I love my Roadster Coupe and recently refurbished it, now 29 years old and have been driving it since I was 18. My father bought it for me (used) as my first car, and is the best gift I ever received. I've driven many other cars, but this one is special, this one is worth keeping forever. ❤
I bought one of the first Smart Roadsters back in 2003. It was a left hand drive poverty spec model that Smart promised would sell for under £10k. Rob from S2smartz got it from 60 bhp to around 120 bhp with a multitude of modifications. It was still beautifully driveable though. Such a pleasure to see Rob on your video, he is such a good guy and a real enthusiast.
More, more! Wanted this to just carry on, you big tease! Looking forward to seeing this back on the road, and already checking the classifieds for more SSB's.
Funny how your Boxster had the same issue with sensitive electronics sitting in a puddle under a seat! Such a cool looking car, they never made it over to the US so far as I know. Glad you're reviving it!
Nice to see S2Smarts/Rob! Nice guy, definitely knows his stuff. I was there twice (from the very north of the Netherlands!) to have my 451 BRABUS remapped to 125 bhp when he was still in Rickmansworth.
Happy to see Rob being featured. I got a roadie this summer and he was incredibly helpful when I called him out of the blue asking for advice on the cars I was looking at. Needless to say I went to him to get cruise control fitted once I found one to buy.
As an owner and enthusiast of over 20 years, smarts are amazing cars and it's well worth the time and effort keeping the good original ones on the road.
I had a black one and I had so many problems with it. At the time, I couldn't keep putting the money into it, so I got it running as best I could, and sold it. But I bloody loved the thing. Didn't matter how many times it would drop a cylinder or mis-fire, or how the automatic wipers kept thinking it was raining after using the screenwash... I loved it. Loved how it felt to drive. Loved looking at it. Loved the looks it got from people. It might 'just' be a Smart, but there's not many of them around, and I loved how kids would point and smile at it around town. I'd have another in a heartbeat.
Never had a chance to drive one of these but always thought they looked great. Glad that you saved it and excited to see what it’s like when you get it on the road.
Those traded in nearly new EV’s don’t just disappear. They’ll get bought by people replacing older cars, and cars do generally last longer than they used to before dying now. A lot of 80’s and 90’s cars were rotted out within 5 years unless you were really careful.
@@Jonathan_Doe_ Nobody wants a second hand EV. Cars are no longer built to last, too many electronics to go wrong, too expensive to repair. You’ve been listening to lies.
@@Jonathan_Doe_ look at the EV statistics outside of Scandinavia, sales down across the board, brands constantly slashing prices just to make sales, ruining the used market value, and that’s if you want to become financially involved with an already degrading consumable which generally nobody does, I’ve seen as high as 1 in 2 EV buyers say they’d never own one again, soon everyone will be wise to it Furthermore, his point was that repeatedly going into mass carbon deficit each year with a new EV, means you may never break even (on a personal level) let alone surpass equiv. ICE vehicles efficiency, regardless of all the new unwanted / old unwanted / barely damaged but irreparable EV’s collecting dust
Totally agree about keeping perfectly good older cars on the road. I have two first generation smart forfours. A 2005 1.1 Passion forfour which has done 111,000 miles and I bought in 2006 with 10,000 miles on the clock. It has been utterly reliable, requiring only routine maintenance. I also have a 2005 first generation Brabus forfour which I bought in 2009 with 21,000 miles on the clock and has now ‘only’ done just over 70,000 miles. It’s a rare and understated/underrated hot hatch. Again, it’s been utterly reliable needing only routine maintenance. Neither are worth very much, so I’ll be keeping them for as long as possible. 😏
I Complement you on saving this Brabus, I worked at "Smartville Hambach" back in 1994 to 1998 on the MCC Project Tridion design along with being the 1st to bring the Smart Car to the UK (LHD) way ahead of its time, I tried to get it to be designed as an Electric Version, even mocked up a Tridion rolling shell with electric motor, but was told it had to be fuel powered !!!. Oh if only they listened and went with my development then !
There is actually an EV converted one running around here. There also was some kind of conversion kit available for a short period of time - iirc they had problems getting the ESP to work with the EV drivetrain though.
