Business smarts 13: Niagara Helicopters

Photo taken by ALT at Club Smartcar's CIAS cruise

In the more than thirty years since Niagara Helicopters started business in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, the corporation has undergone a change of location and several changes of name as well as ownership, but one thing has remained co nstant: since 1961, visitors from all over the world have been flying over the world's most famous falls.

Source: official website of Niagara Helicopters

Five fine show tuners: Brabus Smart Canada 1

Photo by Rupert Lloyd Thomas



By Peter Bleakney
Toronto Star Sat, Feb 25

Okay. So this car isn't a Sport Compact Revolution, built I couldn't leave it off my list because it's just so darned cute.
The Canada 1 Concept is a one-off prototype that Mercedes-Benz has brought to the show to gauge public reaction.
This fortwo Cabrio has been lightly breathed upon by the German tuning firm Brabus and was created specifically for the Canadian market, eh.
It features 15-inch Brabus wheels, a bespoke body kit, colour-keyed exterior and interior trim and custom quilted seats with red stitching. There are no mechanical modifications.
If M-B sees enough interest they'll run off a batch of 10 to 40 Brabus Smarts and ship them over.
Here's the rub. The Mercedes rep told me the car will come in at about 40,000 loonies, which sounds a bit loony to me.
In fact, I wouldn't feel very smart at all telling my friends I paid 15 grand for an appearance package. But I still want one.

'Smart Cars' Make Their Debut In Loveland

By Mike Hooker(CBS4) LOVELAND, Colo.
A popular European car made its way to Loveland, making it the third city in the United States to have them. [According to this site's video clip they are also being sold in St. Louis & Phoenix.] The owner of Mountain View Motors is hoping that Colorado drivers will choose the "Smart Car" for its looks and gas mileage.The cars are called smart cars because they are small, fuel efficient, and easy to park. The back of the car has a little bit of storage space and the cover to the engine."It has an amazing amount of power," said Bob Hunt, owner of Mountain View Motors. "We've heard reports that people are getting 60 miles per hour pretty regularly."On some of the models, the roofs are glass making it easy to see through."They're cute," said a potential buyer. "It's just a new way of looking at transportation."Hunt's new batch of cars are only demo. He bought them in Europe and had them slightly modified to be legal in the U.S. The engine in the smart car is a 3-cylinder with a turbo charger to give it more power. Each car will cost about $25,000.

View video at source.

Note: there is no mention of ZAP! in the article.


Mountain View Motors
2400 N Lincoln Ave
Loveland, CO 80538
T: 970-663-2200
F: 970-663-1438

Fiat Panda Hydrogen

Protecting the environment is a key factor for Fiat Auto in the development of future models. In this context, the presentation of the Panda Hydrogen is merely the latest expression of a process of evolution, which in recent years has placed Fiat in a leading role on an international scale.
In particular, Fuel Cell technology for automotive applications is a subject of great interest among major manufacturers, which through research and the development of demonstration prototypes, are confirming the technology's real potential and environmental advantages. In this dynamic context, Fiat Auto introduces the Panda Hydrogen. As part of a larger research programme, Fiat is using this revolutionary model to explore new technology, evaluate how the car behaves in real-world conditions and assess its environmental advantages.
While Fuel Cell based drivetrains will almost certainly not be available on a large scale until at least the end of the next decade, Fiat Auto has already been actively researching this solution for a number of years, as shown in 2001 by the debut of the 'Elettra H2 Fuel Cell' and, more recently, by the Seicento Hydrogen. Both prototypes were produced by the Fiat Research Centre in conjunction with the Ministry for the Environment. The Panda Hydrogen encapsulates what has been learnt so far, and moves on from an experimental research stage in the laboratory to real-world testing of a vehicle in the field.

Read full article here.

Smart Cars for the Olympics?

One of the highlights of [Innovation Norway - a conference focusing on Norwegian-Chinese cooperation held in Langesund, October 2005] was the launch of the Zero Emission Smart Car, a product of Miljøbil Grenland and Electrovaya of Canada. This is a significant advance over electric vehicles currently available in Europe and Asia, and the companies have high hopes for the car to become a regular feature of cityscapes from Oslo to Shanghai.
Key to the Smart Car’s success will be superior battery power. New powering technology gives the Smart Car triple the range of traditional electric vehicles, and this, according to Miljøbil Grenland’s Oddbjorn Solum, “is the breakthrough technology necessary to introduce zero-emission vehicles into Norway, Scandinavia and China.” Miljøbil Grenland is currently engaged in the commercialization phase of development, and has set a goal of offering this car to the Olympics that are to take place in Beijing in 2008.

Read source here.
Photos taken at the CIAS, Feb 2006 by Brian Spencer,with kind permission.

CIAS 2006: smart in ruby red

club smartcar cruise to the CIAS

To smart centre Mississauga for the cruise to the Toronto Auto Show -CIAS. Coffee and doughnuts courtesy of Ed & Justin, our smart specialists. Eleven strong we head out down the 401 and the Don Valley Parkway to smart centre Midtown where we hook up with some 60 odd smart cars making an estimated total of 75. We cruise down to the Rogers Centre en masse. A passing motorist asks, "Are you all together?".
Free parking on the Lakeshore and shuttle bus to the venue, courtesy of Nissan, without a hitch. The show is a bit of a zoo but we battle our way to the smart stand where the $40,000 Canada 1 racing red Brabus show car is on display. The stand is a magnet for fellow cruisers and we bump into Glen, owner of the lovely Gina, in town from London and already dreaming of a smart grandstyle special edition. We head over to the Subaru stand to view the new all electric R1e, not for sale in North America, there are only a handful on the streets in Japan. It uses new manganese lithium-ion battery technology that means it could be recharged to 90% capacity in just five minutes. But of course at present there is no network of recharging points.
We checked out the NASCAR stand briefly on our way to view the Cruise Nationals winners. Saw a splendid display called "Octagon Dreams" hosted by the MG Car Club of Toronto. We headed up into the North Hall to Transport Canada's stand where they had a smart forfour cdi on display. A spokeswoman said, "we are expecting type approval for this car in 2007 or 2008". The forfour has a 1.5 litre, 3 cylinder 12-valve diesel engine fitted with a turbocharger.
We were delighted to receive free tickets to the show from smart centre Mississauga, coupled with the free parking it made for a splendid day out at low cost. After collecting our complement of free newspapers, we cheerfully headed home.
Many thanks to club smartcar, Brian, Ed, Justin and others who made the event possible.

Pumpkin Rollers in No Man's Land

We drive a Smart to Oklahoma's Panhandle and become an object of vast and lingering amusement.
BY JOHN PHILLIPS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG JAREM
Car and Driver, April 2005

Look at a map and you'll notice that Oklahoma resembles a human hand with an index finger pointing west, as if suggesting to occupants that a U-Haul adventure in the direction of California might be a swell idea. Not one inch of interstate freeway intrudes upon the Panhandle, and the towns are minuscule and named as if the founders had no time for reflection: Hooker, Eva, Felt, Gray, Straight, Mouser. At the eastern edge of the Panhandle is a town called Slapout, population 8. At the western edge is a town called Wheeless, population 0.

Photographer Greg Jarem and I had never met anyone who'd set foot in the Panhandle—it seemed as alien and uncharted as Neptune—so we naturally drove there in an alien car. The Smart ForTwo is 8.20 feet in length, not much longer than my living-room sofa. Feel free to correct me on this, but I feel confident we were the first persons in intergalactic history to drive a Smart into the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Read the complete article here.
Follow the long running saga of whether the smart will be sold in the USA here.
With thanks to Lynn Willmette Porter.