14 years ago
REMEMBER the stretched Ferrari limousine you may have seen in the papers a few weeks back? Well, this is the latest creation from those guys – a stretched Smart!
Carbonyte UK is led by MD and ex-McLaren man Chris Wright, who took the Smart Fortwo and stretched its chassis by 2700mm, to create a 17-foot vehicle (5100 mm).
Despite growing to over twice its normal length (2695mm), the Smaaart’s (see what they’ve done there?) lightweight alloy chassis allows the vehicle to be powered by its original 600cc engine and still comfortably reach motorway speeds of 80mph.
In all, the build process took just 300 man hours over four weeks from the initial chassis cut to the final paintwork.
The prototype Smaaart has been designed as a promotional vehicle featuring a 20:1 scale fibre-glass replica soft drinks can – can you guess which drink it’s for? – and it comes complete with ring-pull, which serves as van-like storage space for promotional items.
The Smaaart can be liveried to any client’s design choice and hired on a daily basis – or bespoke vehicles can be manufactured for individual clients to lease or purchase outright at a projected cost of around £25,000, with almost any theme in the centre.
Carbonyte is also looking to take the Smaaart into the funeral industry by using the latest electric technology to produce an individual yet environmentally-friendly hearse.
‘We think the Smaaart will make a great promotional vehicle – combining head-turning looks with the practicality of a van. We’ve already had incredible reactions on the road – the vehicle has almost stopped traffic, in fact the same reaction we had with the stretched Ferrari,’ said Chris Wright.
For more information on the Carbonyte Smaaart, visit www.carbonyte.co.uk.
