Hell has Frozen Over

[rrrucke 0]

Yesterday, I was invited to a lunch with my bosses to celebrate another great revenue collecting year. As I have stated in the past, I work in Midtown Manhattan between Park & Madison on 55th St. As we left the building and approached the sidewalk, low and behold I got the shock of a life time. So much so, that I squeeled uncontrollably "Oh My God, That's My Car!" Sitting on the sidewalk in front of the MB Park Ave's bay doors and facing my little lunch party was a blue & silver cabrio. I was floored!!! Some of you may remember that I work right next door to Mercedes and across the street is the Ferrari / Masserati showroom. Those two shops are in a constant pissing contest to show off what luxury cars they have in their stable. I have never been impressed with any of the cars they showcased (from Maybachs to whatever Ferrari & Maserati sell). Anyway, I have stated on this forum that it would be nice if MB Park Ave would showcase a smart. Last year, I even asked the Sales Mgr if they plan on showcasing some and like a snob he said, "Not at all!"Well hell must have frozen over because that beauty was sitting outside in plain site in front of everyone. In fact, you had to walk around it to get by. Funny, I have dreamed about driving my smart up on the side walk and taking a pix of it in front of my office because we have a nice outdoor atrium with trees and flowers. Hell, if I'm being honest, I have dreamed of driving my smart past the double glass doors and taking a pix of my smartie in our law firm. Grounds for dismissal, probably - fun as hell, definitely!Anyway, I told them all about my car and they were all very much impressed. When we returned to the office, the smart was gone which dashed my hopes. It was probably being delivered or something. But when we walked past and my lunch party stopped to chat up other group of co-workers, I looked around and then inside the MB showroom and there next to some unGodly SUV was the blue/silver cabrio. YIPPEE!!!! All is now well in the world.Well, I was so impressed by this wonderful event but it got me to thinking. Why would MB Park Ave change their mind so suddenly? So I was relaying this cute story to some of my commuter buddies this morning and one of them said, "Well of course they put a smart in the showroom with the economy the way it is!" What a light bulb moment. Times are definitely changing. Especially now with a smart on Park Ave for all to see. In some aspects it's changing for the better.Oh happy day,Regina:lol:

Edited March 28, 2008 by rrrucke

[SmartFella 0]

the lil buggers are the way of the future

[SCHMART 0]

great story Regina, thanks for sharing.

[rawlus 0]

cool story.from a business point of view, i'm quite impressed with smarts ability to maintain a strong PR buzz without spending a dime on conventional advertising. i have "fortwo" in my google alerts and get a summary daily of at least a half dozen newsbytes or blog entries or feature stories each day, sometimes twice that. most major brands cannot sustain something like this for more than a week or two - but it has been consistent with smart for months.i can only imagine how this may be improving smartusa's bottom line because their opex and advertising spend is so low - there's really very little reason for them to advertise at all for the forseeable future. most people i know can barely comprehend the situation, that the car is ordered online and you wait a year to get it... that there aren't really any salesmen in the dealerships and that the dealership isn't so much a dealership as a showroom and pick-up location for previously-ordered vehicles.while one could argue that economic factors might be motivating Manhattan dealerships to showcase the budget-minded vehicle now, my gut tells me that they're just as much interested in being associated with the huge landrush of publicity surrounding the vehicle.

[ValgardForkbeard 2]

Good story Regina; your coworkers must think you are a little bit crazy (or obsessed ) Ask the people in charge at your work about doing an off hours photo shoot; they might go for it. I went to my wife's work, and borrowed one of her coworkers and a mascot costume to take a few pics along with my smart. The boss there just wanted copies. (the pictures are in Duck's intro thread)Rawlus, the dealership is probably also hoping that someone who sees the funny little car in front comes in and sees the $60k to $70k car inside, and buys it.MG

[MikeT 744]

I thought at first you were referring to the snow falling on Vancouver Island on March 28.

[Schmimbo 0]

At first I thought something happend to your own smart like those insurance commericals. But great story. Times are changing thats for sure!

[wayneo66 0]

Hey Regina,Cool story!!! I've been enjoying my lil' fortwo for the past few weeks too. All kinds of gawks, stares, pointing...it's so much fun!!!! Cheers to ya!! Gotta go!! I'm riding up to a small classic car show and driving by a few times to attract a little more attention! Woohoo!!!!Hope you have a good weekend!!Wayne from N.C.

Yesterday, I was invited to a lunch with my bosses to celebrate another great revenue collecting year. As I have stated in the past, I work in Midtown Manhattan between Park & Madison on 55th St. As we left the building and approached the sidewalk, low and behold I got the shock of a life time. So much so, that I squeeled uncontrollably "Oh My God, That's My Car!" Sitting on the sidewalk in front of the MB Park Ave's bay doors and facing my little lunch party was a blue & silver cabrio. I was floored!!! Some of you may remember that I work right next door to Mercedes and across the street is the Ferrari / Masserati showroom. Those two shops are in a constant pissing contest to show off what luxury cars they have in their stable. I have never been impressed with any of the cars they showcased (from Maybachs to whatever Ferrari & Maserati sell). Anyway, I have stated on this forum that it would be nice if MB Park Ave would showcase a smart. Last year, I even asked the Sales Mgr if they plan on showcasing some and like a snob he said, "Not at all!"Well hell must have frozen over because that beauty was sitting outside in plain site in front of everyone. In fact, you had to walk around it to get by. Funny, I have dreamed about driving my smart up on the side walk and taking a pix of it in front of my office because we have a nice outdoor atrium with trees and flowers. Hell, if I'm being honest, I have dreamed of driving my smart past the double glass doors and taking a pix of my smartie in our law firm. Grounds for dismissal, probably - fun as hell, definitely!Anyway, I told them all about my car and they were all very much impressed. When we returned to the office, the smart was gone which dashed my hopes. It was probably being delivered or something. But when we walked past and my lunch party stopped to chat up other group of co-workers, I looked around and then inside the MB showroom and there next to some unGodly SUV was the blue/silver cabrio. YIPPEE!!!! All is now well in the world.Well, I was so impressed by this wonderful event but it got me to thinking. Why would MB Park Ave change their mind so suddenly? So I was relaying this cute story to some of my commuter buddies this morning and one of them said, "Well of course they put a smart in the showroom with the economy the way it is!" What a light bulb moment. Times are definitely changing. Especially now with a smart on Park Ave for all to see. In some aspects it's changing for the better.Oh happy day,Regina:lol:

[a2jack 1]

Hi... Regina: At the beginning of my read of your post I thought, Wow! those vandal rats carried your car up onto the sidewalk in front of your office. But then I remembered you come in on the train so it couldn't be. Anyway, we too are having great fun with our car. A2Jack

[rrrucke 0]

Hey A2Jack, actually I take the Express Bus from Old Bridge (NJ) Park & Ride to Port Authority (NYC). I park my smartie in the P&R lot so I'm sorry I didn't make it clear that I was referring to the smartie in the general sense that "It's my car!" really means, "that's the kind of car that I own!".