We now have three Smart cars. They serve different functions.

Creamiscle: based in SoCal

This is a 2016 Smart Passion (ICE) that we bought as a used car in Missouri in 2021. We’re fortunate that we can leave in on the mainland. We’re using this car for a lot of long distance trips, as well as shorter trips around the LA basin. The name, Creamsicle comes from the car’s appearance. The orange and white look just like the ice cream flavor.

Bordeaux: based in Hawai`i

We got one of the last new electric Smart cars sold by our Hawai`i dealership. This is our “go to” car for short trips around town. It is a 2018 Passion. We call this black and red beauty Bordeaux.

TwoRed: now in Hawai`i

TwoRed is what we call our 2010 Smart Passion (ICE). It's the car in which we took trips on the mainland for many years. Long trips. Sometimes very long trips. While most people think of Smart cars as short-trip urban vehicles, we're using our Smart to roam North America.  Virtually every trip has been part of an expedition. You'll see from the log below that we've crossed the US several times (actually, four times). With these expeditions finished, TwoRed has been across the US four times and been driven in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Note that we live in Hawai`i (which was the last state left). The car was finally brought to Honolulu and the US circuit is complete.  Note that TwoRed crossed all of the Canadian Provinces, and did a bit of the Yukon, too.

twored in florida, one of the last states needed to get the 49 north american states

twored ready to cross into alberta, completing the ten canadian provinces

Also of note. We pushed ourselves to go far to the north. That was the Arctic Circle trip. We asked a number of people who live on the Dalton Highway (that's the road to the Arctic Circle in the US). None had seen a Smart up there before. We were lucky on that trip. The day that we were in Wiseman (75 miles north of the Arctic Circle and our northernmost point) it began to snow (after we had left earlier in the day). The Dalton itself got a lot of rain and was about to be closed. There was also a bad accident with a truck (the Dalton is called the "haul road" for the dominance of the big trucks). That closed the highway. We would have been stuck, quite literally. Very lucky timing. Very lucky. Our friends in Fairbanks say that rain in Alaska made it impossible to drive the Dalton in 2014. Glad that we chose 2013 for this trip and didn't go just one day later.

twored at the arctic circle

The car has also been to the western-most point on the North American highway system (Anchor Point, Alaska) and the eastern-most point of the US highway system (West Quoddy Head, Maine).  Both places are a bit out of the way, so this car is likely one of the few that has been to both extremes.

twored has been to anchor point, the most westerly highway point

twored at west quoddy head, the easternmost highway point

Getting all of the 10 Canadian provinces was difficult (it is a long drive across Canada and two of the provinces are islands). For example, it took two 7 hour ferry rides to add Newfoundland to the set.

twored at a rest stop on the tail-of-the-dragon

Going on the Tail of the Dragon, US 129, is a rite of passage for a Smart. This 11 mile stretch of highway has 318 curves. You really need to watch the highway as there are many motorcycles sharing the road. You need to make sure that you stay on your side of the center line.

Participating in a group event, the 2014 Bash on the Bridge, is another completed item for TwoRed's Bucket List. 

We're recently completed another "extreme" item: The lowest and highest points on the North American highway system. We've done the lowest point (Death Valley). In June, 2016, we went to Mount Evans (about 14,100 feet) Colorado, the highest paved road in North America.

bash on the bridge was an insane gathering of more than 60 smarts at london bridge, lake havasu, arizona

Statistics (TwoRed)

Last updated: May 2015

  • Total Distance: 55,010 miles

  • Total Fuel Used: 1,428.23 gallons

  • Total Fuel Cost: $5,554.45

  • Total States Visited: 49 + DC

  • Total Provinces Visited: 10 + Yukon Territory

  • Overall Mileage: 39.22 mpg

  • Best 5 tank average: 47.10 mpg

  • Total Fill-ups: 232

  • Average Fill-up: 6.16 gallons

  • Largest Fill-up: 8.70 gallons

  • Average Distance Between Fills: 242.5 miles

  • Most Expensive Fuel: $5.67 / gallon (Wawa, Ontario, Canada)

  • Least Expensive Fuel: $2.66 / gallon

  • Northernmost Location: Wiseman, AK

  • Southernmost Location: San Antonio, TX

  • Westernmost Location: Anchor Point, AK

  • Easternmost US Location: West Quoddy Point, ME

  • Easternmost Location: Deer Lake, Newfoundland

  • Lowest Elevation: Badwater, Death Valley, CA (-282 ft/-86 m)

  • Highest Elevation: Mt. Evans, CO (~14,100 ft)

locations of the gas stations used by twored (last updated 6/12/2014)