All you need to know about Smart cars.
Born: 1998
Nationality: German, of Lebanese/Swiss parentage
The Smart concept arose from the success of the Swatch watch invented by Nicolas Hayek, a Lebanese businessman working in Switzerland. Having saved the Swiss watch industry by shifting from expensive timepieces to cheap and cheerful plastic costume jewellery, he came up with the cheap and cheerful car.
In 1989 Hayek approached Renault. But, busy with the launch of its own Twingo, it said no. He then talked to VW's Daniel Goedevert, who was interested. But when Ferdinand Piech took over VW in 1993, that route abruptly became a cul-de-sac.
Finally, he attracted the interest of Mercedes-Benz stylist Johann Tomforde and an agreement was reached in April 1994 to set up a Daimler-Benz subsidiary in Switzerland called Micro Car Compact (MMC) - it had a 49 per cent shareholding in Hayek's SMH watch company.
But, while Hayek's proposition was cheap and cheerful, even a car that would be partly public transport with designated pick-up/drop areas and usable by anyone with a special "smart" card, Tomforde actually wanted a small city car to reflect Mercedes quality, technology and strength. Tomforde prevailed and the Smart became a more highly engineered and more expensive vehicle than the original concept.
The first Smart was shown at Geneva in 1998, after an amazingly short development time of three years - five or six years is normal for a new model.
The sales target was 130,000 by the end of 1999, but it came nowhere near this. Asked to join in a cash infusion for the project, Hayek decided no - "in the interests of the shareholders" of SMH. The company's share consequently dropped to 19 per cent.
There was speculation that DaimlerChrysler, as parent company, would dump the Smart, especially after suggestions that the short and tall car was unsafe in some icy or snowy conditions. But DaimlerChrysler boss Jurgen Schrempp stuck with the car, ordering some re-engineering to head off any driving surprises.
The original Smart had a three-cylinder 600cc turbocharged petrol engine outputting 45bhp. In 2000, this was boosted to 55bhp - and the company managed to sell 102,000 cars, an encouraging 28 per cent boost over 1999.
In 2001 the company showed its Tridion4 Roadster concept at Frankfurt, which among other ideas suggested a diesel-electric hybrid power system. The roadster finally arrived in coupé and cabrio models last year.
The original two-seater Smarts are now known as the "fortwo" coupé and "fortwo" cabrio respectively. A "forfour" based on the next Mitsubishi Colt platform will go on sale in the US in the future.
The Smart, now ubiquitous in several European cities, finally came to the Irish market last September. It's sold through two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Dublin.
Best Car: The Roadster coupé - the best fun you can have and stay within the Irish speed limits.
Worst Car: Early days, but I've found the original city car noisy and objectionable - especially when I'm overtaken by one while driving a Porsche Turbo.
Weirdest Car: Any or all, depending on your aesthetic sense . . . but what about the one (pictured) that took part in the London to Athens World Cup Rally in 2002?