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Smart Fortwo

automobile model

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ834494
Source-derived summary

The Smart Fortwo (stylized as "smart fortwo") is a two-seater city car manufactured and marketed by the Smart division of the Mercedes-Benz Group for model years 1998–2024. The car was sold across three generations — each using a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and a (generally) one-box design body shape. Much like the original Volkswagen Beetle decades earlier, the Smart car's identity is interchangeably associated with both its brand name and its model name.

The first generation Smart ForTwo (a joint venture project between Mercedes-Benz and Swatch) was internally designated as the W450, and was publicly launched at the 1998 Paris Motor Show. The redesigned (but visually similarly-shaped) second generation W451 would debut 8 years later, at the 2006 Bologna Motor Show. The third (and currently final) generation Fortwo was the C453 build series. It debuted globally on July 16, 2014, at the Tempodrom in Berlin. The third generation coupe and convertible debuted along with a closely related four-door version. While the four door carried the previously-used Smart Forfour name, this generation of smart cars was actually co-developed (sharing the same platform and engines) with the third-generation Renault Twingo.

The ForTwo was marketed in 46 countries worldwide, allowing production to reach 1.7 million units by early 2015, and going on to surpass 2 million units globally, before end of 3rd generation production.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Smart Fortwo” as automobile model. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Smart, Fortwo and automobile.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1998, 2024, 2006, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Smart, Fortwo and automobile providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Smart Fortwo”, the useful work is to connect “automobile model” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q834494. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1998, 2024, 2006 and 2014.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Smart Fortwo”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Smart Fortwo primary sources, Smart Fortwo archive and Smart research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Smart Fortwo”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Smart Fortwo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.