2017 Smart Fortwo Cabrio

Park anywhere, stand out everywhere.

- James Tate

You’re on your way home, having just picked up farm-fresh eggs and organically grown produce from your community-shared agriculture project when you spot it—a curb space slightly larger than an iPhone 7, not even a Plus, on the opposite side of the street that six SUVs, each trolling for coveted street space, have had to begrudgingly pass up. You whip the wheel on your Smart Fortwo Cabrio and pull a 180 mid-street, taking advantage of its 22.8-foot turning radius, claiming the space in one graceful arc. Stroking your perfectly waxed handlebar mustache, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and smile as another frustrated would-be parker in a comparatively big and inarguably duller Prius passes by giving you the stink eye.

The ability to fit into nearly any urban parking space is but one aspect of the Smart Fortwo Cabrio’s versatility. With its redesigned folding soft top, it intends to capture three cars in one package: The touch and hold of a button slides that soft top back to provide an open-air sunroof. Lift and hold it again and the ragtop motors the rest of the way down, making the little Smart an almost-Cabriolet. It would be great to push said button again and transform to the final stage—into a true Cabriolet—but this isn’t the case. To reach its final evolution, two crossbars must be manually removed and stored just right in the rear storage space. While dismantling the crossbars is accomplished simply, the fact that stage two can be achieved while driving and stage three requires stopping, balancing, and organizing, it stands to reason that stage three will be rarely achieved. And that’s fine; the top will still fold down in the back with the crossbars in place so they can be left there—ironically—of course, if desired—like wearing flannel with suspenders and sporting a full beard in July.