The Smart Fortwo is at this point an internet hall-of-famer, in the same infamous league as stuff like the Toyota Prius and the Chrysler PT Cruiser, and it's there for the same reason: Everyone loves to make fun of it. It's small, it doesn't have all that much power, and it's not the most refined automobile in the world. An easy target, right? Not so fast.
Setting aside the jokes, which admittedly can be funny sometimes, the Smart Fortwo was a total revolution. When it launched in the late 90s, it was the perfect response to metropolitan areas all over the world getting increasingly crowded. It's absolutely tiny and can fit just about anywhere, and what's more, it can go farther on a tank of gas than you might think.
It was also a revolution in small car safety. The car featured a steel Tridion safety cell that wraps around the cabin, and the rest of the body panels were plastic for easy and cheap replacement. There's so much more to the Smart car than just that, however.
Believe it or not, it hides some pretty neat features. The first and second generation Smart Fortwo both came with a very similar transmission: a six-speed semi-automatic, also known as a robotized manual. While we can cut the second generation car a little slack, as it also introduced an improved five-speed semi-automatic, the six-speed transmission became known the world over for being super jerky and not very nice to use, and it has been mercilessly mocked, even by owners.
But for as flawed as it was, it .