How far a tank of gas will take you.
True that … it isnt any uglier than the gas sucking Aztek or any econobox by any car company. I’d buy one - probably the GT version, but I drove both a little simca, a yugo and a cheviac omnirizon [there was no appreciable difference between the used omni and the used horizon I looked at. Color, trim, engine … hence cheviac omnirizon 
] so I would even consider the base model.
I presume they wont go on sale in the US [despite our DESPERATE need for a true economical commuter] until they have destroyed the mileage and dropped it to the industry standard 28/32. Oh, and raised the price to $30K +
Ill go ahead and bookmark the car’s home site and hope that in 6-8 months when I will probably be in the market for a commuter car they might possibly be available stateside.
The Omni and Horizon were made by Dodge and Plymouth, not Chevrolet and Pontiac.
I think posters standards are too high. I spend almost 200$/mo on gas for my '03 Malibu (~26mpg), and I’d drive one of these to work every day if I could.
Like Larry Mudd I want a Smart Car in the worst way. I hardly ever carry more than one passenger, and I could deal with the cost if it fit a 6’5" guy as a driver. 
(Though I will agree that the Loremo looks a bit over-futuristic in a 1980’s kind of way. I can imagine you’d have problems with dumping snow in it getting in and out, too)
Actually, this seems like the perfect urban commuter car. WTF do you need with high speed or acceleration when you spend almost all of your time driving 20-40 mph behind a long line of other cars? I’d buy one in a heartbeat for commuting. My only question is how well built it is, will it last? But hey, we’re talking GERMAN engineering, not AMERICAN engineering…
Actually, European cars are behind American cars in quality, and have been for several years now 
Everyone will want to test drive it.
Right up until the moment a Hummer pulls up behind them at a stoplight.
For comparison.
My 1966 MGB had a 0-60 time of about 13 seconds and had a max speed of 105 mph. 28 mpg at cruise.
My 1988 Chevy Sprint Metro had a 0-60 time of about 14 seconds and topped out somewhere north of 90 mph. 50 mpg at cruise.
Twenty seconds? 99 mph? Not great. But compared to these two cars I drove, not outrageously bad. In an everyday car, I’d certainly give up performance for economy. And I don’t think it’s ugly.
But since I do a lot of freeway driving, I’d opt for the GT.
It’s not as bad as you imagine. I commute by bicycle and had SUVs, dump trucks and semis pull up behind me. Doesn’t faze me a bit.
Yeah, unavailable even in Germany until 2009. The Smart Car in the U.S. thing is pretty confusing; Mercedes isn’t importing them directly, but this company ‘converts’ them somehow, and seems to be taking sales.
Given the fact that the Smart Car took ~6 years to reach Canada and another two to sorta make it to the 'states, I think the chances of ever test driving a Loremo are pretty low.
I have seen a Smart Car around town lately. I noticed it first going south down I-83 towards Baltimore from Pennsylvania , while I was headed north. I also caught a glimpse of it in Hunt Valley by the mall. So I know there is at least one around here. It’s pretty cool from what I could see in Steve Martin’ remake of the Pink Panther.
That thing looks like a toy and a deathtrap to me. More of a golf-cart than a car. Motorcycles offer no protection, but they have good power and handling which increases safety.
I think a commuter car like the Smart would be a good idea in America for families that also have a regular car. I wouldn’t want something like that as an only car, because I like the idea that I can just take my car anywhere I choose if I want to.
What are some places you can’t take a Smart or Loremo? I can’t think of any.
Does anyone have a different link to these cars? The one in the OP is timing out for me, and I’m kinda curious as to how ugly these really look. Either way, all I have is a bicycle, so even 157 MPG is a step down in fuel efficiency.
The link in the OP wasn;t working so I found this link which I think is the same thing and shows the front opening so you can get in the car. Weird though…like to try that and see how it works. Getting in might not be so bad but getting out?
I do not think it is as ugly as others say. I was expecting a Yugo looking thing. Maybe a bit to futury looking but liveable considering the stellar economy.
Here in Massachusetts, the 20 seconds to get from 0 to 60 would be a deal-killer for me. I once test-drove a Geo Metro (I think), and believe me, getting onto the highway was a scary experience. I think our highway on-ramps are the shortest in Christendom.
And by the way, I also saw a Smart Car not so long ago, in Cambridge. They’re a little silly-looking.
The Chevy Sprint Metro was the badge-engineered Geo Metro. I found it to be quite zippy around town. Parking was a breeze. I found accelleration to be adequate for L.A. freeways. The only problem I had with it was on the long grade between The Valley and the Antelope Valley by Vasquez Rocks. If I kept the speed to at least 70 I’d get up the hill okay. If it dropped below that I’d inexorably slow to about 55 and could maintain that by dropping into 4th gear. I took a couple of trips to Utah (those 4/40 weeks were nice) and on the flat it would peg the speedo, which read 90 max, without complaint from the car. As the car aged mileage dropped from 50 mpg to 40 mpg.
I had similar experiences in my '87 Sprint*. The '90 Metro I replaced it with was smaller, less comfortable, had less power, and got worse mileage. WTF?? I shoulda gotten the Suzuki Swift (same car, built better).
When I looked for cars a few months ago, I was appalled to find that even the little econo-boxes don’t get as good mileage as I was getting 15 years ago. That ain’t right. I’d have bought a Smart if I could.
*That car was purring at 110K, I’d figured on driving it for years to come. Then I burnt up the engine (my fault, not the car). Had another engine installed but it never worked right and the company that installed it screwed me over.
Gee…my memories of the GEO METRO are not so fond. i used to rent them frequently when travelling in Florida. they were NOISEY (buzzy engine) and lots of wind noise. those 12" wheels also were bad-if you hit a pothole it felt like the car would break apart. The seats were pretty basic boards. true, they were OK on gas, but scarey 9especially aound trucks and SUVs).
No cite to link to, but in college a friend of mine had a ’79 Mercedes Diesel that was almost hysterically slow. You could floor it (actually you ‘had’ to floor it) and it would creep forward at speeds more suited towards nursing home hallways than most populated roads. Now once it got going it went just fine, and I have no idea on top speed, but the 0-60 had to be over 20 seconds. Granted the car was 20-21 years old, but damn man, that’s really slow.