Real jeepers are used to seeing the world only from above and from behind the windows of a car weighing at least two tons. Smart Crosstown offers you not to storm the potholes with the annoying howl of the engine, but to get out, take a deep breath of fresh air and gently, in your arms, carry your small and weak car over the obstacles.

In fact, the concept presented in Frankfurt weighs about 800 kg. If two healthy men take the passenger and driver's seats, they can easily push or pull the pseudo-jeep out of almost any hole. Men, by the way, will not look reprehensible driving this car - even together.

Despite the childishly meaningless smile with which all Smarts travel around the world, the rest of the appearance of Crosstown is quite consistent with the image of a ragged tramp.

It has a ribbed hood, a stubborn bumper chin and outward hinged doors. The windshield is flat and can be laid flat, hidden under the hood. The modularity of the machine's design gives rise to confidence that it can be sequentially folded to the size of a cigarette pack, like the space in a cell phone advertisement. The round headlights look like flashlights, inserted into tubes along the edges of the hood. Inside there is “worn” leather seats and signs of an active lifestyle. At the same time, the creators of Crosstown did not try to bring fashionable motifs of rally cars into the interior. The designers wanted the tiny car's ride to be reminiscent of roller skating and cycling: the knobs for the gear lever and window handles are made from roller skate wheels, and the pattern of the perforated aluminum pedals follows the pattern of mountain bike tires. The dashboard and dashboard are extremely laconic, but the center console has a slot for a pocket computer and a slot for memory cards with a USB interface.

<1>Technically, Crosstown may well be the next production Smart. Compared to the current ForTwo, its length and wheelbase have been increased (2.68 and 1.9 m versus 2.5 and 1.51 m).

For the first time, Smart was equipped with a hybrid engine: a 3-cylinder gasoline engine with a power of 61 hp, already familiar from previous models. works in tandem with an electric one with a power of 23 kW. The Crosstown, despite its mischievous appearance, is only rear-wheel drive. The maximum speed is electronically limited to 135 km/h.

The appearance of Crosstown is an indicator of another attack of favor from DaimlerChrysler management towards an unprofitable brand. The increased interest in the brand of ultra-compact cars can also be considered a side effect of “Catarina”: soaring gasoline prices are forcing Americans to take a closer look at the “bugs” driven by prudent Europeans.

Smart Crosstown: a jeep in an armful