I agree (about Bologna). I have actually briefly visited the city and I might make another pit stop if my family accept it.
However, I was thinking of going to Modena instead and maybe passing a well-known red-sports-car factory... I need to get the address off the website (when I get the time).
I am not sure Avis have GTs. The first difficulty is to persuade the car-hire company to reserve a specific model. Last year I asked for the Alfa 147 and they actually kept it for me, amazingly.
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
another problem is that these short people (a 5'2" 50'ish lady in my case) have no clue how to drive these big SUV/VAN/TRUCK's. She was out in the intersection to make a left turn - the light changed to red and she thought better of it and started backing up into .... me. I'm on my horn full tilt for the full time she was backing up slowly.... crunched my whole front end. She had no clue .... didn't see me, didn't hear me ... nothing ... totally oblivious to the outside world.
I do not know the retail prices for smart cars in Canada, but in Germany the suggested retail price including VAT starts at 9.100 Euro, which is approx. 10.900 USD. For that money you get a car with semi-automatic gearbox, power windows, power locks, ASB, ESP, dual airbags, Euro 4 emission standards and very low operating cost. A 3 door Toyota Corolla starts at 14.550 Euro, which is some 50% more than what you have to pay for a smart. If you look at the supermicro cars you can buy for a starting price of less than
10.000 Euros, most of them are strange korean tin cans or rather old and unsafe cars like the Ford Ka or the Fiat Seicento. One can very well discuss the question wether a basic smart is a good car - but it is amongst the cheapest ways to get yourself moved in a new vehicle. If you want to spend subdtantially less money, you have to buy either an used car or a new motorscooter;-)
Besides that there are many (not many enough) people, who love the smart. It is extremely short and handy (important for crowded european streets). I live in Munich and I know many people who spend 20-30 minutes per day to find a parking gap for their car. A car 5 feet shorter than usual can drastically reduce this time.
Smart's problem is quickly told. Their infrastructure starts earning money when they sell more than 200.000 units per year. Up to now they have only succeded in selling
80.000 per year. In my eyes the additional smart types roadster and forfour are not revolutionary enough, and the classical smart failed to incorporate such innovations as electric or hybrid drive, fuel cell and such.
Well, you will have noticed that Bologna is famous in Italy for the towers (There are many scattered for the city) and is the city where is eaten very well why it is in the specific culture of this region of Italy! :-)
Modena is a beautiful city, center of the Maserati but if you want to see "the red ones" you must go to Maranello! : -)
I have watched on the Avis website but they do not say nothing of Alfa GT. But sure they will have Alfa 147 restyiling, similar to that one that you have tried but improved also in the aesthetic one.
THAT's the way to drive! Here in Vancouver, with all the oblivious minions driving V6 and V8 automatics; the light turns red by the time I can get moving 10 cars back when the light turns green. 190km/h bumper-bumper I don't mind. At least in Europe they know how to use their power.
For Euro earnings that's a good price but in Canada after all is said and done the smart comes to around 16.000USD. Some people have paid almost 20K USD but then they went overboard on everything.
yep.
I remember trying to park a smart in Hamburg and when I stopped panic struck when I thought what if I screw the parralel park in a smart? :-) My friend said "what parallel park, just park it!", yeh, just park it, no problem :)
Maybe they shouldn't bother with all the other models, it's a simple car, why dillute it with all the various models? forfour? Might as well just get a regular small car. They should just stick to the basic concept and get it right. Isn't it too early for fuel cells? As for hybrid drive, what benefits would that bring? It's a tiny car, it'd just complicate it more.
the smart comes to around 16.000USD. Some people have
Surprisingly enough it's 9000 EURO's in Holland as well. That's after our 50% car tax + 19% VAT.
Normally even European cars are cheaper in the US than in Holland AFAIK.
Point is, net prices of new cars vary a lot in Europe too.
I've heard many stories of the Smart engines having big problems with oil consumption. Apparently bad enough to need replacement engines after a relatively short while.
done the smart comes to around 16.000USD. Some people
car tax + 19% VAT.
9000 TOTAL? Not bad, not bad at all, and you guys make better money than we do.
Yeh, the smart sure makes sense in Europe alright. Here in Vancouver, BC, I see about 2-3 per day and growing, which for us is a lot. Though in Europe they're all over :)
consumption. Apparently bad enough to need replacement
Maybe they should put them trusty om617 engines into them :-)
Accident? I had bald tires and slipped on gravel on a corner and took out a little sign. Parts and labour for the audi was 636CAD
Anyways, 190 in bumper to bumper traffic that in Europe, not in vancouver, I get scared driving here, with all the off-the-boat asians here who buy their licences.
(Late reply as I was abroad 22 - 30 Jun. Hired a Chevrolet Aveo -- a Daewoo in fact -- must rank among the most boring-looking cars I have ever hired.)
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
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