Ferraris and Lamborghinis might be sought after, but they’re not exactly rare. Neither are Porsches, or Lotuses, or McLarens or Ford GTs. Do you know what is really rare, though? The Smart Crossblade. Mercedes-Benz had the wherewithal to build just 2,000 of these bizarre little roadster things for the entire world between 2002 and 2003, and there’s really no way to know how many have made it over to the U.S., as it was never officially sold here. If I had to guess, there are fewer than a dozen. So, when I saw there was one sitting at Vantage Auto, a dealership just 15 miles outside Manhattan (and less than a mile away from the house I grew up in), I knew what I had to do. I had to call these people up and ask them very nicely if I could get behind the wheel of their very rare little car.
To my surprise, they told me to come on down, and what I found was a car that was, in all honesty, awful. The Crossblade is not really a car. In many ways, it’s the spiritual successor to the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. It’s basic, open-air driving. While it might look cool and sporty (for a Smart Car), it’s a pretty damn miserable thing to operate, and I got the feeling the entire time I was sitting inside the rubberized interior of car number 1722 that it would rather fling me out of the seat than keep me snuggly tucked inside of it. I mean, the only thing that would keep my special head out of harm’s way was the Smart’s Tridion Cell, now acting as a roll bar.
Still, I couldn’t help but be charmed by the little thing, ruddy engine and all. Would I add it to my theoretical car collection? No. I’ve got a brain and enjoy having four limbs. But as a curiosity from 23 years ago? It’s fantastic. I mean, just look at it. Mercedes basically took a concept car from the Geneva Motor Show and put it on sale. Even if it’s a bad concept car, you can’t not love that sort of follow-through.
Quick Shoutout: Vantage Auto let me come down to their showroom in Moonachie, New Jersey, to check out a handful of the weird and wonderful cars in their inventory. This isn’t a paid advertisement or partnership of any sort, but its Founder & CEO, Andrew Glaser, took time out of his very busy day to let me futz with their cars, so we thank him greatly.
