When Ryan visited in the spring, he came home and told us all about these things called "Smart Cars" that he saw. He described them as "Mini-Me" cars (obviously he has watched Austin Powers too many times). I saw a few while in England in June but there were many more in Germany. To pass time while driving we would play the "Smart Car" game where we had teams of people looking for Smart Cars, each worth one point. To give us a Smart Car fix once and for all, Mike took us to a dealership on the way home.They really push the "cute" factor with these things... complete with storing them in something that looks like a giant vending machine! Inside this is a mechanism that can slide a car to the middle and then lower it via an elevator to the ground after the buyer chooses one. Just plunk your 25,000 DEM (about $13,000) in, and pick your car.
Here you can see just how small these things are. There is only about 3 inches in front/behind the tires and the doors take up almost the entire sides.
