fortwo

Make
smart
Segment
Coupe

For quite some time we kept hearing rumors that Smart was planning to discontinue its US operations because, go figure, a lack of sales. Turns out, however, that there's an extremely loyal and devout group of US buyers who swear by Smart cars. Hey, whatever floats your boat. And now the third-generation Smart ForTwo is on sale and likes its predecessors, still very much looks like, well, a clown car. And a very safe one at that. Smart, a division of Daimler-Benz, has been known for its advanced safety technology and this car is no exception.

Thanks to its Tridion Safety Cell, which uses reinforced high-strength steel to act as a barrier between you and anything else on the road, and Crosswind Assist, which helps to compensate for strong wind gusts with special sensors that automatically trigger the brakes, you're actually in one of the safety city cars on the market.

Speaking of which, yes, the Smart ForTwo is very much classified as a city car, but we do have one major caveat here: it's expensive, even for a city car. Buyers are essentially paying a base price of $14,650 ($19,180 as tested) for half the car at full price. Its main competitor, such as the Chevrolet Spark and Fiat 500, at least have rear seats. Special thanks to Mercedes-Benz of Sacramento for letting us film the car.