Re: I saw the future today.

>
> With no children to try to cram into a car, I want something that gets
> good petrol consumption in town, can bomb down the motorway (within
> the speed limit, thank you), be "nippy" enough at the lights, has good
> cornering, can hold me, a passenger, and enough luggage for a week or
> a day's shopping at the big outlet mall, yet be easy to fit into a
> tight space in the multi-storey car park.

.......
> A
> Smart (which is a Mercedes engine after all) would also suit -
>

With a Smart - at least the one I hired in Switzerland in 2001 - the
choice was _between_ luggage for a week or a passenger, given the tiny
amount of space at the back.
(It was also the only car where I had to study the manual in some
detail before I could even get the car started. While the staff on the
desk were impressively multilingual, the manual in the car was in
German only, which I speak but many visitors to Switzerland may not -
I wonder if some of them are still stuck in the multi-storey car park
[parking garage].... )