that the Silicon Valley company is provided the batteries to Daimler for its new electric smart cars.

Hopefully, this collaboration will bear fruit in the form of both electric smart cars in America and provide Tesla Motors with some of the working capital it needs to continue forward with its Model S electric sedan project. We contacted Tesla for an official response, and as expected got a definitive "no comment." Next question, is Tesla providing the battery packs for the MINI E? Any camera wielding readers who happen to be in the in the San Carlos, CA area might want to cruise past Tesla's office and see if they can snap a picture of any cars plugged in outside the front door. If you do, drop us a tip and we'll tell you how to send us your photos.

[Source: Street Import Online]

Cars represent freedom, right? Sure, but shouldn't that same freedom be available to those who can't justify purchasing their own car? Daimler thinks so, and has created a new pilot program called car2go that allows subscribers to rent a smart fortwo for just 19-cents a minute or less, depending on how long you need the car. The initial roll-out is taking place in Ulm, Germany and begins October 24. The cars can be reserved at a moment's notice from the internet, a mobile phone or in passing using an electronic chip that's given to the user upon the account's creation. There are no limits as to how far the car car be driven, and it can be parked and relocked wherever the driver's trip ends as long as it's within the city limits.

At the outset, there will be 50 smart fortwo's in use by car2go. For a trial period, only Daimler employees will be able to use the service, but the automaker hopes to expand to all Ulm citizens in the spring of 2009. We imagine the car2go service will expand into other locations based on how successful this pilot program proves to be, but don't hold your breath for smart rentals in the U.S. anytime soon.


[Source: Daimler]

If this doesn't strike you as a sign of the times, you may need to get your eyes checked. The only HUMMER dealership in Las Vegas, the city that invented excess and bling, is shutting its doors. Towbin HUMMER is actually one of the largest HUMMER dealerships in America. So what will they be selling instead? Well, you already know because you saw the headline at the top of this post: SMART cars. Talk about one extreme to the other.

Dan Towbin owns several dealerships in Sin City, where he sells Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Infinitis and Dodges. He says he'll bring in another GM dealership alongside the SMART store to replace the HUMMERs, which have been selling slow on account of high gas prices and increasing environmental conscience among consumers. Towbin's will be the eighth HUMMER dealership to close this year so far, a trend which may make it even harder for the General to sell off the brand.

[Source: Wall Street Journal via Kicking Tires]

In Europe, it's common to see several smart cars sharing a single parallel parking space, with their diminutive front bumpers against the curb and the rear facing traffic. Try that in New York city, and you'll likely get towed. Instead, smart fortwo owners can take advantage of Meyers Parking's half price offer: 50% off daily and monthly parking rates in the city.

In a press release (available after the jump), Mike Carolan of Meyers parking said, "We are excited to offer smart owners a discount, as it seems only appropriate that smart owners pay half price since they only take up half the space."

We agree you shouldn't be charged for a full space when you only have half a car. With the cost of parking in the Big Apple, this deal alone could move a few more of the colorful little two-seaters.

[Sources: Gadgetell via Fashion Funky]

Thanks for the tip, Yash!

Click above for high-res gallery of the smart fortwo

Of all the possible reasons that a vehicle could be recalled, a poor paint job doesn't at first seem all that newsworthy. After all, cars could theoretically be recalled for exploding gas tanks, runaway engines or any number of horror-inducing problems. Bad paint? No harm, no foul -- just take it back and have it repainted properly. Unless, of course, that paint problem could lead to the loss of your windshield or roof while driving. This is exactly the worry that the NHTSA has with 43 smart ForTwo's, all sold in 2008. It seems that some adhesive was laid over the problematic paint, and if the paint lets go... so does the glue. While it's never happened to us personally, we tend to agree with the NHTSA's assessment that the sudden loss of either the glass in front of you or the ceiling protecting your dome could potentially lead to a crash. Anybody who's concerned can contact their dealer, assuming that they haven't already been notified of the problem.


[Source: Next Autos]

One of the cooler aspects of the Woodward Dream Cruise is that its completely open and unmoderated. It's the ultimate "run what you brung" event. Hundreds of thousands of people sit along the edge of the road and watch everything from bikes to trucks go by and the juxtaposition can be fascinating. Seeing a giant yellow high riding pickup truck with the front end of a Chevy Kodiak bearing down on a custom vinyl wrapped Smart is definitely an interesting sight.