THE EVOLUTION OF SMART FROM MUCH-MALIGNED CONCEPT TO CULT CAR IN 20 YEARS...

摘要

Lurking somewhere in the bottom of a drawer at home lies an old Swatch. It's a special edition, never in shops. Not very attractive, a gaudy yellow, blue and magenta design. The clue is printed on the strap, a three-pointed star in a circle. It came to me in the goody bag at the lavish press conference in March 1994 when Mercedes and Swatch announced they would co-operate on a car. This was none of your customarily superficial 'cooperation' when a jewellery company takes an existing car and offhandedly applies stripes, shiny buttons or indeed a dashboard clock. No, this was to be a genuine joint effort to make a new city car. It was to be called Smart. Swatch would contribute its expertise in high-visibility marketing and low-cost highly customised manufacturing. Mercedes would do the engineering and safety. The HQ was in Swatch's backyard in Switzerland. Smart, from the get-go, was unlike any other car company, making what would be unlike any other car.