TEENCY, WEENCY, LITTLE CARS INVADE BROOKLYN

You've probably noticed one of these little buggers scooting around town. After selling more than a million of them in European cities, SmartUSA has introduced its SMART fourtwo to the United States. This one pictured to the left was spotted on Degraw Street in Carroll Gardens. But, as prices continue to soar and personal budgets are being cut because of the economy, folks are eating these tiny cars up.

At a starting price of $11,590, the SMART fourtwo is just 8.8 feet long, 5.1 feet high and 5.1 feet wide. Translated, that means you could park two of these things lengthwise in the average New York City parking space. Even more remarkable, at just five feet wide, you could double park two of them, or by pulling the SMART car in sideways, you could easily park three of them in one 9 X 18ft space.



Designed by Mercedes engineers, the SMART car gets 33mpg in the city and an estimated 41 mpg on the highway. Top speed is 90mph.

Here's a preview of the 2009 SMART models from the company's website:

"The 2009 smart fortwo will begin production this fall! The new 2009 models will introduce two new colors to make your smart fortwo even more exciting. The smart fortwo will still convey the innovation, functionality and joy of life that defines each and every smart fortwo.

For the exterior, the 2009 smart fortwo will introduce two new colors – a sporty and intense “rally red”, and a cool and elegant “gray metallic”. These two colors will replace the 2008 “light yellow” and “red metallic” colors, though the discontinued colors will still be available through your local smart center as replacement panels or full bodypanel freshup kits.



On the interior of the vehicle, new door nets will replace the solid storage areas on the driver and passenger doors. The flexible door nets will offer a bigger and more functional storage area for you and your passenger. Finally, the LCD display of instrument cluster will now including a Loose Gas Cap Indicator light to warn the driver when the fuel tank cap is not fully closed."