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Understand that our expectations for the Smart Forspeed Concept were reasonably high as far as our initial reaction of what the car looks like. But seeing as this is nothing more than just a concept and any hope of a production version has been essentially squashed, we’re a little disappointed that we won’t be seeing this vehicle on the road in the foreseeable future. Having said that, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that the folks from Smart did a remarkably impressive job with the concept. Just revealed at the Geneva Motor Show, the Forspeed Concept’s design is far more aggressive than anything Smart has ever produced, which is a testament to the revelation that these guys are far more artistic than we gave them credit for. Designated as Smart’s official ‘speedster’ - although we’re going to use that word a little loosely because of its ’conservative’ powertrain - the Forspeed definitely looks like it can throwdown with the best of ‘em, even if it comes in that small frame. UPDATE 03/01/11: Check out the updated photo gallery of the Smart Forspeed Concept. Exterior and Interior  Among the notable elements found on the car include wind deflectors in place of a windshield, which actually has solar cells integrated in them. There’s also a distinctive honeycomb grille and a dressed up interior that features individual binnacles for both front seats and mirrors that take the shape of those that you can find on actual speedboats. Then there’s the maritime interior theme, which includes individual binnacles for the driver and co-pilot. The passenger seat also gets its own unique iPhone dock with a two-tone white and lime green finish rounding up the Forspeed’s attractive interior. Performance  As for the powertrain, the Forspeed will have a rear-mounted electric motor that generates 40 horsepower with an overboost function that adds seven horsepower to the mix. The speed tops out at 75 mph with a driving range of 84 miles. See what we mean about using the term "speedster" loosely? Pricing It’s still a concept car that has very little chance of making it as a production car so Smart didn’t even bother giving it a price tag. Bummer. Competition In our world of make-believe competitions between real cars and a concept car, we see the Smart Forspeed Concept engaging in a city-car showdown with something like the Toyota iQ. Performance-wise, the iQ is more powerful than the Forspeed Concept, thanks to its 1.0-liter, three-pot engine with 68 horsepower. 69 ponies isn’t a whole lot, but comparing it to a car that produces 47 horsepower just doesn’t sound like its a close fight. As for aesthetics, well, we’re not even gonna go there. The Smart Forspeed is a concept car and as with all concepts go, it’s got some killer design features.   Sport exterior
Fresh interior
Overall design looks more aggressive than any other Smart car
Only a concept
Could be more powerful
We can buy it...in our dreams
13 comments: Smart Forspeed Concept Plus of course the Fit runs on regular unleaded. While I would love to see people in this country move out of their huge gas ing SUV and pickup trucks (won’t happen till gas is over $5 a gallon), a Smart is just too small and unnecessary.
 I know Smart sold a lot of cars to the early adapters but I hardly them things on the road, and when I do think to myself, "what a pointless car, my Honda Fit probably gets close to the real world mileage of a Smart, it looks better, it’s safer, it’s more comfortable, it’s a lot more convenient, and it’s still small enough to be a great city car.
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Posted on
02.28.2011 @ 09:23