I worked on the material side on the ForTwo (@ GE Plastics) for the exterior parts, but I never heard it was ever considered to be electrical. But Mercedes not having an appetite for electrical cars at that time I can well imagine. Because of my involvement then.... I own since 2009 as Roadster.
@@janvanpoppel2814 The brief in 1994 for the MCC project was to make a small city car smaller than the Mini so it could be parked nose in as the length meant it was as wide as most car of the time. As decided by Swatch and Daimler Chrysler at the time. There was no plan for it to be electrical as it had to be powered by the fuel cartel who help vehicle manufacturers £££. My idea along with my team came up with a mock up rolling Tridion Cell with wheels brakes and an electric motor which I presented to my boss and was told in under no uncertain terms would it be electric and nearly lost my job ! But why? I thought as it fitted the brief but the power of Oil won !!
Lovely episode and so happy that you rescued it. Always wanted to drive a roadster, I remember doing London to Brian 2003 and there was a Roadster with V6. The mileage on that roadster is impressive, my 2003 ForTwo only got to 98k 2012 and that was after one engine rebuild & was serviced properly by my mate Jon (another SSG)
As a former Smart designer I am glad this car is being saved. I would love to have a roadster now. I drove one for a while when they first came out and they were a lot of fun to drive. Not necessarily a practical car if you wanted to carry a lot of stuff but a great driving car that would get you to your destination with a grin. My respect to the team who designed this fab vehicle.
i just cant stop seeing the head board of a strut underneath it! thats a beast. want to add that its so good to see how attentive Rob and his number 1 mechanic are (never introduced him!) what a team. great work guys.
Jonny do you think you could encourage Autodoc to use a competent delivery company for us UK peeps please? I'm not ordering anything from them until they stop using Evri, since frankly there is little point when everything gets smashed or lost. They were decent to buy from back when they used GLS.
I work in a motorfactors, and the amount of people who come in saying they've ordered the part from autodoc but it was either wrong or it's been 3 weeks and they need it now is hilarious
Not had anything smashed from them and always had the right parts (though I spend a lot of time cross checking part numbers), but the delivery is unbelievably slow. Feels like I could walk the order from Germany in less time.
Agreed. I've stopped using Autodoc since Evri lost two of a set of four discs (one from each axle helpfully) and Autodoc wouldn't do anything to help. Took six weeks before I got them replaced once Evri finally admitted they'd lost them. Won't be using them again because of this.
Mine had the same problem. Went through two SAM units within a month or so. Had a hard top at the time, so don't rely on that keeping the rain out. Awesome fun whilst it lasted. Had a chipped non-brabus. Quick little car.
Well saved Johnny! How does a car become "un-scrapped" or was it never marked as scrapped by Trent's? I've been well impressed with the quality of the Febi parts I've used on a couple of my veeheehicles.
Marked as Cat N, meaning non structural damage. That means it needs V5 applying for in my name and then a new MoT. That's it. Febi parts are great. Did you make note of our AUTODOC discount code?
@@TheLateBrakeShow oh cool, that's pretty straightforward. I'd assumed that it'd be recorded as scrapped as soon as it went up on those racks. And, oh yes, yes I have. Cheers!
The big breakers yards take cars in and usually will have the docs ready to mark as scrapped but if the cars are good they will resell them instead of scrapping So car recycling = collect car look at it then decide Either scrap ie crush or dismantle for parts or save and resell .
Brilliant to see this saved. I rand a Brabus Roadster for 3 years from 2004. Possibly one of the most fun cars I have ever had. I'd happily have another if I had the room in the garage, as they leaked in from brand new. One of the fixes was new seals in the roof, which felt like shark skin, So if your's do Jonny, I'd opt for getting a hard top roof setup.
Brilliant, I'm a 450 owner for 20 years, love the things, we'll worth saving I'll never get rid of mine 👌 I also get condensation in ... and i put a couple of the Hillington dehumidifier bags in . And it seems to do the trick, in the winter months 🙏
Well done for saving this one. Rob is great, I used to take my roadster to him, when I lived in the UK, I’m glad he was able to get a new unit and continue his business. They are fantastic little cars, mine is still on the road, now in NL.
