Imagine sitting behind the wheel of your newly acquired Lamborghini Aventador, rolling into the local Cars & Coffee event. You're sure to be the subject of some attention, and for the first 10 minutes, you are. Then this lifted 2012 Smart Fortwo parks next to you, and just like that, your Lambo doesn't even exist.
That could be a hypothetical scenario involving this absolutely wild Smart Fortwo. We happened upon it at Cars & Bids, sitting tall with chunky tires and off-road accessories galore. Those are 30-inch tires on 15-inch steelies, and to make them fit, this Baja-themed Smart gets an eight-inch suspension lift. The front fenders are also cut, but instead of fussing with cutouts at the back, the wheels are simply pushed out and covered with all-new plastic fenders.
Gallery: 2012 Smart Fortwo Custom Monster Conversion
This wild ride isn't just a jacked-up novelty machine with spacers in the springs, either. Adjustable coilovers with custom trailing arms and other upgraded bits actually give it a bit of mojo when venturing off the beaten path. It's got skid plates, a roof rack, multiple banks of LED lights, and it's absolutely impossible to miss the white exoskeleton over the green exterior. There's even a 4,000-pound winch mounted on the front, which might seem like overkill for such a tiny machine. Then again, the entire thing is overkill.
Well, maybe not everything. Climbing inside, we see a stock interior save for an aftermarket 8-inch touchscreen stereo system. The three-cylinder engine is also completely stock, serving up all 70 horsepower (52 kilowatts) for just the rear wheels through the standard-issue five-speed automatic transmission. The top speed is said to be around 65 mph, though if we're honest, we aren't sure if that's due to power limitations, or the fear of trucking along in a lifted vehicle that's also supremely short and narrow.
If you're experiencing a weird rush of Deja vu with this Fortwo, it was built by Gotham Garage and appeared on the Netflix show Car Masters: Rust to Riches. It may not be as fast as a Lamborghini, nor as off-road-ready as a Mercedes-Benz G-Class. But in the world of attention-getting rides, we suspect this ranks near the top.
