Bright Enough for a Smart Car

Tonight I made a rash decision. After pining for a Smart car for the past 9 years, I made a reservation to purchase one in 2008. Of course, this car would never replace my beloved Del Sol, which I still hope to restore to its former glory. Instead, the Smart will replace my slightly goofy, yet incredibly reliable Echo. The Echo has a big huge trunk. I really prefer hatchbacks. Two years after I bought the Echo, Toyota introduced the Yaris version of the same car to the U.S., with a hatchback available. I feel bitter.
I desperately craved a Yaris back in 2004. Toyota sold the Yaris hatchback in Canada in 2004, and I decided to just head up to Thunder Bay for a little Yaris. Then I discovered all of these ridiculous taxes Minnesotans pay if they buy a car in Thunder Bay. Yaris suddenly became much more pricey than its homely U.S. Echo counter-part. I submitted and ordered an Echo.
I've thoroughly enjoyed my days with the Echo. Yet I desperately miss the accessibility of the hatchback. Now that Smart is available to me, my hatchback lust has returned with a vengeance. I first spotted the cartoonish Smart in the background of a snapshot from Germany in 1998. For nearly a decade, the futuristic Smart has lingered in my long memory for sub-compacts.
Tonight I reserved a deep black Smart Passion coupe with a silver safety cell. (The safety cell is like a roll bar around the height and length of the vehicle, which renders it both crush-proof and quite odd-looking.) The past few weeks, I've struggled with unrelenting feelings of vulnerability in my Echo. Although I splurged for the side-curtain airbags in my Echo, my accident in the Del Sol a few weeks ago left me deeply shaken. The Smart features numerous airbags, plus specialized Electronic Stability Control, traction control and tire pressure monitoring, previously available only in pricey BMWs and Mercedes. The Smart is inherently safer than the Echo. Not only will it protect me during the afternoon commute, it'll be a head-turner. Smart is so awesome - standing tall like a futuristic version of the Ford Festiva. Long live the hatchback!