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We just think that if you’re even remotely interested in cars – and you’re here, so you must be – something like this shouldn’t be allowed to slip under your radar. We wouldn’t suggest you buy one and drive it for the next twenty years, far from it. For us, the Smart Coupe and Roadster are bucket list cars. The latter being something you should probably avoid in a car. So, why should you buy one? After all, it wasn’t built for very long and it liked to impersonate a pond. But don’t worry your pretty head over what floorpan it has, just focus on the fact it’s a damn good one, and one which handles brilliantly. In the end though, the production car used a stretched ForTwo floorpan. Enter stage-left, Smart’s REDUCE TO THE MAX design ethos. Besides, a small engine is only a problem if it has to lug a large load around.

The fact the engine to be used was about as big as the one you’d find in a Kenwood blender was very much beside the point. Rear wheel drive, turbocharged, six-speed sequential gearbox – all exciting stuff.

The City Coupe’s lower innards certainly provided sporty credentials. Most notably that of something a little more sporty than the taller would-be chassis donor. Smart had been looking at future designs only to one day come to the conclusion that the chassis and engine from the company’s main bread winner, the City Coupe, could be used in other applications.

The Smart Roadster and Coupe were released in 2003, though there had been a hell of a lot of planning before that.