2006 smart fortwo passion Road Test

2006 smart fortwo passion (Photo: Lesley Wimbush, Auto123.com)

Since the late 90s, the oh-so-cutely dubbed smart fortwo has been kicking around Europe, finally making its way over here in 2004. Soon to be introduced in the U.S., it's engineered as an urban runabout and it's sure to be the darling of the chi-chi California set - which is good news for those of us who'd love never to set eyes on another Prius.

I'd already had the pleasure of driving it at the Canadian Journalists Association's annual 2004 Testfest in a variety of situations - highway, roads, and track (whereas one burly veteran journalist declared it to be as much fun as a fart in a wetsuit) and an impromptu parking lot drag race with two racing mag journalists. Unfortunately, we were without a sundial, so timeslips could only be guessed at.

Admittedly, my tastes in autos run to primitive or sensually pleasing - lopey thumping pushrod V8s, hard-trammeling suspension, luxurious curves and raucous European barks - all can raise hair on the back of my neck and bring shivers to places best not mentioned here. While the

2006 smart fortwo passion (Photo: Lesley Wimbush, Auto123.com)

smart fortwo could probably be voted least likely to invoke any kind of automotive lust.

And yet, although I wasn't ready to admit it to my motorsports club friends - or even to myself, I was almost morbidly curious about what is surely the goofiest looking nebbish-mobile since the Isetta. Try as I might, I couldn't get my head around the fact that this thing is actually a car and not some sort of weird personal transportation device.

In fact, it would be easy to just let rip and have a good old slagfest at the smart's expense if the thing didn't make so much sense. Lambasting it for its shortcomings is kind of an exercise in the obvious. Sure cargo capacity and passenger accommodations are less than stellar. So what - it can't tow either.

To start with the miniscule inline 3-cylinder, rear-mounted diesel that delivers only 40 hp, although there's a lunatic over in Britain who created

2006 smart fortwo passion (Photo: Lesley Wimbush, Auto123.com)

a track monster known as the "Smartuki" by dropping in a Hayabusa engine and beefing up the suspension to handle the resultant 180 hp.

You can drive the fortwo hard and far all day for under $13, stick it in parking spots meant for two-wheelers and receive thumbs up from academics and socially conscious types who assume that you're environmental - in contrast to the raised middle digits I received while driving the H3 through the university campus.