The Smart Crossblade Is a Truly Insane Car You Didn't Know Existed

CHECK OUT THIS CROSSBLADE ON CARS & BIDS!

Smart Crossblade review! The Smart Crossblade is truly insane -- one of the most bizarre modern cars in existence. Today I'm reviewing the Smart Crossblade, and I'm going to show you all the quirks and features of this weird car. I'm also going to drive the Smart Crossblade, and I'll show you what it's like behind the wheel of this crazy thing.

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[bansheemopar]

To clarify some things with the crossblade.
I worked at Smart in Düsseldorf - Germany when the crossblade was on sale.

The engine is not tuned by brabus, there was no cooperation between the smart factory and brabus.
We dealers did brabus mods at customer request.

The 70HP 600cc engine was added to the facelift of the first generation of smart, it debuted in the smart roadster.
And the first generation was not called fortwo at that time, that i think started with the second generation because of the forfour.
At that time it was called smart-city-coupe.

The three smart logos at the bottom of the center console are ports for acessories.
there was a big dual purpose cupholder, able to hold big bottles for the lowest port and things like cd-holders for the other ports.

The slots in the tailgate-storage were designed to hold the removable braces of the city-cabriolet, that you got right.

You forgot to mention the drain holes in the floor and the instrument cluster.

The battery does not really limit legroom, the passender seat is further back than the driver seat, so that the shoulders of the two do not collide, so the whole passenger-space is shifted to the rear.

[dirrrrrrr]

This car definitely winning the “Doug is the type of guy” award this year

[Mauritius]

This started its life as a regular first gen smart convertible. It was then shipped to Binz, a company known for building ambulances, to be converted to crossblade version. The "fake" fuel filler cap on the driver side is actually the engine air intake. It was redesigned in later generations as there were incidents with people ripping out the cover and filling it with gasoline.

[thedumbconspirator]

Doug: "THIS IS THE COOLEST THING IN THE

Also Doug: **assigns cool factor score of 6**

[mitduschzentrale]

Got a Crossblade here in Germany. Lots of fun. Fun fact: it has a windshield washer resevoir under the front hood that wasnt removed during the conversion from a smart 450 convertible.

[Enakaji]

That little round "fuel door" on the driver side isn't just for looks, thats actually the air intake for the engine and basically goes directly to the Turbo. All first gen smarts had that, its basically a factory Cold Air Intake. And since quite a number of clueless owners indeed thought that thats a fuel door, and actually tried to put fuel in there and thus damaged the engine (turns out, flooding your turbointake with fuel is a bad idea) the design was changed for the second gen smart to a normal finned intake.

[nilsnoot]

I actually drove this a couple of times when I worked at a car rental company. Was great fun, but a disaster on the highway! Had to wear goggles and it was cold as hell

[bounceybouncey]

Like many, I was unsure of the Smart when it first came out. But I ended up with one during a part exchange deal and ...TOTALLY LOVED IT!
Since then I have owned 2 more including a convertible and a real Brabus version.
Let me tell you, these little cars are so underrated, and once you get used to their quirks they are the ultimate low cost joyride.
You will leave most things standing at the lights, they cruise wonderfully and trips to the Fuel Station can be as low as once a month. And you'll do all of this with a huge derpy grin on your face!
I'm sad Smart have decided to make the newer versions bigger and more practical because what we all need right now is more fun days that don't break the bank.

[j.ballsdeep]

What's more impressive is the crash rating on this: You'd assume it would be ridiculous but in-fact it passed very well and ahead of many vehicles with full body panels and a roof/windscreen

[robmoore]

As an actual owner of one of these awesome little cars I thought I would share a little more info about them.

