When you see photos or illustrations of the smallest cars available today, the smart fortwo is often displayed.
It’s easy to understand if viewers believed the car was a toy, or just a prototype of something that might be built someday, but wouldn’t be seen anytime soon on American roadways.
What’s difficult to comprehend is this tiny vehicle – not even 9 feet in length – was developed by the parent company of Mercedes-Benz.
A New Trend
While Mercedes built a legacy of stylish, comfortable-to-ride-in luxury vehicles, the smart fortwo is appropriately named.
Of course, Toyota fell into the Infiniti trap of strange names with no vowels – Scion today has three models, the xB, tc and xD.
That said, which cars are the least attractive to the environmentally friendly driver?
The Malibu gets an overhaul pretty regularly for years that end with an “8†– 2008 being no different.
Most station wagons have bodies that essentially are modified sedans. They are passenger vehicles, but with an expanded rear cargo area, and almost always a rear window that is nearly vertical.
Infiniti was born in 1990 as Nissan’s luxury division – as Acura is for Honda, and Lexus for Toyota.
However it’s a vehicle that literally looks like a bug – not the classic Volkswagen version, either.
Take for example the 2009 Toyota Corolla. It’s not so simple to just take one and roll from a dealer’s lot.