One of my favourite cars of all time. I absolutely love the look of them. In an earlier episode when you had it hidden under a sheet I could tell what car it was just by the shape.
So nice to see! An American salvage yard would have stuck the forkloader tines through the door, lost a wheel, left the windows down, spray painted inventory numbers on panels, cut electrical wires flush with harness and piled parts on the glass. I’m meeting more and more people just trying to get this generation of cars back on the road before they’re discarded and parted.
Hey Jonny. I worked for smart in the early 00’s as a technical specialist. The roofs were designed wrong and manufactured too narrow and they all notoriously leaked. Great little cars though. Great work for saving it. Not everyones cuppa tea but worth saving. Want my advice? Here’s what i’d do. By a cheap running driving 451 smart car. Harvest the rear subframe, newer better Mitsubishi engine. And use all the 451 electronics. The newer engine and cradle can be bolted in and plumbed and wired without too much hassle. Then its more modern, more reliable, more powerful and generally better in everyway. Happy to help and advise if you need
Had my Brabus Roadster Coupe Xclusive for nearly 16 years. Never fails to put a smile on my face 😊. If well maintained they’re fabulous little cars. Did a 6 day 1,200 mile road trip up to Scotland from Gloucestershire last month and it was a blast. Remarkably roomy too - I’m 6’5” and can drive comfortably and we took enough clothes for two of us on the trip with a little room to spare. Just don’t expect 100% reliability - they’re all nearing 20 years old and build quality was never tip-top. That said, if it’s lasted this long it will have been looked after sometime in its life! Just keep on top of the maintenance and ensure regular oil changes and they run well. If you’re thinking about buying one, take it for a drive - you’ll soon be addicted! 😊
I had an '04 Roadster Coupe back in 2009 which which I bought as salvage. It had the sport pack so paddles, 16" Spikelines etc. Repaired it & ran it for 3 years. It was awesome & other than inability to stop in snowy conditions it was mega.
During COVID, we used to get regularly tested at our house as part of an ONS Survey. A lady that often came to the door with the kits drove a Smart Roadster Coupe. I said to her one day, how do you like the car? Love it, absolutely LOVE IT, she replied.
Great to see another one saved and looking forward to the next vid, having owned a couple a can confirm it's a constant fight with the electrics in general and water ingress but when they are running correctly bloody good fun, pretty much a go cart for the road, something about the high mileage that makes it more satisfying it's being saved.
I enjoy your videos a lot but the ones I enjoy the most are always your attempts to save old and/or damaged cars. You and Mat Armstrong deserve your following.
I had a FourFour Brabus for a good few years. One of the coolest and rarest cars I've ever owned (I think they made about 250). The wheels would buckle at just the thought of hitting a slightly bumpy bit of road! Another car to add to the list of 'Should have kept it'!
Good to see it being saved, I was hoping you were going to EV it, that way I could copy your homework! I had a 451 ED which was great and always pondered about finding a donor to do the swap in to a Roadster Coupe.
Thank you for saving this! I remember when they were new and I wanted one so badly, but they were never sold in Canada (so far as I’m aware). Such a cool little car.
I had a Brabus Roadster Coupe fastback about 15 years ago and loved it. The roadholding was amazing. However it had to be garaged all the time, as the roof leaked. Also the slushy semi automatic gearbox is sooooo slow. Mind you, I stuffed a 911 around Castle Combe with it and had great fun in the 3 years i owned it. If it had been fitted with a 1 litre engine, 140bhp and a DSG box, it would have been a world beater, rather than the curio that they now are! Good luck Johnny and well done for saving an unsung hero.
Well done Jonny for saving a pretty rare little car... I know I'm going to get s*** for this comment but every time I've bought a car with a previous one lady owner I've had grief, because in my experience they generally just, don't look after the car, hence why you had no locking wheel nut key and doghair all over the seats, anyhoo I digress looking forward to further instalments... btw I've used Autodoc for a while and they are just brilliant, they supplied a part that was unavailable anywhere else, highly recommended.
