Smart Forstars Concept: Paris Auto Show PreviewSmart Forstars Concept: Paris Auto Show Preview

Is this the most aggressive-looking Smart concept car yet?
With a longer wheelbase, coupe-like roofline and frowning eyebrows over the headlights, it’s certainly a step up from the usual squat city cars, and it gives us yet another indication of what the next generation ForTwo might look like.
Known as the Forstars concept, Smart says the name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the coupe’s glass roof, allowing you to gaze at the skies at night.
While sharing the tall stance of regular Smart ForTwo models, there’s more than a hint of the old Smart Roadster Coupe about the concept’s styling, with a glass fastback design that curves down to a sloped back end.
At the front, the concept shares the “rhombic” headlight design most recently seen on the For-Us pickup concept, but this time features little eyebrows over the lights giving the car a distinct facial expression–one which may not appeal to everyone…
Smart has made much use of the integrated, honeycombed grilles also seen on previous concepts, both on the car’s nose, its rear flanks and on the rear bumper. Rhombic lights feature at the rear too, and while one light conseals a charging door for the electric powertrain, the other can be used to store a drinks can. No, we don’t understand either.
The interior is equally funky, taking a lead from previous concepts and hinting at more organic shapes than you’ll find in the current ForTwo. Much of the interior trim is color-coordinated with the body, in the same wet-look “Alubeam rouge” paintwork. Smart’s signature Tridion safety cell is finished in a matte titanium color.
Power comes from the Smart ForTwo BRABUS Electric Drive’s drivetrain. This uses an 80 horsepower, 99 lb-ft electric motor driving the rear wheels, allowing for an 80 mph top speed. The lithium-ion battery has 17.6 kWh of capacity, enough for 87 miles of range in the regular third-generation ForTwo Electric Drive.
The Forstars concept debuts at the 2012 Paris Auto Show, which begins on September 27.
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