Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Not So "Smart" Car (was Tulsa Event)

[ken rentiers (rentiers]

Hey Tom what is the carbon footprint on that Camaro SS? I think  
everyone (else) should get a Smart, or even better, rollerblades or a  
horse. More gasoline for me! Screw the grandchildren - let them eat  
soy-cake. And petroleum is a renewable resource, just takes a few  
hundred million years to renew,  that's all!

'scuse me while I ramp up the a/c and flip on the megawatt plasma  
flat screen.

K

.ps How are Smarts in those OK blizzards? Remember there's not much  
between Tulsa and the North Pole except a few strands of barbed wire!  
It's almost November....

On Oct 14, 2007, at 9:45 AM, Tom Reynolds wrote:

> What are the statistics?  Most (80 to 90% of all trips are within  
> 25 miles
> of home?  Something like that.) So, for most trips, the Smartfortwo  
> or a
> similar vehicle would make sense.  And, don't hold your breath, but  
> there
> will be  more "similar vehicles."  I don't have to tell you about  
> supply and
> demand (whether you believe the things the oil companies are  
> telling you or
> not) and gas prices and OPEC, the world situation, etc. Gas prices  
> are going
> to go up. Gas is a non renewable resource.  Gee, both big  
> surprises, huh?
> So, whether you're going to live long enough to see the change  
> coming, it
> will come.  We will have to adapt, whether we like it or not.  A  
> small,
> economical, eco friendly personal transportation device, is in  
> your, or your
> children's, or certainly in your grandchildren's future.
> The Smartfortwo (for the U.S.) is only one of the first steps.   
> Yeah, it's
> the smallest vehicle, but like Britt said (thank you for seeing the
> dichotomy of the safety argument, Britt) it makes sense, and most  
> of the
> time people will be using such a vehicle to go to and from their  
> work.  No
> high speed, just maybe a bit less congestion, a lot easier to park,  
> easier
> on the billfold, the environment, the petrol supplies, etc. And  
> there will
> be hybrids coming (if the U.S. can open their minds instead of  
> sticking like
> dinosaurs to "this is the way we've done it, we like it, so leave  
> us the
> f*** alone..." mentality) which will be even easier on our personal  
> economy,
> the environment, etc. etc.
> No one, least of all me, is proposing the Smartfortwo or the like  
> should be
> anyone's "fun" car or daily driver if you drive on highways or  
> expressways
> or Interstates where the traffic flow is going at a high(er) speed  
> than
> you'd be comfortable with in a "small" car.  Unless you drive a  
> Fiat 850 or
> TR3, TR4, TR6, TR7, MGB, Alfa, oh, do I really need to go on...and are
> comfortable in those situations with that car, then you could feel
> comfortable in the Smartfortwo. Hell, if a box truck is going to do  
> me in,
> well, we all have to go sometime.  Shit, I better not go out and  
> ride my
> bike 50 miles because some yahoo in a land yacht Queen Mary might  
> be talking
> on her cell phone or looking at the nav system and run over me like a
> steamroller over a squirrel.  Such is life, and death.  And, I'm not
> planning on buying a Smartfortwo or any such, at least not now, but  
> I think
> it would be interesting to drive and maybe "down the road" it would  
> be a
> viable alternative for the lifestyle Karen and I end up living.
> Best regards to all, and let's all drive smart. Friendly. Aware.  
> Whatever.
> Tom Reynolds
> Tulsa, OK
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ken rentiers" <rentiers [at] mac.com>
> To: "Tom Reynolds" <kjtar [at] cox.net>
> Cc: <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 8:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Not So "Smart" Car (was Tulsa Event)
>
>
> > On Oct 13, 2007, at 7:56 PM, Britt wrote:
> >
> > > > In many large cities over here the Smart works great, traffic
> > > > speeds are
> > > > low, the congestion charges are lower as are the road taxes and
> > > > unlike
> > > > motorcycles/mopeds/bicycles ect you have a roof over your head for
> > > > all the
> > > > crap
> > > > weather. They turn on a dime and can park nose in to the crub  
> > > > legally
> > > > (like a
> > > > motorbike).
> >
> > All well. but why would you then advocate the same vehicle in an
> > environment where traffic speeds are high ( like 70 - 80 mph on the
> > freeways). there are no congestion charges or road taxes and no nose-
> > in parking is permitted. Fwiw I think an F350  dualie would be a Dumb
> > vehicle to drive in inner London or Paris but it makes perfect sense
> > here for many folks.
> >
> > I can imagine the horror of the effete French if Ford pickups were
> > introduced, don't be too hard on us for recoiling when we see a
> > Smart. Our roads have already been infested with the mobile chicanes
> > known as a "Prius".
> >
> > What the world needs now is a decently priced flux capacitor.
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