As the LA Auto Show begins to wrap up for the year, the Smart 341 Parkour is the winner of this year's LA Auto Show Design Challenge. The 341 Parkour was one of six competitors for the award, three of them from the Daimler Group stable. It represents one of the hottest segments in the industry, urban cars. The designers were asked to present cars that were featured as part of a movie script and the Smart apparently was the most silver screen friendly.
In the story, the 341 Parkour helps reporter Annie Angle on a mission to write her first and potentially career-making, front page news article in a city notoriously known for a lack of parking spaces. The "epic" story goes that on an early Sunday morning, a newspaper article catches Annie's eyes, titled: "Smart Granny Robots Missing!" Using her Smart 341 Parkour and its three different modes - a typical drive mode, a fly mode that allows the vehicle to hover far above the streets, and a climb mode that allows the vehicle to run up the walls of skyscrapers - Annie sets off on an investigation to discover the missing link for her journalistic masterpiece.
"This year's theme presented these designers with creative challenges like never before," said Chuck Pelly from Design LA. "Not only were studios tasked with designing a futuristic Hollywood vehicle, but also the complex plots within which they starred. The Smart 341 Parkour captured the essence of the Design Challenge by combining innovation and functionality with an adventurous plot." Other vehicles that took part in the competition were the Honda IH, Hyundai Stratus Sprinter multi-purpose vehicle, Maybach Berline, Subaru HORIZON and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow.