The situation with our car, post-accident, has turned out to be far less bleak than anticipated in my previous report. We've learned a few important things:
Now we're waiting for Muņoz's former auto insurance company to confirm to GEICO that he is in fact uninsured. Given our experience to date with them, that should take a nice long while ...
 | But really, just forget about all of that.
Imagine my joy and surprise when I found this full-page ad on the back page of the latest issue of the California Staats-Zeitung! The car that we enjoyed the most out of all of our European driving experiences is now available in the United States! Why would I want to bother with an eight-year-old, now-battle-damaged Ford Contour when I could get a Smart? Click on the ad for a version that's big enough to read -- or skip that and just go directly to smartcar-usa.com, since I know that you'll want to get one (or two, they're small) for yourself. This isn't DaimlerChrysler's official introduction of the Smart to these shores; rather, it's an "Americanized" version that's brought up to US specs by a company called ZAP. Unfortunately, ZAP isn't importing the Smart Roadster (the model that Shelby calls the "Batman car"). (Okay, so I'm being a little facetious; the Smart was probably our most interesting driving experience, but it certainly wasn't our most enjoyable. Still, I think that it'd make a great city car for the average SoCal driver -- if Shelby didn't already have the Miata, and if we didn't need a more-than-two-seater in the family to fit dog(s) and whatnot, just maybe ...) |