The Smart ForTwo became a huge hit when it arrived in Britain at the turn of the Millennium.
Its incredibly petite dimensions – measuring in at just 2.5 metres long – made it the ideal motor for nipping around city centres with consummate ease.
And it became a comically useful tool for parking, with its diminutive scale meaning it could easily be slotted perpendicularly between two other motors in the tiniest spaces at the roadside.
It was available across three generations spanning from 2000 until it was eventually scrapped from the Smart line-up in 2024, some four years after Mercedes’ parent company Daimler sold half of the business to Chinese giant Geely.
But the laughably compact ForTwo is set to make a return for a fourth series with electric power from next year.
It has been previewed as a concept car debuting at this weekend’s Beijing motor show. And while it will continue the ForTwo’s tradition of bogglingly small measurements, it will come with a new name…
Smart’s hilariously small compact car is making a comeback: The two-seat ForTwo city car will return as the #2 in 2027. And it should still be an abolsute doddle to park…
The first Smart ForTwo arrived in the UK in 2000 and became an instant icon due to its diminutive size, ease of nipping through cities and ability to park at the kerbside at 90 degrees
The new two-seat compact city car is will from 2027 carry the #2 nameplate, in-keeping with the branding system used by Smart under its German-Chinese ownership alliance.
But it will tick all the boxes of the original ForTwo’s famous characteristics in what Smart aims to ‘deliver uncompromised urban capability’.
This includes the 2000 cars signature ‘wheels-at-the-corners’ layout, maximised interior space, and mega condensed dimensions – though at 2,792mm, the concept is almost 30cm longer than the original and 10cm more than the last third-generation car.
In contrast to today’s cars, it is almost a metre shorter than a Fiat 500 (though that does have rear seats) and Honda’s recently-unveiled Super-N.
Only the Citroen Ami and Micro Microline are smaller vehicles with two seats, though they both fall into the ‘quadricycle’ category, meaning they don’t qualify as passenger cars, meaning far smaller ranges and limited top speeds (the Ami’s range is just 46 miles and top speed limited to a pedestrian 28mph).
Smart says the #2 will be the fourth interation of the legendary ForTwo, even if it doesn’t carry the same name
The ForTwo’s tiny dimensions has made it a favourite for city dwellers with the cars still immensely popular in the capital
Clever packaging meant the ForTwo was also spacious. Pictured: Keith Edwards, a 6ft 7in member of the Tall Persons Club GB & Ireland posing with his Smart ForTwo in 2008
If the production model is around 2.8-metres long, owners are unlikely to get away with parking at 90 degrees to the kerb in a roadside bay as they have done before in the ForTwo.
This is because the average space at the kerbside in the UK is 2.4 metres.
In 2014, a UK owner of a Smart ForTwo won a year-long battle over a £50 parking ticket given because she parked at a right angle to the kerb with the car slightly over the white lines.
Vanessa Price was ticketed by Gloucestershire County Council in 2013 for breaching road regulations by parking perpendicularly at the roadside. But the fine was overturned by an adjudicator, who said she had not breached any road regulations.
Price was issued the penalty charge because the front of her car breached the parking bay lines in Stroud. But it was overturned because the rule that drivers must park within markings does not apply in limited waiting spaces on highways.
For parking bays wider than the Smart ForTwo is long, historically, has meant drivers have rarely been ticketed when they’ve parked at a right angle to the kerb.
The ForTwo’s party trick has always been that it can be parked perpendicularly in a kerbside bay, meaning owners can slot into the smallest spaces between other cars
The original was just 2.5-metres long; around the width of kerbside parking bays in town centres. But the new model is expected to be longer and thefore could lose this key attribute
The biggest difference the #2 will have to the debut ForTwo from 26 years ago is its exclusively electric powertrain and move into a more premium segment.
The full technical details of its EV platform won’t be unveiled until later this year at the Paris Motor Show in October, but the range is expected to be in the region of 186 miles (300km) and recharges from 10 to 80 per cent should take less than 20 minutes.
For drivers in big cities like London, these figures should be more than acceptable for a compact vehicle, especially with 20mph limits likely extending the range.
It too will feature ‘reverse-charging’, meaning owners will be able to attach a three-pin adaptor to the charging socket allowing them to plug in their smartphones and laptops – a rare function of smaller, cheaper EV models.
And while the #2 will be marginally longer than the original ForTwo, it will have the same 6.95-metre turning circle, making it a doddle navigating packed streets and limited parking access.
The Smart #2 will exclusively be electric. The range is expected to be in the region of 186 miles (300km) and recharges from 10 to 80% will take less than 20 minutes
Prices are yet to be confirmed, though because the Smart #2 will be more premium than the ForTwo it replaces, we expect it to ring in around £25,000
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According to bosses, the styling has been entirely led by Mercedes-Benz rather than Geely, which explains its similarities to ForTwos that have come before it.
But bosses say it will be ‘elevate the city car beyond mere utility’, with a plusher interior than the relatively sparse original.
Kai Sieber, head of Smart design at Mercedes-Benz, said: ‘We believe a city car should be more than a problem solver; it should spark joy.
‘Carrying the heritage of the ForTwo’s iconic design, the Concept #2 translates our bold personality into a new era where Function becomes Fashion.’
There’s still no indication on pricing ahead of 2027 deliveries, but given its premium shift, we expect it to ring in above the Honda Super-N’s £22,000 entry point.
Smart has also not given any indication if it will sell an open-top cabrio or roadster versions like the original, or if it plans to expand the #2’s platform to allow for rear seats, in the same way it did with the ForFour variant previously.
Brabus also famously sold tuned versions of the ForTwo, though whether the #2 receives the same treatment, only time will tell.
