by Sean O'Grady
What makes a Smart car? What makes a car smart? Thanks to brilliant marketing, we all know what a Smart car is: smiley face, dinky proportions, cheeky demeanour, bright, breezy and generally friendly, indoors and out.
What we used to think of as "the" Smart car, the little two-door, two-seater coupé, is still with us, of course, but rebadged as the Smart ForTwo. It has since been joined by the Smart Roadster and Roadster/Coupé, and the Smart ForFour.
The Roadster was a lot of fun - despite its dodgy clutchless, semi-automatic gear-change - but it never made DaimlerChrysler enough money and is soon going to cease production (unless it returns as a reincarnated MG...).
Plans for a Smart 4x4 mini-SUV and other derivatives have been canned. With this thinning-out the survival of the marque depends on the ForTwo's successor and the ForFour.
Which brings me to the Smart ForFour Brabus (ie, tuned) version that I drove recently, the most expensive in the range at £17 000 (about R180 000) and the most ill-judged, too.
Well, there's nothing like kicking a brand when it's down, is there?
But first, let me explain why you might just decide to opt for one of these rather than the default choice of a VW Golf GTI. The hottest Smart is a brilliant high-speed cruiser and feels as well-planted on a freeway as cars with more venerable names on their boot lids.
The ForFour Brabus shares with its cheaper brethren lots of thoughtful features, such as the sliding rear bench and easy-to-adjust, fold-down seats.
It reminds me of the old Austin 1100/1300, big brother to the Mini designed by the great Sir Alec Issigonis, in its regard for old-fashioned virtues such as space efficiency and good handling.
Most ForFours also share that old classic's decent ride but the Brabus has clearly had its suspension removed in a quest for sportiness. The designers may have gone a little too far there.
Indeed, they've gone a little too far all round. It's often a fine idea to produce a sporty model to create a "halo" effect on the rest of a model range. The old Mini Cooper and the Golf GTI proved that.
Here, however, the Brabus tuning, aggressive styling kit and leather interior seem to fight the minimalist, non-threatening brand values that Smart has tried so hard to establish.
Not such a smart move. - The Independent, London