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The Smart Fortwo Was the Perfect Off-Road Vehicle and Nobody Knew

We always knew the smart fortwo had the potential to be a very fun car to drive, but we just couldn't put our finger on what exactly it was missing. We always assumed it was more power, which would turn the two-seater into the pocket-rocket a car with a rear-mounted engine an rear-wheel-drive deserves to be.
smart fortwo off-road conversion 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
It turns out we weren't just wrong, but we were actually searching in exactly the opposite direction. A Ukranian by the name of Gerogiy Kosilov (we'll just call him George) saw the truth while he was sitting in a friend's fortwo. Realizing the car had its turbodiesel engine mounted in the back, he had the epiphany that the smart fortwo would make an incredibly useful off-road vehicle.

Ignoring the hearty laughs his idea generated, he got to work. The first step was buying a first-gen smart, which couldn't have set him back too much. Next, he stripped the car down, as any excess weight would only add more strain to the already feeble engine. Only the important stuff remained, which for a basic smart fortwo means almost everything.

Then, it was time to go look for donors, and George took parts from a Volkswagen, Honda, and Mitsubishi, even though it's not very clear what exactly he took from where. What matters, though, is that his final creation - which reportedly only took a few days to build, even though we find that hard to believe given how sorted out it all seems - looks like this: the type of vehicle you would expect to find in the parking lot of an adventure park.

With all-terrain tires and a jacked-up suspension - George says the ground clearance now stands at 14 inches (or 36 cm) - the smart fortwo can go where not many other vehicles would dare to. It's got unbelievably good approach and departure angles thanks to the wheels being pushed out towards the corners of the car, and its petite frame and lightweight make it perfect for cresting snow or dispatching puddles of mud.

Loads of people told me they didn’t believe that I could turn a Smart car into an off-roader, but that made me even more determined,” George told Yahoo UK. “They [smart fortwos] aren’t big cars, and they don’t have a particularly mighty engine, but it’s as good as any 4x4 for driving through mud and snow,” he insisted. “All my friends were so impressed when it was finished, and it’s great fun to drive!” Oh, I bet it is, George, I bet it is. Here is a little clip George made earlier, in case there were any doubters left. It starts slow but give it a little time.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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