Welcome back,
Pertolheads!
Today
I’m going to share my biggest experience so far on a fan club meeting, more
specifically, the biggest Smart drivers meeting in the world: the annual Smart
Times, this year in Lucerne, Switzerland.
This
event has been happening since the year 2000, at first only a meeting of some Smart
enthusiasts from central Europe, later with the full support of Mercedes-Benz,
and year by year, it grows accordingly.
First
of all, I should apologize for the personal approach of today’s post, because
the simple matter of fact is this: I’m a Smart fan.
It
has been some time since I wanted to join this event, but living in Portugal
made that a little bit complicated, as Europe’s California is far away – around
2k kilometres, to be precise. However, as now I’m living in the south of
Germany, things were different. So, one month ago, I brought my beloved
batmobile – 2355 km (1472 miles) in two days, without the slightest of dramas –
and last weekend I drove to Lucerne, a further 370km away.
My
first impressions weren’t that promising. The weather was dreadful and
everybody was a bit on their own, not really interested in speaking to unknown
people, but instead going around in small groups. I suppose everybody was just
getting acquainted with the place and people, because as time passed by,
that feeling changed a bit.
But
the stars of the event of course, are the cars. It’s impressive how diversely
the dedication for a car can be expressed: some people personalize the
exterior, some add giant stereos and speakers, some actually perform structural
changes, but some – just like me – are just as happy maintaining theirs at
their best possible condition, leaving them in standard specification. The love
for a car can also be expressed with a simple fact: there were around 15
Crossblades around – a Smart without roof, windshield or doors – most of them
from the UK!
I’ve
listened, for many times, that such events are ridiculous, because people go to
a place to see cars just as theirs. I can understand that, if we are talking
about a Volkswagen Polo, a Renault Mégane or a BMW 3-series, because let’s face
it – apart from their top versions (GTI, Sport or M3, respectively), they are
just tools, and 99% are just used like that. The same cannot be said to a
Smart, at least to most two-seater Smarts. I agree that the Smart Forfour – a
restyled Mitsubishi Colt – is barely special on its essence, even if it’s looks
are a little bit more special that the contemporary competitors.
But
the same cannot be said regarding the most common Fortwo or – especially – the
Crossblade or Roadster. While many Fortwo owners may have bought the thing
purely for practical reasons, today’s owners of Crossblades and Roadsters – the
minority still the original ones – have theirs because they love them. Nobody
buys a second-hand unit of these special cars for any objective reason, even if
a Roadster can actually be a relatively sensible choice as a daily commuter on
a warm country.
I
speak by myself: I spent hours just walking around the car parks, looking at
and taking pictures of my preferred cars. I may already have two Roadsters, but
I still love to look at other ones, with different colours, wheels and
equipment. This thought was shared with some of fellow Smart drivers, and at
the end people end up sharing similar experiences with their cars. In the end,
most owners have a similar profile, the core being the same specific lifestyle.
The
high point of any Smart Times though, is the Smart Parade, when all cars and
their respective owners line up for a bit of showing-off driving, and there’s
when all hell breaks loose! The Course was a go and return route on the same
roads, so everybody got to cross with every other participant along the way,
and suddenly, it was like everybody knew personally all the others! No matter their
model, the way back was done flashing lights and beeping to most of the other
1202 cars in the Course, just an epic moment! And all of this happened under lots of
rain and cold temperatures, none strong enough to cool the mood of the
participants. It was one of my all-time greatest driving moments.
Another
highlight of the day was the voting for the location of Smart Times 2014, when
all participants could vote for one of three candidates: Austria (Vienna), UK
(Brighton) and Portugal (Cascais). After spending the day helping my few
Portuguese fellows with merchandising and information disposal, it was another
epic moment when the vote counting revealed that most of this year’s participants
wanted next year’s meeting to take place in Portugal! Let’s face it, the warm
climate, landscapes, great coast roads and tasty and cheap food are just the
perfect complement for such an event!
A
final reference to the presence of one of the few remaining Smart Roadster V6
Biturbos, the final must-meet for any true Smart Roadster fan. I couldn’t
confirm the actual number of units still in existence, but I can report that
this particular one – number 3 – was in very good condition, at least externally.
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