Editors' Least Favorite: 2008 Smart Fortwo

The Solstice has to rank as one of the biggest disappointments to come out of GM in recent years. Beautiful styling, powerful engine, rear wheel drive. This car should have been a hit. But the interior was incredibly cramped and poorly layed out and the handling was sub-par.

Vintage million dollar arm/10 cent head vehicle from GM.

The Solstice Coupe is a close second. What genius thought it made sense to build a targa roof that couldn't be stored in the car when removed?

Best line from the Smart's wrap-up: "On a scale of excellent, good or poor, I would rate the Smart's handling: pointless."

Great runabout car for tiny european cities with tiny european roads and tiny european parking spots. Pointless for the U.S.

I'm a big fan of Chysler/Jeep, but I will agree with the Compass, it is junk. I'm also seeing a lot of Smart cars around town, I can't imagine how bad they perform at this altitude, 6500ft above sea level.

In one of the better LT updates ever, McGrath or Sadlier or someone described the harrowing experience of driving the thing on the freeway as wind shear pushed it around.

Well that was no surprise, the Smart was pretty terrible and the Compass really deserves the 'honorable' mention. The Solstice was a crappy car but frankly I am still surprised it ranked as low as it did. Sure it had a lousy powertrain, poorly designed and uncomfortable interior and a half-baked top design (especially when compared with the MX-5's), but it was also a "fun" little roadster with standout styling. I could think of worse LT cars I'd rather not own.

I think it has something to do with expectations. The Solstice wrote checks it couldn't cash.

That was it exactly Stephen.

It was the readers least favorite also. Followed closely by the Mini-E

Long have I foreseen this.

I agree 100% with those picks. While the Solstice may not have been so bad in and of itself, it was just disappointing that such a beautiful and well-engined car was let down with sub-par handling. A cheap interior isn't a fatal flaw in a compact roadster, but poor handling sure is.

It wasn't that the Solstice had a cheap interior, it was a badly designed one, incredibly cramped and just not functional.

I was surprised the Smart was popular for as long as it was.

Never drove the Solstice, but did drive the Sky. The Sky was a blast.

You know, I do like the look of the Smart though. It's a muscular little car and the look works for me. What doesn't work is the premium fuel requirment, the so-so fuel economy (relative to size and overall lack of utility), and the poor execution of the gearbox (although admitedly, my opinion is based purely on anecdotal info).

At the Chicago auto show a few years back they showed the Four Four, which makes much more sense to me in the US than the Four Two.