Smart Car Engine History
Since its preview at the 1998 Paris Auto Show, the Smart Car and its innovative, three-cylinder, turbo-charged rear-mounted engine have been gaining sales worldwide. The Smart Car is now available in many parts of the world, including the United States, Canada and Japan, along with Europe, where it was first marketed.
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Prototypes
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The use of a two-stroke, three-cylinder engine dates back at least as far as the 1950s, when the Saab company developed a series of sports cars with a similar type of engine. Saab begin their company by making airplane engines, then after the World War II switched over to manufacturing cars. In the 50s, Saab produced some very fast sports cars that used two-stoke, three-cylinder engines. Later on, Saab also developed transverse-mounted three-cylinder engines, but the units operated on gasoline and not diesel. Also, they were not turbocharged.
Important Merger
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In 1994, the Swatch Company, a Swiss manufacturer of watches, collaborated with Daimler-Benz to begin design on a new fuel-efficient, lightweight car. In 1997, a prototype emerged that became the forerunner of the Smart Car. The basic design of the original engine has changed only slightly during the first dozen years of production.
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Variations
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The original two-stroke, three cylinder engine has been enlarged to produce more power, but it is still turbocharged and transversely mounted on the rear axle. There is also a gasoline version of the gasoline engine available, as well as a hybrid model that can be re-charged from an electric current.
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