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Smart History

The last place you expect cutting edge automotive design to come out of is from a Swiss watch manufacturer. But that's exactly what happened when '80s icon Swatch and Daimler-Benz teamed up to produce the Smart Car.

The merger produced a company known as Micro Compact Car AG, which later moved from its headquarters in Switzerland to Germany, where it became known simply as 'Smart'. Mercedes-Benz would bring the engineering expertise, build quality and motoring innovation, while Swatch contributed its funky design philosophy, producing a car that broke the mould. The emphasis was on producing small, economical cars specifically designed for urban environments. They had to be fuel efficient and easy to park, but Smart went beyond that - they produced a car that was completely new both in design and concept.

Because of its diminutive size, Smart developed the 'tridion' safety cell to make sure that the car could withstand impacts from larger vehicles. Made from three layers of steel reinforced at strategic points, the cell is designed to absorb and redistribute crash energy away from the occupants. Side impacts are shielded by steel door beams and reinforced axles.

The tiny car proved to be a big hit with consumers, who, once they had got over the shock of the new, embraced the Smart car as not only a practical car around town, but as an outstanding design classic. Now a common site on urban roads, the Smart car is paving the way for smaller, more efficient cars with the emphasis firmly on fuel consumption and practicality, but with that quirky, Swatch-inspired design that makes Smart cars stand out.