smart Wows Crowds in First Hampton Roads Appearance

Win'sGal and I had so much fun this weekend ... smart USA brought six of its smart fortwo microcars to Hampton Roads so people could see them up close and take them for a spin ... on Saturday and Sunday, they were at La Promenade in Virginia Beach and it was packed.  On Friday, Win'sGal and I got to help out at a preview event co-hosted by smart USA and Checkered Flag, smart's regional dealer candidate, for people who have made reservations for the car, which becomes available early next year (BTW, reservations are still being taken on smart's web site.)  The Friday event was also in Virginia Beach, in the parking lot of the former Hill's department store on Virginia Beach Boulevard, and besides the reservation-holders, hundreds of people who were passing by and saw what was going on stopped off.

Things got underway for Win'sGal at around 9:15 Friday morning ... that's when she got down there to help the smart team set up.  There were five smarts that would be used for test-drives by attendees, one smart that was a static display for people to look at up close, a tridion cell, which is the vehicle's safety structure, and a 54-foot exhibit trailer.

I joined her there at about 11 ... even though the event didn't officially get underway until 1 p.m., a lot  of people were already milling around ... you could see the smart fortwos from Virginia Beach Boulevard and it was hard to resist pulling in to look at them up close.  At noon, media arrived and so did people from Checkered Flag ... HamptonRoads.tv did an on-camera interview with Checkered Flag senior vice president Steve Snyder ... they produced a really good segment on the event. 

It was really, really hot ... but Checkered Flag had a hospitality tent with smoothies, water, and ice, and smart's display trailer was air conditioned.  Still, Win'sGal and I wished we had worn shorts (we were wearing black pants ... not really the greatest choice when the heat index is about 200 degrees.) 

Test drives actually started around 12:20.  The first test drive was by a lady who became interested in smart when she saw the microcars while traveling in Europe.  She showed me pictures she'd had taken of herself next to smart cars in Italy.  Being the first to test-drive it in Hampton Roads was really exciting, she said, and we congratulated her.

The event went all day and into the evening.  Mid-afternoon, I noticed that Win'sGal was getting sunburned.  She uses sunblock every day, but she had forgotten that morning.  Yikes ... but there was no time to think about it, because attendees kept arriving ... and arriving ... and arriving ...

A lot of the guys that came said the same thing:  "I'm over six feet tall ... can I really fit in that car?"  And, guess what ... they did.  We heard a lot of comments about how roomy the smart fortwo is ... that it is, in fact, roomier than many much larger cars.

Things wound down on Friday at around 8 p.m.  If you didn't have the chance to see the smarts while they were here this weekend, visit smartusa.com ... you can learn more about the car and make a reservation for it if you'd like.

We took a lot of pictures and I've posted some here ... they are: 1. HamptonRoads.tv interviewing Steve Snyder, Checkered Flag's senior vice president ... 2. smarts lined up for the test drives ... 3. the static display car ... 4. the smart tridion safety cell ... 5. the display trailer.