We're bringing the test drive to you, smart fans!

To help celebrate Earth day The smart Center of Latham, a Keeler Motor Car Company, will be be at Crossgates Mall Thur April 22nd and Fri April 23, from 11AM-6PM. We will be located at the upper lot near the food court entrance. We are bringing the test drive to you! Look for the smart RV and make sure to stop by and take a spin behind the wheel of a smart fortwo!

Report: Smart fortwo Electric Car Announced for 2012

Daimler AG has announced that the second generation Smart fortwo electric drive will go into series production starting in 2012. The announcement was made during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the facility where the electric Smart cars will be built in Hambach, France.

A small number of vehicles will begin production in November of this year as Daimler continues to test the product durability and battery capability. Using a more compact lithium-ion battery pack sourced from U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc., the second generation of the Smart fortwo electric drive doesn’t compromise space and has adequate room for two adults. Power is rated at 30 kW (40-hp) and 120 Nm (89 ft-lbs) of torque, with a range of 135 km (84 miles). The initial vehicles will begin testing this year in cities across Europe and the U.S.
Smart claims the cars can hit 60 km/h in 6.5 seconds (the same as the gasoline models) and are speed-limited to 100 km/h (60 mph).

Click here for the official press release.

Source: Autoguide.com

You can drive to the YUKON in a Smart car

THANKS to a combination of passion, planning and patience, man has not only proven that he can walk on fire, but that he can also walk on the surface of the moon.

With that spirit in mind, I like to think that my gas tank is always half full rather than half empty. Anything's possible. What's the worse thing that can happen? I've got life insurance. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

That said, even a perennial optimist like me was filled with doubt when Mercedes-Benz Canada sent me an invitation to partake in a winter driving expedition from Kelowna, B.C., to Whitehorse, Yukon. The itinerary outlined a four-day, 2,500-kilometre road trip to the Arctic that promised to be the adventure of a lifetime.
The only catch was we had to take this expedition in a Smart car.
My initial thought was that maybe the Smart marketing team wasn't as smart as those cute little cars they sell.

A division of Mercedes-Benz, the Smart is the smallest road-legal car sold in Canada. Although I'd driven one in the past and thoroughly enjoyed it, I have to admit that the mere prospect of driving a Smart car through some of the harshest and most severe weather conditions on the planet had me thinking that this was a very tall order for a very small car.

Dubbed the Smart Winter Expedition, the checklist did little to ease my doubts. Seven Smart cars, three Mercedes-Benz support vehicles and a flock of automobile journalists from across the country. The fact that a support team made up of professional drivers and technical specialists had been assembled to hold our hands throughout the journey helped to somewhat ease my worried mind, but as I boarded the plane I still couldn't help but wonder what I was getting myself into.

Read the rest of this great article here.

Visually Challenged: Daimler encourages you to design your own Smart, results vary

Not digging the Smart ForTwo's two-color paint palette? Think you can do better? You're in luck. Daimler, Smart's German parent company, has announced a contest where customers and budding designers can customize their own ForTwo. Hit up styleyoursmart.com and you can... well, style your Smart.You have until February 23rd to post your own smarty-pants design, and the winners will be announced three days later. America's tiniest automaker promises prizes totaling about $7,200 (€5,000), which, we imagine, is plenty of money to turn your design into a reality... assuming you already own a ForTwo.At this point, the contest has just begun and there don't seem to be too many contestants just yet, so we grabbed the most colorful option for our lead image above. We briefly considered plastering our own Fortwo with the Autoblog logo, but thought better of it. Perhaps if they'd finally fix that transmission... Click here for the official Press.

2008 smart fortwo Passion Coupe for Sale

Color: Blue Metallic with Black Tridion
Price: $13,999
Odometer: 8,360 miles
Style: 2-Door Coupe
Year: 2008
Transmission: semi-automatic

Specs:
9-spokes alloy wheels (15")
power windows
softtouch: automatic gear program, switchable to softtip
electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors
smart premium sound system package
lockable glove box
fog lamps
air conditioning, including dust and pollen filter
panorama roof
electric power steering
seat heating

click here for more details or contact Jon Monroe at 518-785-4197 ext. 501 or jmonroe@keeler.com.