So excited about this looking forward to see what you do with it!! I absolutely love these little cars and dream of having one as a project one day so you’ve got my attention!!
Loved this. I have a Smart Fortwo 2015 on 115,000 miles as a work vehicle; I work around supercars but still happy to bimble along back home in my smart 🤪
These are probably the best B road burner ever made on 4 wheels. I was lucky to get to drive one back then. Almost sold my bike for one. Well done for saving it. Cool AF.
Loved my Roadster Coupe did 60kmiles in it in 3 years and Rob did all my servicing in that time back when he was starting out on his own in Watford. Eventually the turbo went pop and I striped it in my garage selling all the parts on the Evo forum. Rob took the chassis and was going to turn it into a mid engined (engine in pax seat area!) bike engined track car. Wonder if that ever happened? Still miss the car and now my daughter’s first car is a Smart forfour and guess who I will be taking it to when it needs its service! See you soon Rob!
Once again Jonny great video,thank you.Watching ,thinking this is exactly the car show/ format i enjoy watching,youre a knowledgeable, passionate guy who clearly enjoys sharing that,no b.s.or false jeopardy just a really good fella to watch.
Well now, I missed these when they were out! What a delightful little car, kudos to you fella. I really hope you'll have many years and many miles of trouble free fun with this. Thank you.👍😁👍
Well done. Trent has been therr for a long time in Poole. The larger dismantlers used to have a good selection of cars to rescue but you have to be quick before they get stripped and crushed
Brilliant Jonny. Can’t wait to see how she progresses. You and Gordon are the reason I ended up with my own 452 project 2 years ago. It’ll be interesting to see how you tackle the underside. That is one job that remains on my To Do list. CMTMB
I always love the look of these little cars, being a 6 foot five fella that has owned a couple of Fiat X1/9’s I have an idea of what they’d be like to drive…. I really wouldn’t mind finding a little Brabus Roadster…… thank you for saving this one certainly a worthy car looking forward to the next episode
Smart roadster is one of those cars I am really interested to drive one day! Cool to see this one saved from scrapping. I am a happy customer from Autodoc.I know they are not the fastest or always delivered the right brand of parts in the past, but if you are not in a hurry they are a great shop now. They helped me delivering the parts to save a few cars from the scrapyard.
Excellent and informative episode and well done you for rescuing the car as I totally agree it’s good to recycle and save parts but the continued use of a vehicle that can be saved in more or less complete condition is by far a better option and keeps the motivation and motoring interest in the older rarely seen models that are disappearing from public view .
Well done Jonny for saving this Roadster - great episode & look forward to seeing more! 👍 I had a std Roadster 'notchback' from new for over 10yrs and loved every minute of it - even drove it to Switzerland for the 10yr birthday celebrations 😁 The sadest day was when I had to let it go because I couldn't afford the mounting repair costs despite trying to do most of it myself 😢 It too had water ingress but through the scuttle tray after a heavy downpour so probably needed a new SAM which I couldn't afford at the time 🙁 I think once you get it up & running it'll be your new favourite 😃
Hello Johnny, what a great save from the "Trent's" dismantlers! Such an interesting video. A friend had one as a "works car" to travel from the Midlands to London - enjoyed every journey!! look forwards to the next video. Best wishes from Lincolnshire
I had one for 4 years. Best car ive ever had. It was 12 years old and i never had a single mechanical thing go wrong. The only issue j has was the roof leaked which i fixed thanks to the great forums.
Great video, these cars deserve to stay alive, even better if a manufacturer decided to revive them. Can you show in more detail the fixes, especially the roof? I have a roadster and I want to fix the roof (as I try to do them by myself). Thanks!
