Smart Roadster

Introduction

The Smart Roadster is a two-door microcar first introduced in 2003 by Smart GmbH. Sales of the Roadster and Roadster Coupé met expectations, however warranty claims resulted in a halt of production of both models in November 2005 after 43,091 Roadsters were made.

At the 1998 Paris Motor Show, the two-seat, 2.5 m (98 in)-long Smart City Coupe (later named Smart Fortwo) was launched. This was the beginning of a new car brand and one of the more radical vehicle concepts to hit the European market since the bubble cars of the 1950s. It was also the beginning of a difficult period for Smart.

Design and development

Under design director Jens Manske in autumn 1998, Smart's 14-strong design and engineering team began to sketch possible future Smart cars. They soon realised that the powertrain of the City Coupe was ideal for a small sports car, with a compact turbo engine driving the rear wheels via a sequential 6 speed gearbox.

Special editions

In March 2006 Smart unveiled the final variant of the Roadster at the Geneva Motorshow: a limited collector's edition.

It was based on the topmodel Brabus Xclusive with 101 PS (100 hp/74 kW) and came with a satin brown-metallic paintjob. The interior had brown leather and higher quality materials were used extensively. It had the new Runline aluminium wheels and Brabus exhaust, frontspoiler and side fenders. Of 50 planned cars only 30 were made.

A limited edition Roadster Coupe Racing edition (RCR) was released in 2005 in the UK. Only 50 in the world were made & featured all the Brabus trimmings plus special black alacantra and leather seats with red diamond pattern stitching. The seats were not heated as they are in the main brabus model. The black alcantara and red stitching also featured on the dash and door panels.Roadster Coupe Racing edition (RCR) was released in 2005 in the UK.