All the faults of the first generation Smart really started grating on us by the end of day one. So I promptly went over the next morning and swapped it out for the current generation model — the same version as the one I have at home. It even had the same red interior color. What a difference! Everything worked, the better quality interior was roomier and more functional, and there was a lot much more power on tap. It was also a convertible model, unlike the older Smart we'd had the day before — perfect for buzzing around all over the island of Santorini.
The weather had improved as well, so we retraced our steps from the day before, exploring the very southern end of the island. It was good to have that extra power for going up the one-lane main road to the island's highest point. The car looks pretty sharp in all silver. I'll admit I'm not a big fan of the Smarts standard dual color scheme, where the Tridon Safety cell sports a contrasting color from the rest of the body work. I think the car's blocky wedge shape looks much better when it's all one color. I still noticed a slight difference in the body panel colors. I've noticed my all black model back home also has the same problem. I guess it's impossible for modern manufacturing processes to match the colors between the metal and plastic parts to a reasonable tolerance. Those simpler design European spec wheels are definitely sharper looking than the stock American offering.
This is the road up to the central, highest point on the island - It's hard to convey in pictures how steep and high up this single-lane road was.
As you can see from all the red lines, we drove almost every road possible.
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