Wow! Good on you Jony, that car needs saving 👍 Cheers to Autodoc Customer service is superb! Got my E34 parts from them & picked them up at Foto Trade Hollerich while there 🙏
Good luck Jonny with your Smart Brabus journey ❤ I’m glad you’re getting new flexi line the way he hung that calliper seems unprofessional. Always use cable ties to hold callipers on to suspension parts when changing discs and pads. So that’s two cars you have now with water ingress problems. Hopefully it’s an easy fix. Your dodge is my favourite out of the collection. Great stuff 👍
@@TheLateBrakeShow I suspected so. I certainly wasn’t saying that either you or the garage don’t know what they are doing I just wanted to share the information that it’s bad practice. Is there any way you could permanently seal the boxes on the brabus and the boxter to prevent water ingress as I’ve never been able to keep water out of soft tops unless it had a metal folding roof. Love the barn finds really enjoy the channel oh and how is the little tortoise 🐢. Saw and old fifth gear the other day too. I think we are similar age (1979) so I guess we grew up with similar motoring experiences. Good luck Jonny 👍👍
So glad you have saved this modern classic. I have the slightly newer 2023 Smart #1 Brabus, it also has a slightly more 428 hp 😮. Joking aside thank you Jonny. ❤
@@TheLateBrakeShow had it a year now 7,800 miles. To say that I love it is an understatement. I’m a 74 year old boy racer this is my forever car I will never sell it.
I absolutely loved my Brabus Roadster Coupe. Was so much fun to drive. However, it was also the most unreliable car I have ever owned. Great to see you save this one and get it back on the road.
I’ve owned a smart car and driven the roadster probably one of the best cars I’ve ever driven, it’s not all about massive engine in the fun factory is amazing
I think the roadster coupe was my favouriite car I've ever owned, it was certainly the one I kept the longest and only sold as I was emigrating. I drove it to Le Mans and back twice for Classic LeMans and did most maintenance myself though i did visit Rob in Rickmansworth a few times, mostly for clutch learns! You can get the rear apart for a plug change in less than an hour with some practise but the plug leads can be a bugger to get off, especially from the coil packs if you need to replace them. Fantastic little car with so much character and perfect around London.
Genuinely love these little smart roadsters. I always loved the review Jeremy did on TopGear about the normal version of this car, just loved the sound of the buzzy little 3 cylinder and that useless automatic transmission. Great stuff as always J, keep them coming!
Awesome to see you saving a 452 Jonny. I have been enjoying your channel for a while now and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the title of this episode. I have owned my 452 Coupe in South Africa for 7 years now. There are very few of them here and it always turns heads. It's interesting to see the puzzled look on peoples faces trying to figure out what car it is. I love the 'go cart' like handling and driving this little car always puts a 'smile on the dial', even though my other toy is an MX-5. The gear shift is painfully slow but you will soon learn to find the quickest shift by driving in manual sequential and shifting at high revs. Looking forward to the next episode! (oh, and enjoy the turbo flutter- no radio necessary)!
Really enjoyable video Jonny. It's a sweet looking little car, and it's great that you're giving it another life. 101 hp in an 800kg car is plenty. It should go very well indeed.
Great video Johnny, I'm a great supporter of keeping old cars in good mechanical order and having things restored or painted to keep them looking their best I have a MK4 Golf Gti an Audi TT and an Alfa 145 Cloverleaf, all well over 20 years old and I always do as much work as possible to keep them working well and looking their best, keep up the good fight of saving old cars 😬
So excited to see this video come up! Been waiting for you to get to this project. These Roadsters are addictive, I already have 2 - and there's only 30 or so in the country I'm in!
This brings back memories. I had a coupe in black with some mods. It eventually had 133bhp which isn’t much, but it was a laugh in a small and relatively light car. A silicone TIK pipe was a great upgrade and a BIG performance remap, if Ian is still doing his thing.
Can these be known as Brab Find episodes, please?
Thank you.
I like that!
‘We’re’ way too eager to write off perfectly good cars, it’s utter madness. Well done J 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Whenever this fella talks it's like I see fields of green; red roses too. Great car.
😂
🤣👏
I just started singing that to myself then I saw your comment hahahah
Ha!
I took my Roadster Coupe to these guys several times when I had it, all SSGs and great to see them again.
I love my Roadster Coupe and recently refurbished it, now 29 years old and have been driving it since I was 18. My father bought it for me (used) as my first car, and is the best gift I ever received.