The cup holders shown in the video are not right. Someone has taken the shallow cup holder out the back of the seats (yes they can fold forward and flat) and put it into the larger sized cup holder. They need to be taken out. The little smart logos in the centre under the ashtray are actually mounting points for other accessories such as CD holder and bottle holder etc. You also mentioned that there is no PARK on the gear selector, well that is because Smarts are designed to be parked in reverse as part of the anti theft idea. You should always do this in conjunction with the hand brake as it’s known in Europe. The Crossblade also has a wider track than a standard Smart car so handling is much better. The panel in boot (trunk) lid was originally for the Smart cabriolets roof bars. you will have notice some checker coloured rods in there. These are for part of a temporary rain cover for when you park the car. The rain cover is obviously missing which is a shame. Oh and for anyone who thinks these are unsafe, I was in an accident in mine back in 2005. i was stationary and was hit from behind by a woman using her mobile. the police said from her skid marks she was doing in excess of 70mph at the point of impact (remember this was the speed the police gave that was used as evidence not something I have calculated). I drove the car home, about 150 miles so it shows just how safe it is. I still have my car and I think the longest journey I have done was about 17 hours and I was towing a trailer at the time as well, this was February in the UK and the temperature was below freezing LOL. I feel privileged to actually own one

[sardil]

Because the entire interior is waterproof and the floor is made of plastic, that little car is absolutely perfect to ride back from the beach with your wet trunks and feet still full of sand. I think what Mercedes really missed was more marketing, because it is a great looking little car and would fit perfectly on any beach town in the world.

[f.d.]

We went to the SMART development center in Stuttgart, Germany in, I think, 2001 or 2002. They had quite a few of these zipping around and they saw it as quite a success actually. While there are other cars w/o roof & windscreen (Lotus, Renault, Citroen) this one was very affordable AND reliable. As a marketing guy, I see it mostly as a brand-building tool for the SMART brand and in that role it worked really well. Also, those who OWNED one were totally enthusiastic about the driving experience!

[eddieg]

I own 6 cars, one is a Smart car. I’m 6’5”, 228 lbs, and the Smart has PLENTY of room for me, I love it!! People said it would be very unreliable……I’ve had mine for 7 years without any check engine lights, or ANY problems. It’s been a blast! Most Americans just don’t get the appeal, they think it’s cramped, dangerous, etc. Their loss.

[FRITZI]

as a former Owner of such a Car a few corrections:

- it actually HAS a Central locking System, it blocks the Sidebars. Maybe this one is defect. By German Law Doors of Convertibles have to be lockable, for Insurance Reasons, Even when you park the Car with the Roof open it´s defined to be "closed". Convertibles are by definition "closed" when the Doors are locked and the Windows up.
- the Seats are not Vinyl, they are NEOPRENE just like Diving Suits
- there were REALLY sold 2000 and demand was even higher!
- the Door-Bar lifter is NOT hydraulic its compessed gas filled
- the sequential Gearbox can be just parked in 1st Gear, just like any other car. No Parking Brake needed
- the "Robot Face" is actually a blinded Venting unit and housed two switches on top and two Vents - used in the normal Smart Car.
- the Engine / Speed of the Car was restricted to 135 km/h - normal SMART Cars could easy reach 180 km/h when the electronics was modded. Mine once hit 200 km/h after a few Tuning mods.
- the left Side "Fuel Door" is actually the Engine Air Intake, NOT A DUMMY !!! Open the Engine bay and take a look.
- the Rollover Bar is an integral Part of the so called TRIDION CELL of every Smart Car. It´s NOT Mandatory anywhere... Ralph Naders Bullshit is not valid in Germany. Rollover Bars on Convertibles are NOT Mandatory. It´s just the "leftover" of the Tridion Cell of the SMART Cars Frame.

[sambrown]

I miss when he would actually explain why he was giving each score the number it got. Can we get that back Doug?

[alexp]

Our Smart is a 2001 model still running nice Doug is spot on when he is saying the major drawback is the gear changing time. And I can assure that after 20years under the Greek harsh sun it's plastics are much much better than any Japanese or Korean city car with half that years. It is already a modern classic and will always stay with us as second or third car.

[TheGroovyGuitarDude]

This thing is so silly and looks like it would be a blast to cruise around a beach town with!

[PetersenMuseum]

Thanks, Doug for shinning a light on this QUIRKY car. We hope the new owner has a blast!

[vgrin]

Doug has driven every kind of hypercar and supercar but I've never seen him this happy when driving a car before! Considering how happy he was I'm surprised he didn't give it a 10 for fun factor

[landi]

@20:05 no, this is not for symetry. This is the air hood for the turbo charger. in later models this was changed to a more specific design because some people just ripped of these hoods and filled the turbo charger with gasoline ... YIKES