smart car

I've been seeing a lot of these around town lately and finally had the wherewithal to get off my bike and take a quick snap of one. The ones here seem to be two-seaters, but I've actually ridden in the back seat of one in Italy. It was uncomfortable, but doable.

I've considered getting one. Club Monaco and the Smart Car banded together on some publicity push a few months ago (I know--I didn't get it either) and I was badgered into taking a test drive. It handled pretty well, actually. But I'd be nervous about my long daily drive to the office, where I encounter a lot of semis. Semi versus Smart Car = Smart Car pancake. I'm not sure about the lack of passenger space either, but on the other hand 95 percent of the time it's just me in the car. It'd be a nice second car, though. And it would be easy to park--although I'm not sure this would be legal here.