I've driven many other cars, but this one is special, this one is worth keeping forever. ❤
This is great to hear. Clearly it's going to become a family heirloom
I was about to sell my 452 coupe, but after seeing this episode I remembered why I actually bought it. I'm going to go for a drive. Thank you!
I bought one of the first Smart Roadsters back in 2003. It was a left hand drive poverty spec model that Smart promised would sell for under £10k.
Rob from S2smartz got it from 60 bhp to around 120 bhp with a multitude of modifications. It was still beautifully driveable though.
Such a pleasure to see Rob on your video, he is such a good guy and a real enthusiast.
More, more! Wanted this to just carry on, you big tease! Looking forward to seeing this back on the road, and already checking the classifieds for more SSB's.
Once again, Jonny somehow makes me care about a car I wouldn't normally care about. Nice one.
Thanks for the shoutout to the website. Hopefully I'll be informed the next time you are down as I have some parts you'll need.
I worked for Smart when these were new, and can confirm the Brabus Roadster is a blast to drive - I even had a go in a Crossblade once
Funny how your Boxster had the same issue with sensitive electronics sitting in a puddle under a seat! Such a cool looking car, they never made it over to the US so far as I know. Glad you're reviving it!
Thank you Adam. Yes, really similar issue to the Boxster, but not quite as vulnerable boxes of tricks.
Am I the only person who wonders if Rob sees "Trees of Green and Clouds of White"? 🤔
What a wonderful world of Smarts he lives in 👍
Nice to see S2Smarts/Rob! Nice guy, definitely knows his stuff. I was there twice (from the very north of the Netherlands!) to have my 451 BRABUS remapped to 125 bhp when he was still in Rickmansworth.
Thanks for this video Johnny
I've owned my notch back finale edition for the last 14 years and I don't think I'll ever sell it.
I absolutely love it.
Happy to see Rob being featured. I got a roadie this summer and he was incredibly helpful when I called him out of the blue asking for advice on the cars I was looking at. Needless to say I went to him to get cruise control fitted once I found one to buy.
As an owner and enthusiast of over 20 years, smarts are amazing cars and it's well worth the time and effort keeping the good original ones on the road.
I had a black one and I had so many problems with it. At the time, I couldn't keep putting the money into it, so I got it running as best I could, and sold it. But I bloody loved the thing. Didn't matter how many times it would drop a cylinder or mis-fire, or how the automatic wipers kept thinking it was raining after using the screenwash... I loved it. Loved how it felt to drive. Loved looking at it. Loved the looks it got from people. It might 'just' be a Smart, but there's not many of them around, and I loved how kids would point and smile at it around town. I'd have another in a heartbeat.
Never had a chance to drive one of these but always thought they looked great.
Glad that you saved it and excited to see what it’s like when you get it on the road.
Well done for pointing out that the ‘greenest’ thing to do is to keep the car you have, not buying a brand new EV every 12 months!
Those traded in nearly new EV’s don’t just disappear. They’ll get bought by people replacing older cars, and cars do generally last longer than they used to before dying now. A lot of 80’s and 90’s cars were rotted out within 5 years unless you were really careful.
@@Jonathan_Doe_ Nobody wants a second hand EV. Cars are no longer built to last, too many electronics to go wrong, too expensive to repair. You’ve been listening to lies.
@@Jonathan_Doe_ look at the EV statistics outside of Scandinavia, sales down across the board, brands constantly slashing prices just to make sales, ruining the used market value, and that’s if you want to become financially involved with an already degrading consumable which generally nobody does, I’ve seen as high as 1 in 2 EV buyers say they’d never own one again, soon everyone will be wise to it
Furthermore, his point was that repeatedly going into mass carbon deficit each year with a new EV, means you may never break even (on a personal level) let alone surpass equiv. ICE vehicles efficiency, regardless of all the new unwanted / old unwanted / barely damaged but irreparable EV’s collecting dust
No sensible person would buy a new EV let alone a second hand one
Totally agree about keeping perfectly good older cars on the road. I have two first generation smart forfours. A 2005 1.1 Passion forfour which has done 111,000 miles and I bought in 2006 with 10,000 miles on the clock. It has been utterly reliable, requiring only routine maintenance. I also have a 2005 first generation Brabus forfour which I bought in 2009 with 21,000 miles on the clock and has now ‘only’ done just over 70,000 miles. It’s a rare and understated/underrated hot hatch. Again, it’s been utterly reliable needing only routine maintenance. Neither are worth very much, so I’ll be keeping them for as long as possible. 😏
I Complement you on saving this Brabus, I worked at "Smartville Hambach" back in 1994 to 1998 on the MCC Project Tridion design along with being the 1st to bring the Smart Car to the UK (LHD) way ahead of its time, I tried to get it to be designed as an Electric Version, even mocked up a Tridion rolling shell with electric motor, but was told it had to be fuel powered !!!. Oh if only they listened and went with my development then !
