The parade of smart models toured the city of Hamburg with more than 1,600 vehicles.
When smart was launched on the market in 1998, it was only possible to choose one model and one body shape: the ForTwo. Today, 18 years later, the story is quite different: roadster, coupé or cabriolet? Gasoline, Diesel or Electric Engine? Two or four places? Custom or standard? There are smarts for all tastes, as demonstrated by the 3,167 enthusiasts from around the world who participated in the 16th smart times, held between the 26th and 27th of August.
All this happened in a festival of urban life – with music, urban gastronomy, a smart used market, a test track and even a visit by the gold medal winners in beach volleyball at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst. The highlight was, of course, the traditional closing parade in which 1,635 smart vehicles, including 30 Portuguese (image below), roamed the streets of Hamburg.
In addition to being a high number of participants, it is also the new record for the event that beat the previous maximum of 1,427 vehicles registered two years ago at smart times in Cascais, Portugal . Next year, the Spanish city of Salou will have the chance to set new records, as this is where smart times 2017 will open its doors to welcome the smart community.