That would be a SMART car to have...

Like most 20-something males, MadAnthony tends to occasionally dream about owning certain cars (and to occasionally refer to himself in the third person). Most of these tend to be of the large luxury-truck variety (Lexus LX470, Mercedes G-Wagen, Ford F250 Harley Davidson Edition, ect) or the sleek impractical sports car variety (Lotus Eclipse, Corvette, Viper, Gallardo, ect).

But there is one vehicle I would love to have that's coming on the market - the smart, the tiny two passenger car that Mercedes and Swatch designed, and that's coming to the US soon (it's already here as a gray-market car, available from some local dealers, but the new model will soon be sold domestically, and quite a bit cheaper than the grey-markets.

Most dream cars are appealing because of the way they drive, the speed and handling while your behind the wheel. But while Popular Science showed that you can drive a smart crosscountry, I want it for it's parking ability.

See, while I may now rock the suburbs, I still work in the city, and since unlike some of my coworkers I haven't convinced my employer that I'm a service vehicle and need to park in service spots, I have to find a spot on the street. Lately, it's been next to impossible to find a spot, to the point that I either have to 1)get to work 45 minutes early or 2)park about a quarter mile away (next to the all-girls college next to us, which always seems to have plenty of street parking nearby) and walk. But quite often while I'm looking for a spot, I'll pass half a spot - where someone has parked in a way just big enough that a car could almost fit in, but not quite. The smart, being tiny, could fit - it supposedly can fit head-in to a parallel spot (although I do wonder how the Baltimore parking authorities, who rarely applaud creativity when it comes to parking, will look on this).

In an ideal world, I would have my Ranger for weekends and a smart for commuting. I like owning a truck because once a month or so, I make some large purchase or I load everything in my basement in the back and go to a hamfest to sell or it's snowing and I need 4wd. For the rest of the time - when I'm just driving to and from work or to the gym or the grocery store - I don't need a 6 foot bed. The smart would be great for that. If I had the money, I'd buy one for that purpose - and I wonder how many other households, with a commuter who has to park on the street and enough money to buy an additional car - will go this route. My guess is more than has been predicted.