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Car review: Clever combo of sportiness and practicality in Smart #1 Brabus

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Interior and exterior of the Smart #1 Brabus on Apr 12, 2024.

Red hot red-top: The Smart #1 Brabus has two motors to send it to 100kmh in 3.9 seconds.

ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

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SINGAPORE – Decades before phone makers thought it was a good idea to venture into car-making, there was Swatch. The Swiss manufacturer of fun timepieces teamed up with Mercedes-Benz in 1994 to make what was dubbed the Swatchmobile.

The micro two-seater bubble car, which was unveiled a year later, bore its official name – Smart. Such a car may have been novel in 1995, but 50 years earlier, there were others like it, such as the BMW Isetta and Fiat 500.

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