It represented the cute and cuddly side of motoring, popular amongst Europe's trendy urbanites who think they're saving the planet by driving the modern equivalent of the bubble car. The fortwo - or city coupé as it was originally known - is easy to park, surprisingly roomy inside for its size, and brought a smile to the faces of passers-by.
The Sex in the City generation was set to be wowed by this handbag-sized motor which offered the urban city dweller the chance to have the freedom of owning your own car, while still retaining some tree-hugging street cred, given its diminutive size. A winner all round then, one would think. Unfortunately it suffers from one minor flaw. Thanks to an incredibly annoying gearbox, it's hair-tuggingly frustrating to drive.
It's so annoying that petrol heads who fell for its charm can be found looking longingly at people gathering at bus stops. There's a case for attributing the rise in anti-car feeling to the fact that so many in the urban green lobby on the Continent turned from their old Beetles and beat-up Peugeot diesels to the Smart.
Even the slightly cramped sporty coupé, the second car from the Smart stable, while more true to the form of a niche player and loads of fun in terms of handling, nevertheless suffered the same intelligence deficiency when it came to the gearbox. Anyone who has spent any length of time behind the wheel of either car lost the will to live thanks to its jerky, irrational gearbox.
Now, at last, Smart has come up with a proper four-seater with a proper box of cogs. It's part of an effort, one suspects, to get the funky firm to finally turn a profit.
Rumours have started to spread - albeit strongly denied - that the board of parent DaimlerChrysler is increasingly edgy about the Smart finances and want to see it in the black in the short-term.
It's understandable given the host of woes facing the board, from the less than stellar performance of its US brand, to the sliding reliability record of its premium German brand. Hence, the introduction of more price-conscious marketing and model ranges in the smallest of the DC brands, aimed at appealing to people who actually want to leave the 30 mph zone.
In fairness to the engineers behind this car, most of the work was done in conjunction with Mitsubishi, one-time partner but now set adrift in a change of strategy by the DC board earlier this year.
The new forfour is a twin of the Japanese firm's new Colt, with all the major mechanicals the same.
One engineer with the Japanese firm told us that during the initial stages the cars were so similar they actually changed the cushioning in the seats of the Colt and forfour so that customers would experience a physical difference in the interior. Of course, the outer bodywork is different, which is more to the benefit of Mitsubishi in a conservative market like Ireland.
That's not to say the forfour is not up to scratch in terms of looks. It still has the Smart magic in terms of charm, thanks to cute bug-like lights on the front and rear, along with the various coloured plastic panels on offer. Yet you can't help thinking that it looks strikingly similar to a modified version of an earlier generation Ford Fiesta.
So it qualifies in terms of funky looks thanks to the peripherals rather than overall effect. Is that Smart? Probably not, according to the original criteria, but while it won't bring the same smile to passing pedestrians as a fortwo, DC is certainly hoping to bring a smile back to the bean-counters back in Germany. The key to their happiness is the fact that it lives up to its name: in the back there's the requisite legroom for a car of its class and, yes, as the name suggests it is for four people, even four adults.
But the most important thing about the forfour is that the Japanese finally persuaded the German engineers to abandon that lurching automatic gearbox.
All is forgiven here with a manual box that at least bears some relationship with the needs of the driver. Second gear has the greatest push of torque, offering that little surge that proves most potent away from the lights in town. But this car can cope with motorway traffic. The engine is spirited, and there's a great surge accompanying every gear change. It buzzes along with enthusiasm. Our test car was the 1.5-litre diesel and it proved a potent little motor. A humble little three-cylinder petrol is the entry level model. We drove it at launch and found it to be full of energy and charisma. So no problems then, in the engine department.
Yet, getting back to life with the car, there remains some annoying flaws with the forfour. Smart claims a "lounge-like interior" akin to a sitting-room and, having once spent a night in a Fiesta, the thousands of teenage motorists who will undoubtedly inherit these cars as their first cars in years to come will be thankful the front seats can fold down.
We found the interior plastics too industrial and rough, though the cloth cover on the dash is tasteful and softens the look, but the dash and central console is poorly lit at night. Still, if you're living in your Smart, things have gone seriously pear-shaped and interior décor will be the least of your concerns.
On the road, there's a noticeable combination of engine and road noise and though it enthuses you to push on it can be annoying over longer journeys. For all the charisma and charm of the Smart brand and being able to feel a part of the growing young and trendy "Smart community", the key question is: on a dark, wet Monday morning on your way to work, would you feel cosy and comfortable in the Smart, or spend time in traffic sending glares of envy at people in Toyota Yarises?
In a crowded marketplace, Smart has succeeded in creating another car that will stand out. However, standing out may not be enough. When you want to expand the brand you might have to go mainstream, but diving into an ever-decreasing pool of customers in a segment filled with some very big fish in the industry, may not have been the smartest move.
We can't exactly identify where the forfour fits. Without the burden of our high tax rates, Smart has done well in other countries and is competitively priced. Here, at the lower end, the Black edition certainly seems good value, but it's up against far more useful competitors like the Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris.
At the upper end there's the Mini to contend with, and the forfour neither has the image credibility or sporty fun drive to match it.
So there's only the middle ground to fight for, and here you've got some really tough competition with big players like Ford, not to mention its twin, the Colt, which is significantly cheaper. Smart may have street-cred, but the prices suggest a premium over competitors which we found was hard to justify.