But Is It Smart? smart Develops Monster Truck ForTwo
ForTwo Photos
We Figured It Would Be Coming… Just Not Any Time Soon.
Now that the smart range has been whittled down from a three-car product portfolio to just a single model, in Europe at least (you cant buy one here), you might expect the economy brands engineers and marketing men to focus on the fortwo. From the beginning, smart put most of its energy into the little city car; in fact, the mere mention of its name instantly sparks the mental image of the Euro ultra-urban dweller. But, after countless side-projects from high-performance Brabus-tuned cars to diesel-electric hybrids, it was only a matter of time before something truly radical, and truly silly would happen.
This is the smart forfun2 (pronounced for-fun-squared), and its a relatively self-explanatory vehicle. The successor to the original forfun, which was a subcompact forfour hatchback that had magically been converted into a monster truck, it only takes one look at this wild and wacky one-off vehicle to know what its all about. The recipe is pretty simple; take one smart fortwo, and elevate it to a height of 145 inches, build a tubular steel safety cage, underpin it with a monster-truck chassis and the appropriate sized wheels.
Its not just any monster truck chassis, mind you; the one that the forfun2s designers chose to employ was within the Mercedes-Benz product range. Though Benz does make a great number of very capable off-roading vehicles, such as the ML, GL, and G-Class, the only vehicle that was capable of being up to the monster task was the Unimog 406 series. Adapting the Unimogs oversized and heavy-duty chassis to fit the size constraints of the miniscule smart was no easy task; the project started this January, and was only completed very recently.
While most monster trucks feature a mid-engined, 500-cubic inch, supercharged, methanol-burning V8 engine, the forfun2 has a substantially different powerplant. The engine is the OM 352, a 5.7-liter six-cylinder diesel that has been borrowed from the Unimog. Power output from this large engine (hey, its pretty large for a smart), is actually surprisingly low at just 84 horsepower. It might not sound like a lot, but thats more than twice the output of the standard 41 horsepower smart fortwo cdi diesel.
Torque, on the other hand, is outrageously high at 191 lb-ft.
When the forfun2 isnt touring arenas and crushing cars with its gigantic 55 inch tall tires on 26-inch wheels, itll probably be out foraging in the great outdoors. Smarts decision to use diesel and base the vehicle off of a proper off-roading truck means that this comical looking machine is very competent off-road. The forfun2 has 25 inches of ground clearance, which is heavily guarded for under-body and underside protection. The forfun2 also features an adjustable air suspension system that helps improve grip, traction and stability when theyre needed.
Unlike many of the new concept vehicles recently shown in this news section, which have been introduced in Paris, the forfun2 will make its debut this November at the Athens Motor Show. The reason for this is that it was developed in collaboration with Stefan Attart, champion 4X4 racer, who just happens to be Greek. No word on whether it will tour the North American monster truck rally circuit when smart goes on sale in the U.S., but no doubt it would be a fitting way to introduce the brand to those who might never consider a smart car otherwise.
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