Smart’s tiny proportions defy expectations

A convertible top doesn’t hurt either, although it does run up the fortwo’s price pretty dramatically. A console-mounted switch activates the canvas power roof, which peels back as far as the silver roll bar-like roof pillar. Press it again and the canvas section behind the pillar retracts, leaving just the roof brace, which is behind the occupants and out of sight.

Even cooler — because of the roof’s structure, drivers can open or close it at any speed, without having to stop. Because the top portion of the roof slides back (rather than flipping upward and then folding down like regular convertible tops), it doesn’t stick up and catch the wind when it’s opened.

Behind the wheel, the fortwo is so easy to maneuver through traffic and to park that you’ll want to back up and do it again. This is both a function of its small size and its communicative steering, which tells the driver exactly what’s going on. The only way it might be improved would be to eliminate the power steering (pretty unnecessary in a 1,800-pound car).

The 1.0-liter, 70-horsepower, three-cylinder engine hums unobtrusively beneath the rear cargo floor (yes, there’s a 6.1- cubic-foot “trunklet” out back). That engine is matched to an automated manual transmission that spares urban drivers the left leg-tiring clutch pedal.

This is not a regular automatic transmission, and it doesn’t feel like one. An automated manual is more fuel efficient, but it also gives the feel of a manual; there’s a pause in acceleration on gear changes as the clutch is disengaged and the next gear is selected.

Some drivers positively hate all the lurching through the gears, and there is nothing that will change it. You can ease off the gas when the transmission is shifting and then ease back on the gas when the shift is complete. It smoothes shifts somewhat and perhaps also contributes to a sense that a driver is actually making the gear shift, but it doesn’t eliminate the jerking.

Only a change to a conventional automatic or an advanced dual-clutch manual with its continuous power flow will eliminate the lurches associated with gear shifts. Until then, if you can’t live with it, it’s probably a deal breaker for fortwo ownership. Otherwise, it’s just another idiosyncrasy of an odd little car.

Idiosyncrasies aside, more than 10,000 customers have snapped up this odd little car since its U.S. introduction in January. Smart isn’t releasing sales projections, but Roger Penske, whose company is importing and distributing the cars, says there’s demand for more cars and that he’s pressing Daimler AG, the manufacturer, to give him more. 

Perhaps today’s record-high gas prices have sparked a new sensibility that has more Americans feeling smart.

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