Tell us more sounds very interesting !
There is actually an EV converted one running around here. There also was some kind of conversion kit available for a short period of time - iirc they had problems getting the ESP to work with the EV drivetrain though.
I worked on the material side on the ForTwo (@ GE Plastics) for the exterior parts, but I never heard it was ever considered to be electrical. But Mercedes not having an appetite for electrical cars at that time I can well imagine. Because of my involvement then.... I own since 2009 as Roadster.
@@janvanpoppel2814 The brief in 1994 for the MCC project was to make a small city car smaller than the Mini so it could be parked nose in as the length meant it was as wide as most car of the time. As decided by Swatch and Daimler Chrysler at the time. There was no plan for it to be electrical as it had to be powered by the fuel cartel who help vehicle manufacturers £££. My idea along with my team came up with a mock up rolling Tridion Cell with wheels brakes and an electric motor which I presented to my boss and was told in under no uncertain terms would it be electric and nearly lost my job ! But why? I thought as it fitted the brief but the power of Oil won !!
Lovely episode and so happy that you rescued it.
Always wanted to drive a roadster, I remember doing London to Brian 2003 and there was a Roadster with V6.
The mileage on that roadster is impressive, my 2003 ForTwo only got to 98k 2012 and that was after one engine rebuild & was serviced properly by my mate Jon (another SSG)
As a former Smart designer I am glad this car is being saved. I would love to have a roadster now. I drove one for a while when they first came out and they were a lot of fun to drive. Not necessarily a practical car if you wanted to carry a lot of stuff but a great driving car that would get you to your destination with a grin. My respect to the team who designed this fab vehicle.
i just cant stop seeing the head board of a strut underneath it! thats a beast.
want to add that its so good to see how attentive Rob and his number 1 mechanic are (never introduced him!) what a team. great work guys.
Jonny do you think you could encourage Autodoc to use a competent delivery company for us UK peeps please? I'm not ordering anything from them until they stop using Evri, since frankly there is little point when everything gets smashed or lost. They were decent to buy from back when they used GLS.
Autodoc but we can pop to local eurocar part dealer anyway.
I work in a motorfactors, and the amount of people who come in saying they've ordered the part from autodoc but it was either wrong or it's been 3 weeks and they need it now is hilarious
Not had anything smashed from them and always had the right parts (though I spend a lot of time cross checking part numbers), but the delivery is unbelievably slow. Feels like I could walk the order from Germany in less time.
@@jacklifeonwheels ECP have become stupidly expensive.
Agreed. I've stopped using Autodoc since Evri lost two of a set of four discs (one from each axle helpfully) and Autodoc wouldn't do anything to help. Took six weeks before I got them replaced once Evri finally admitted they'd lost them.
Won't be using them again because of this.
Mine had the same problem. Went through two SAM units within a month or so. Had a hard top at the time, so don't rely on that keeping the rain out. Awesome fun whilst it lasted. Had a chipped non-brabus. Quick little car.
Well saved Johnny!
How does a car become "un-scrapped" or was it never marked as scrapped by Trent's?
I've been well impressed with the quality of the Febi parts I've used on a couple of my veeheehicles.
Marked as Cat N, meaning non structural damage. That means it needs V5 applying for in my name and then a new MoT. That's it.
Febi parts are great. Did you make note of our AUTODOC discount code?
