The new, rebuilt Smartuki
The Smartuki, the amazing little GSXR powered Smart car, has been through a lot since we first introduced it in June of last year. After its initial build in England where Peter put it through its paces, thoroughly enjoying the surprised (terrified?) looks as he whizzed by, he moved on to another project which required selling the Smartuki. Andeas Viktorsson, who, at the time, was project manager for new Volvo engines in Sweden, was beginning a project of his own which was to include a Kawasaki ZZR1100 engine but work kept interfering and the project stalled. When Andreas saw that Peter was selling the Smartuki, he contacted The Kneeslider and we put the two in touch. In no time at all, the Smartuki’s parts and pieces were on their way to Sweden.
Andreas looked at the Smartuki as a great time saver for his own vision of speed, so he proceeded to completely tear everything to pieces with the intention of upgrading everything for even better performance. Racing seats, 5 bolt wheels, roll cage and 4 point harness, lots of suspension upgrades, a complete Yoshimura race cable harness including ECU, just the kinds of things you would want in a high performance Smart.
Once the Smartuki was finally running again, Andreas began to sort out all of the engine and suspension issues and he’s now coming to the very final stages. There are still some things to tweak like rear camber angle, getting the generator working properly and adding a few decals but it’s pretty much to the end of the development process.
His calendar is filling up with plans that include a car show/exhibition late this month representing his new employer, Semcon, where he is now Powertrain Manager. In early September he will have an article in a car magazine followed in the middle of September by a possible trip to Nurburgring in Germany.
It’s a funny thing about projects like this, they attract the kind of fellow who likes to put things together in new and wonderful ways and after putting it together and sorting it all out, they’re on to something else. Andreas already has a few new ideas in mind and after these autumn activities, his plan is to put the Smartuki up for sale again to fund his next project. So if you’re the kind of person that would like to drive the Smartuki for a little while, take a look in your checkbook make him an offer. And before you ask, it won’t be cheap.
Andreas has a new website of his own with lots of build photos and descriptions. He also has a few new short videos … damn that thing is quick!
Link: Andreas’s Smart Car Project
Related articles: The original Smartuki