6,000 Smart km from coast to coast

Little Car That Could makes it from Halifax to Vancouver with little fuss or fuel consumption

Jul 07, 2007

Special to the Star

VANCOUVER–Jason, the construction worker directing traffic on Grandview Ave. in Vancouver, vocalized what I assumed others who spotted our Smart ForTwo Cabriolet were also musing.

"Hey," he barked, "did you guys drive that thing all the way from Ontario?"

I smiled back, gave him the thumbs-up, yelled across the noise of the construction machinery and said, "Yes – yes we did!"

He just shook his head, a smirk now creasing his face.

With my 14-year-old daughter, Olivia, acting as my navigator, we then parked the two-seat, turbodiesel microcar for the last time in our cross-Canada driving adventure – this time in the shadows of Vancouver's omnipresent False Creek condos.

It was 2:15 p.m., Friday, June 29. Leaving Halifax nine days earlier, we had driven more than 6,000 km. To announce our accomplishment, there were no marching bands, news crews or confetti. Just a bunch of Vancouverites wondering why we were hugging our little car.

"It's just a Smart car," we could see them thinking. "What's the big deal?"

For the majority of Canadians living outside major urban centres, just off the two-lane rural roads that make up most of the Trans-Canada Highway, spotting our Smart was a big deal.

Whenever we stopped for gas, food or rest – from Miramichi, N. B., to Wawa, Ont., to Swift Current, Sask., to Kamloops, B.C. – our Steam Green Smart started a conversation.

"Where's the engine?" "How safe is that thing?" "What's it like in the wind?" and "Where do you put your luggage?" were the most common queries. Even stopped at traffic lights, we could see we sparked a few chats in other vehicles.

Whether it was the edge of the St. Lawrence south shore, the wilds of western Ontario, the windswept prairies or the rollicking Rockies, the Smart was as reliable as our driving days were long. We piled on an average three-months' worth of mileage in a little over a week. And except for a couple of pounds of air in all four tires mid-trip, the ForTwo never missed a beat.

The Smart ForTwo has little in common compared to the types of vehicles most Canadians drive on a daily basis.

Yet, other than crossing steep mountain passes, or keeping up with the reality of fast highway traffic, the 40 hp Smart never felt overwhelmed. For Olivia and myself, and a week's worth of luggage, the ForTwo was more than capable as a way to travel the country economically.

At the start of our trip in Nova Scotia, it was hard to ignore the Smart's diminutive size compared to the pickups, SUVs and transport trailers that propagate the Trans-Canada. But instead of counting on the vehicle's crashworthiness to get us to the West Coast in one piece, I drove the Smart like I drive any car that's not mine: look as far down the road as possible and give everyone else lots of room.

By the time we got to Calgary, the Smart's interior proportions and on-road demeanour had me fooled I was driving a run-of-the-mill compact. Too bad I was still getting looks from other drivers as if my fly was undone. And like the reaction from our construction friend Jason, we weren't quite sure if our Smart was generating responses of envy, ridicule or ignorance.

There's no getting around the fact that by driving a Smart outside its natural urban habitat, you're making a bold statement.

In a culture that traditionally rewards consumption, the ForTwo's extreme minimalism brings out the eco-versus-ego debate among motorists. If you're an introvert, or a member of a witness protection program, a Smart's not for you either.

But as a unique automotive concept that shifts the paradigm of what a real car can be, the Smart still has no equal. A reader emailed us comparing our journey as driving a Volkswagen Beetle cross-country in the mid-'50s.

Whether the Smart becomes the agent of change the iconic Beetle ended up as, only time will tell.

Whatever. Because with the recent rise in the price of gas and many more people concerned about doing something good for the environment, a lot of new-car buyers are thinking smaller for their next vehicle. Maybe not as an extreme departure as the Smart, but maybe something smaller than their full-size pickup or SUV.

For a lot of people, and more than likely, a lot more in the future, the Smart is a real car.

And if they happen to decide one day that they want to drive their Smart from coast-to-coast, and don't mind the attention of gawkers like our cynical friend Jason, you have my hearty endorsement to go for it.

LeBlanc's road trip from Halifax to Vancouver, go to wheels.ca.

Toronto Star