A knoll just begging for a castle

I was driving along Boonville Road off off 128 - the wonderful winding road that leads from Cloverdale to the Mendocino coast - when I couldn't help noticing this perfect little knoll. In the Europe there would be a castle or old monastery on top, in Asia a temple of some sort, but in the new world there no historical lineage

Sea, Sand and Sun

Summer is almost here but don't let the bright sunlight fool you — it's still pretty cold out there. Too cold to spend much time outside the car — a strong icy wind was blowing off the Pacific. Well OK, maybe it wasn't that cold — probably in the low 50s (we're spoiled here in Northern California). It was warm enough to have the top down as I drove down the Sonoma coast on Sunday , but you had to be wrapped up well and have all the windows tightly shut.

A Question of Scale

I'm fascinated and intrigued by the old, deteriorating naval shipyard of Mare Island in the North bay. The once vast military base was decommissioned in the mid-90s, its rich collection of aging buildings and other structures gradually transferring to civilian uses.

This Giant crane doesn't look that old, and its size is truly impressive. When parked beneath it, the Smart feels like it's going to be crushed at the foot of one of those Imperial walkers in Emipire Strikes back. But this one seems pretty benign.

Ghetto Smart

This is actually in the heart of the financial district in San Francisco — hardly a ghetto. An alley off 2nd street just south of Market always has plenty of parking on weekends because it takes about 3 quarters a minute to keep the meter happy. This doesn't really look like genuine spontaneous grafitti but some sort of commisioned art — it's pretty carefully applied and really vibrant. It reflects powerfully in the car's flanks.

View from a City Car

The Smart car generally garners rave reviews as a "City Car", a designation that usually refers to its compact dimensions that allow ease of handling and parking. But what about the view upwards? Cities are defined by their density – which require going vertical. A convertible is the only way to really enjoy a city like San Francisco where much of the view is above your windshield. Here's a view through the open top of one of my favorite buildings downtown: the Neo-Gothic PacBell Building – an architectural masterpiece completed in 1925.

Electric Smart

People often assume my Smart car is electrically powered. I'm routinely asked how far it goes on a charge, sometimes even while I'm filling up at a gas station! But there are real electric Smarts in various stages of development, using several different technologies. A current pilot project in London involving two Smarts has been put into municipal duty - as police cars. It reportedly has a top speed of 60 and a range of 70 miles - not the stuff of high-speed chases. Here's one captured by the the irrepressible Frode Hegland of HyperWords fame. 

Curiously it's modeled on the previous generation model – the 450 – which I actually think looks sleeker (relatively) and has a better resolved design than the current, USA-legal Smart car.

Bolinas

The reluctant town of Bolinas sits just north of Stinson Beach, and couldn't be more different. It's infamous for its feisty, isolationist-minded residents who continue to resist having any kind of signage identifying the town from the main road - you have to know to hang a left on an unmarked, wooded turnoff. What you'll find is a rundown, backward community that tries hard to avoid their town turning into a yuppie tourist haunt. They have charmingly succeeded. A pleasant diversion, a collection of dilapidated Victorian wooden buildings, and a great beach.

Sunset in Alameda

We had a picnic watching the sunset by the bay on an unusually calm day. A little point of land off Alameda island rather grandly named Ballena Bay Waterfront Breakwater has stunning views across to San Francisco. Surprisingly warm for February - we had the car's top down well into the evening. Drove around the old decomissioned base to the spot where the Navy has a few of their vessels stored. The light was remarkable and the water was like glass - great reflections.

Summer in January

We usually have a respite from rainy weather in the first month of the year, but even for Northern California it's been an unusually warm, dry January. We decided to take a spin up the San francisco Peninsula, driving North from Santa Cruz on Highway 1 up to the town of Pacifica. I've always loved this road, a smooth open route that winds up the coast through mostly agricultural land extending to the cliffs that fall into the sea.




We stopped at a few spots along the way, marveling the larger than normal waves, and then pulled over at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. A picturesque local landmark that was built back in the early 70s — the 1870s! There's a great spot where you can drive across a lumpy, muddy field right out to the edge of the cliffs and admire the wonderful view. The weather was downright balmy — it rarely gets this warm in the summer time - the place is cloaked in a heavy fog most of the time.



When we got up to Pacifica — a rather unremarkable town bordering San Francisco — we had enjoyed the ride so much we decided to drive the same way back south again, taking in a spectacular setting sun all the way down. A great day of Smart driving.

Evil Smart

One of the more distinctive design features that helps differentiates the current model Smart car from the previous version are its stylized headlights - much more aggressive looking, and dare I say, a little angry. Especially appropriate for Halloween!

Post War Smart

Introduced in in 1953, the diminutive Isetta captured the automotive hearts of post-war Italians. A few years later it was licensed by BMW and extensively reworked and engineered into the model you see here - the Isetta Moto Coupe DeLuxe. It had a slightly bigger engine than the original - still only 300cc - and sliding side windows rather than the original's glass bubble. The rear wheels had a much narrower track than the front making it look like a three wheeler from some angles. It's a foot shorter than a Smart with the really unique feature of having you enter and exit through the front. The whole front face hinges open to one side like a giant refrigerator door - even the steering wheel pivots aside to allow you to get inside by stepping over the front bumper. It was quite sucessful and was pressed into commercial service with a tiny pickup truck variant. I shot this fine example at the Pebble beach Concours d'elegance in Monterey last week.