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By Dorothea Helms
There are several ways to gauge whether a marriage is on solid ground. One is to do a long car trip together and see how it goes. My husband and I put our 35-year marriage to the test in May, except we added an extra challenge. We drove 3,800 km in total on our holidays – in his Smart Car!
When Rich asked me a few months ago whether I’d like to attend a microcar conference festival in Madison, Georgia with him in May, he was shocked when I said yes. He had already taken several long trips with the Smart – even as far as Arkansas – and I was always too busy to go. I’d ridden in the Smart many times, but never for long distances. I figured with months to plan, I could take a few days away from my freelance writing businesses. Plus, we were able to combine the car event with visits to family along the way.
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Each bucket Dwight dumps into the truck holds 12 tons of granite.
I wanted to drive a big truck, so I drove a tractor-trailer. Once I had tasted the big rigs, I wanted bigger. I rode in an 18-ton tug while towing a 100-ton airplane – better, but I couldn’t drive it. How about driving a 70-ton mining dump truck with a gross loaded weight of 250,000 pounds? ALL RIGHT!
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In my quest to experience unusual vehicles, I spent a day with Air Canada. No, not in a jet, but towing a Boeing 767 around the airport. Air Canada has a total worldwide fleet of 335 aircraft; yet the company has 1,400 motorized vehicles at Toronto Lester B Pearson International Airport alone. Nine of those motorized vehicles are Douglas-Kalmar TBL-280 Tugmasters.
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Stuttgart, Germany – Recently, Smart held the official media announcement of the 2007 Smart ForTwo in Stuttgart, Germany. While the current ForTwo has evoked an almost cult-like following, selling more than 750,000 worldwide since 1998, some aspects of the vehicle have proven an acquired taste. With the future of the Smart company hanging in the balance, the goal of designing the 2007 car was to deliver a completely new vehicle that preserves what customers love about the current Smart. The company has done a stellar job. continue reading »
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Entering the Mojave Desert
Las Vegas – What do you get when you combine a group of Canadian automotive journalists, new 2007 Mercedes 320 BLUETEC diesel cars and the mountains around Las Vegas? Answer: Several traffic tickets for $250+. Who said diesel cars are slow?
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I love to drive small cars, and my newspaper articles usually focus on compact and sub-compact vehicles. For this piece, I decided to drive something totally out of character. How about a Hummer? Nah – too small. I drive the smallest car in Canada – a smart car – so I figured it would be interesting to try driving the largest – a highway tractor-trailer. With the help of the Ontario Trucking Association, Challenger Motor Freight of Cambridge offered to host me for a day.
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On June 28, 2006, smart gmbh announced that it will enter the US market in the fall of 2007 with the next generation fortwo. Fresh off the announcement in Detroit, Ulrich Walker, President and CEO of smart worldwide, was in Toronto to meet with Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada. Breitschwerdt was responsible for the entry of smart into Canada. continue reading »
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Dennis Murphy and his wife Nancy Beck of Geneva Illinois like to travel with their fifth-wheel trailer. Their pickup was due for replacement, but they needed a medium-duty truck to tow the new fifth wheel they wanted to move up to. The solution Dennis Murphy found was to purchase a used road tractor. He bought a 1999 Volvo 610 with 602,000 miles on it. The truck was refurbished and equipped with a microwave, refrigerator and shore power so it could be registered as a motor home.
Now problem number two: what do they drive once the trailer is parked at their destination?
Solution: Carry a smart car.
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For smart car owners, Mecca is the Microcar Museum in Madison, Georgia. Thanks to Joe Dew, a smart car collector in Atlanta, my pilgrimage to meet and get a tour of the collection by its owner Bruce Weiner occurred on my return drive from Orlando in my 2005 smart cabrio. After I took a drive in Joe’s 1999 original smart gas cabrio, we drove in our smarts to Dubble Bubble Acres, 50 miles east of Atlanta in Morgan County. Weiner grew up in the Toronto area and with two partners created Concord Confections, which bought Dubble Bubble in 1998. continue reading »
