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For a while back there, it looked as if the small coupe was about to make a comeback. Cars like the Ford Puma and Vauxhall Tigra briefly piqued the public interest before withering on the vine. Nowadays theres nothing smaller than a Hyundai Coupe to interest the keen coupe customer. Unless, that is, you factor in the smart roadster-coupe.
Heres a car that will certainly get you noticed, boasting one of the most eye-catching designs to hit the road for quite some time.
It wont come cheap though. Initial plans to market this car at around 10,000 went by the wayside and as the full extent of the manufacturing complexity became apparent, the asking price gradually crept over higher with each subsequent press release. As it stands, youll need at least 14,515 to get behind the wheel of a roadster-coupe, and while some motorists would rather direct their funds towards something bigger and more practical, theres no coupe for comparable money that offers quite such as special driving experience as this smart. Peruse a specification sheet and youd have to wonder what all the fuss was about.
Motive power comes from a familiar source, namely the three-cylinder turbocharged 698cc engine found in the smart fortwo coupe, although in this instance it has been boosted to produce 80bhp. This may sound small beer, but in a car that weighs just 790kg, it makes a fair fist of punting the roadster models up the Queens highway. Theyll accelerate to 60mph in 10.7 seconds and will top out at 109mph.
With 101bhp, the 16,990 BRABUS model is faster still, boasting a 120bhp per tonne power to weight ratio and a 122mph top speed. Still hardly trouser immolating stuff, but its the way the car drives rather than the bald figures it generates that count. A few years ago I was involved in a heated debate with one of motoring journalisms old guard about a Mitsubishi 3000GT. My contention was that this overblown coupe made going fast feel too easy, endangering your licence without offering any specific thrills whereas his view was that this was technology as an enabling factor.
Hed probably hate the roadster-coupe - which is why I rate it so highly. Heres a car that makes 50mph feel like a white-knuckle ride. The steering jinks and bobs in your hands as you blat along typically bumpy British B-roads, you hear every whistle, fizz and zizz of the engine mounted right behind your head, the view from the drivers seat is undeniably sporting and theres enough power to allow you to engage in some rather atypical (for a smart) cornering manoeuvres. The left-hand drive versions that initially arrived in this country lacked the right-hand drive cars power assisted steering and are, if anything, even more fun to drive.
"Theres no coupe for comparable money that offers quite such as special driving experience as this smart "
With ESP stability control to save you from the potential embarrassment of planting a 700cc car into the scenery, you soon build confidence in this tiny roadster. Youll need to work the gear lever (or, if you specify them, shift paddles) in order to keep it in that fun zone between 3,000 and 6,000rpm. Smart have managed to engineer out much of the ponderous understeer that affects the fortwo coupe quite so drastically, instead concentrating on a more enthusiast-focused set up. There seems to be hardly any body roll mid-corner and the light weight means that the suspension engineers have been able to reduce the amount of dive and squat when braking and accelerating to create a very fun, stable platform.
Perhaps the only fault is that its too good. So intuitive does it feel and so confidence inspiring is the chassis set up that you soon begin to yearn for more power. The Audi that you left for dust in the last series of bends is soon filling your rear view mirror as the bends turn to straights. Still, as Smart reckon, this is a car where the focus is not purely on reaching the destination but also on the journey there.
Given a blank sheet of paper and a sky high projected price tag, we could all design an achingly desirable coupe. Tighten the brief to include an affordable sticker price with the proviso that the car has to be environmentally friendly, tiny, of unimpeachable quality and must offer all the contemporary toys such as electronic stability control and a sequential gearshift and the job becomes a whole lot tougher. Thats why the Smart are so bullish about their Roadster-Coupe. Its sold alongside the slightly cheaper Roadster which, you may deduce, isnt a coupe.
The two cars differ largely in the way they lose their heads. The roadster features an electrically powered soft top along the lines of the Smart Fortwo Cabriolet, although a matt hardtop can also be specified. This model has a notchback boot, in contrast to the roadster-coupe that boasts a high-gloss hardtop with a soft top as an option. Its up to you to decide which you prefer the looks of.
Dont make the mistake of thinking this is just a smart fortwo coupe with a racy body. Only 35 per cent of parts are shared between the two cars, although much of the interior will look mighty familiar to existing smart owners. One thing that is shared is the feeling of space inside. With the three-pot engine behind the driver instead of a pair of useless vestigial seats, cabin room up front is optimised.