Welcome back ladies and gentlemen; I hope all of your Labor Day weekends were as fantastic as mine was.

While we were away, smart offered the first glimpse of a model we've been expecting for some time now - the new fortwo, scheduled to make its worldwide debut this autumn and hit dealerships next spring.

As you can see, smart offered a sneak peak of the 2007 fortwo model via the form of a sand sculpture, a fact that still manages to showcase a number of the new smart's revisions.

Upon inspection of the smart fortwo sand sculpture, you'll notice that when comparing it to the outgoing model, the new version will be a slightly sleeker, slightly more refined version of the already lovable mini-car. In the front, changes include new headlamps, a slightly modified grille, and the omission of the previous model's smiling contour in the mid-section of the hood/grill area. In the rear, the tail lights have been reduced from three to two units, and they are no longer part of the tridion safety cell's paint scheme, as they were previously. Another major change is the modified rear bumper which in addition to being larger, provides a more simplified, streamlined appearance and compliments the new smaller, more Mercedes-esque trunk. And finally, on the side of the vehicle, the tridion safety cell's paint scheme has been slightly revised, traveling up higher in the rear and avoiding the tail lights (as previously noted), while in the front the tridion's shape appears slightly shorter and slightly thicker than the outgoing model.

Of course, I'm basing all of the afore-mentioned statements on a sand sculpture, so if my statements aren't completely accurate, I apologize in advance for the error of my ways.

If you'd like to learn more about the smart fortwo sand sculpture, keep scrolling to see a few additional photos, followed by the full press release. Also, if you, like me, want to compare the new smart fortwo model to the previous model, I'd recommend opening the current smart fortwo's 360 degree tour for comparison purposes.

As always, click any photo below to enlarge.

Enjoy.















OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


New smart fortwo at Timmendorfer Strand

• Sand carving world champion builds a smart fortwo out of sand
  
  
• An absolute highlight to conclude the beach volleyball season

Böblingen, Sep 03, 2006
smart is offering the world public a first glimpse of an undisguised successor model to the current smart fortwo. During the German beach volleyball championships in Timmendorf this weekend, Pavel Zadanyuk, the three-time sand sculpture world champion from Russia, built the new smart fortwo from special sand. This sculpture clearly shows the new design language and in particular the characteristic face of the new ultimate two-seater for the city.

smart is preparing for the market launch of this new vehicle with various unusual communication measures – such as the smart fortwo successor carved out of sand. Prototypes of the new smart fortwo have already been seen in various media and internet platforms, but they were heavily disguised. smart has not yet published any official information on the appearance of the new smart fortwo.

The new smart fortwo will be presented this autumn and will be available from smart distribution partners worldwide from next spring. The successful current smart fortwo of which more than 750,000 models have been sold to date, is almost sold out - despite increased production figures this year. It will be replaced by its successor at the beginning of 2007.

Anders Sundt Jensen, member of the smart management board responsible for Marketing and Sales says "smart is always smart and this is why we have chosen the beach at Timmendorf to offer a first "glimpse" of our new car. Of course, we will be officially presenting the new smart made of its original materials to the world public later in the year. Timmendorf, however, where the whole beach volleyball fan community gathers this weekend, is the perfect place to make a statement that people will remember and to create a further sensation in addition to the results of the games. In the past few years our sponsoring activities have received a very positive response from the beach volleyball community and this is our way of saying thank you".

Pavel Zadanyuk, the sand sculpture artist, started building the smart from special sand on Monday and finished the sculpture on time for the final games at the weekend. Not even the rain and the harsh Baltic Sea wind were able to harm the robust sculpture of the car.

Copyright © 2006, DaimlerChrysler AG