smart Cars Arrive in Maryland; Prestige Imports Sells First Model to Ashley Custom Homes

BALTIMORE, Sept. 25 -- Move over SUVs and their gas-guzzling counterparts. A tiny challenger that aims to out-smart the competition has arrived in the U.S., with the first smart* car making its way to Maryland this week.

Prestige Imports in Randallstown scored a coup by receiving the first Maryland batch on Saturday, transferring tags within hours to Ashley Custom Homes' owners Neil and Deni Tabor, who "live, work and play" in Baltimore City.

The couple put their names on a waiting list through another company three and a half years ago, but to no avail. Their luck changed in a classic case of "It's who you know."

Friend Vasili Keramidas, co-owner of Kali's Court, introduced them to Tom Markides, owner of Prestige Imports and a Kali's regular. When Markides learned that he would have the Maryland distributorship, he told the Tabors that they could be the first to own one. Last Saturday night, patrons of Kali's were caught up in the excitement when both Tabor and Markides parked their smarts side-by-side in front of the popular Fells Point restaurant.

The two-seater egg-shaped cars get 60 mpg on the highway, according to some estimates. They have been the rage of Europe since 1998 but, until recently, have not been available to U.S. customers. While a few have entered the country in the past year, Ashley's smart car is among the first of these European cars to come directly to the U.S. for conversion to U.S. safety and emission standards with the full blessing of automaker smart GmbH, part of DaimlerChrysler.

The smart car is incredibly easy to park. Measuring just 8'2.5" in length and 4'11.5" wide, three of the five-feet tall smart fortwo models could easily fit into just one conventional parking space if parked nose-in, side-by-side. Their steel reinforced cage construction, weight of 1,558 pounds and dual driver/passenger airbags give the cars good safety ratings in collision tests.

Originally, Mercedes and makers of the Swatch(R) Watch collaborated on the project, with Swatch(R) later pulling out. But one visible reminder of the latter's involvement remains: smart cars come with detachable panels, so changing the color is as easy as a 30-minute visit to the dealer. The panels, which retail for about $900 for the full set according to Markides, can be changed due to color preferences or if damaged, although they're not easily dented.

Markides says he's selling the 30 smart fortwo Passion models he received for around $27,900 with options (others elsewhere in the U.S. have sticker prices of $35,000 and up), and his first five customers have fit one of the usual profiles for such buyers: savvy executives who use these attention- attracting vehicles to promote their businesses.

The Tabors moved their Ashley Custom Homes headquarters from Pikesville to the Hampden section of Baltimore a year and a half ago, two years after moving their residence from Pikesville to Fells Point. While they still build custom homes throughout the area, many of their newest projects are in the city.

"We love city living, and the smart car is the ultimate urban mobile. It gets great gas mileage and can fit in the smallest parking spaces. But more than that, it's just plain fun. The smart is attracting crowds wherever it goes. We're having our company logo and website put on the doors next week, which should give a whole new meaning to 'driving people to your website'," says Deni Tabor.

For more information about driving or owning a smart, contact deni@ashleyhomes.com or log on to www.prestige-motors.com.

*note: smart car is the official name for this car, the "s" being in lower case.