T255 JUG & It Looked Like A Little Jug Too!
June 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Tucked away amongst the motorbikes this 1999 Pure was just asking to be mine. The usual trip to the bike store provided even greater interest this Saturday afternoon as I was given the opportunity to test ride it. The dealer did not really know the Smarts full potential, even unsure to its model. A deal was struck and unusually I with great assistance from husband, Kevin came away with four wheels instead of two.
Once home it was stripped clean, yellow body panels with a black tridion shell made it stand out well. However it had had a very hard life. 66,000miles on the clock following a quick mathematical conversion made me realise that this little one needed careful handling. The panels were a little tired and scuffed – but with some cleaning and polishing came up well. The tridion shell did not far so well after years of servicing Purston Car Centre it bore the imprint of advertising stickers. The back window also bore the signs of the Smarts early history. Prior to being imported into Britain by the owners of Purston Car Centre, the Smart had started life owned and registered by a Mr Wang in Germany who had used the little one as a taxi! The imprint of his advertising is still evident when the sun shines a certain way after a polish. [pay]
All of this adds to the little cars character a full service history – with the original documentation.
The blue interior was also a little shabby, but again with some tender loving care it has come up well. A blue neon light added under the dash originally some aluminium floor plates but these had to be changed to blue as I was being dazzled in the sun!
A trip to Smarts-R-Us and a purchase of some 2nd hand passion wheels (with tyres) gave the little one a new image and gave me a spare (and Kevin, peace of mind) the rear wheel hubs were painted yellow and I have yet to paint the brake callipers to match. Kevin made me a matching blue and yellow vinyl wheel cover so the spare does not look out of place behind the seat. With a promise to cover the seats with blue leather.
The exterior panels have seen quite a change, in honouring my biking days and young hero Valentino Rossi I decided to cover up some of the panel damage by treating the little one to some Rossi style graphics & renaming him “The Doctor” All thanks to Jamie & Sonia at Motografix Bikes in Doncaster In addition to this is a mini Rossi helmet which sits inside the car and which can be viewed through the windscreen.
Then something from my motorbike was also handed to “The Doctor” and that was my private registration plate R4 CYJ. This too had been on a Rossi Rep – a Honda 600cc Hornet although on selling it last year and settling for my old KR1S had put my plate on retention.
The Doctor has had a rev counter & clock fitted as these were not present on original Pure model Smarts. These needed connecting, Kevin connected the clock but a trip to Smart of Leeds was required to connect the rev counter. They were wonderful, only charged me 30-minute labour charges even though they checked out my speeding flashing indicators at the same time. I’m considering a remap but to be honest I am very happy with its performance it cruises at 80mph (oops) Allows me to overtake easily on motorways and even confuses the Nova boys at traffic light starts!
The smart community has been a great help, like those from the biking community, they are more than eager to help and to sit and chat about the fun of Smarts. Graham from www.smartcar-owner.co.uk provided me with initial advice with regard to the rev counter and indicators, and provided me with links to Dave & the gang at www.funkysmart.co.uk who have provided me with advice (subscription to Smartimes via this site). and regular local meets in Sheffield. And the www.smartclub.co.uk were I have gained further insight into all that is Smart.
Although Kevin laughs at the Smart he enjoys driving it (when I let him) and has enjoyed the company we have met at meets. Only three months into ownership and I can extol the virtue of the smart to anyone, my neighbour even bought one after a test-drive in mine! [/pay]
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