Ferraris and Lamborghinis may be in demand, but they’re not exactly rare. Neither are Porsches, or Lotuses, or McLarens, or Ford GTs. However, do you know what is actually rare? Smart Crossblade. Mercedes-Benz only had the means to build 2,000 of these bizarre little roadster things for the entire world between 2002 and 2003, and there’s really no way of knowing how many of them made it to America, as it was never officially sold here. If I had to guess, there are less than a dozen. So, when I saw one sitting at Vantage Auto, a dealership just 15 miles outside of Manhattan (and less than a mile from the house I grew up in), I knew what I had to do. I had to call these guys and ask them very nicely if I could drive their very rare little car.
To my surprise, they asked me to come down, and what I found was a car that was honestly pretty hideous. The Crossblade isn’t actually a car. In many ways, it is the spiritual successor to the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. This is basic, open-air driving. While it may look nice and sporty (for a smart car), it is a very unpleasant thing to drive, and whenever I sat inside the rubberized interior of car number 1722, I had the feeling that it would rather push me out of the seat than keep me comfortably tucked inside it. I mean, the only thing that would keep my particular head out of harm’s way was Smart’s Tridion cell, now acting as a roll bar.
Still, I couldn’t help but be charmed by the little thing, red engine and all. Would I add this to my theoretical car collection? No, I have a brain and I enjoy four limbs. But as a curiosity from 23 years ago? This is great. I mean, just look at it. Mercedes basically took a concept car from the Geneva Motor Show and put it up for sale. Even if it’s a bad concept car, you can’t love that kind of follow-through.
Quick shoutout: vantage auto let me come to them Showroom in Moonachie, New JerseyTo check out some of the weird and wonderful cars they have in their inventory. it Not there. Not a paid ad or partnership of any kind, but its founder and CEO, Andrew Glaser, took the time out of his busy day to tell me about his cars, so we thank him very much.