@@TheLateBrakeShow oh cool, that's pretty straightforward. I'd assumed that it'd be recorded as scrapped as soon as it went up on those racks.
And, oh yes, yes I have. Cheers!
I use Febi parts when I can
@@HAZYFALKIRKAll febi on my vw beetle front end 👍🏼
The big breakers yards take cars in and usually will have the docs ready to mark as scrapped but if the cars are good they will resell them instead of scrapping
So car recycling = collect car look at it then decide
Either scrap ie crush or dismantle for parts or save and resell .
Brilliant to see this saved. I rand a Brabus Roadster for 3 years from 2004. Possibly one of the most fun cars I have ever had. I'd happily have another if I had the room in the garage, as they leaked in from brand new. One of the fixes was new seals in the roof, which felt like shark skin, So if your's do Jonny, I'd opt for getting a hard top roof setup.
Brilliant, I'm a 450 owner for 20 years, love the things, we'll worth saving I'll never get rid of mine 👌 I also get condensation in ... and i put a couple of the Hillington dehumidifier bags in . And it seems to do the trick, in the winter months 🙏
Well done for saving this one. Rob is great, I used to take my roadster to him, when I lived in the UK, I’m glad he was able to get a new unit and continue his business. They are fantastic little cars, mine is still on the road, now in NL.
One of my favourite cars of all time. I absolutely love the look of them. In an earlier episode when you had it hidden under a sheet I could tell what car it was just by the shape.
So nice to see! An American salvage yard would have stuck the forkloader tines through the door, lost a wheel, left the windows down, spray painted inventory numbers on panels, cut electrical wires flush with harness and piled parts on the glass. I’m meeting more and more people just trying to get this generation of cars back on the road before they’re discarded and parted.
Hey Jonny. I worked for smart in the early 00’s as a technical specialist. The roofs were designed wrong and manufactured too narrow and they all notoriously leaked. Great little cars though. Great work for saving it. Not everyones cuppa tea but worth saving. Want my advice? Here’s what i’d do. By a cheap running driving 451 smart car. Harvest the rear subframe, newer better Mitsubishi engine. And use all the 451 electronics. The newer engine and cradle can be bolted in and plumbed and wired without too much hassle. Then its more modern, more reliable, more powerful and generally better in everyway. Happy to help and advise if you need
I was in a pick and pull scrapyard yesterday and was amazed at some of the cars there. I’m glad they let you save it.
Had my Brabus Roadster Coupe Xclusive for nearly 16 years. Never fails to put a smile on my face 😊. If well maintained they’re fabulous little cars. Did a 6 day 1,200 mile road trip up to Scotland from Gloucestershire last month and it was a blast. Remarkably roomy too - I’m 6’5” and can drive comfortably and we took enough clothes for two of us on the trip with a little room to spare. Just don’t expect 100% reliability - they’re all nearing 20 years old and build quality was never tip-top. That said, if it’s lasted this long it will have been looked after sometime in its life! Just keep on top of the maintenance and ensure regular oil changes and they run well. If you’re thinking about buying one, take it for a drive - you’ll soon be addicted! 😊
I had an '04 Roadster Coupe back in 2009 which which I bought as salvage. It had the sport pack so paddles, 16" Spikelines etc. Repaired it & ran it for 3 years. It was awesome & other than inability to stop in snowy conditions it was mega.
During COVID, we used to get regularly tested at our house as part of an ONS Survey. A lady that often came to the door with the kits drove a Smart Roadster Coupe. I said to her one day, how do you like the car? Love it, absolutely LOVE IT, she replied.
Great to see another one saved and looking forward to the next vid, having owned a couple a can confirm it's a constant fight with the electrics in general and water ingress but when they are running correctly bloody good fun, pretty much a go cart for the road, something about the high mileage that makes it more satisfying it's being saved.
My Dad had a silver one, I used to love driving it. Good memories looking at that interior again
I am so glad you continue to promote maintaining classics in this world of consumerism. Fantastic work as always
Great to see Rob on here, saved my Brabus Roadster a few times. Top bloke
👍🏽
Nice one JS, that will again be the pride and joy of somebody somewhere when you pass it on.
love these cars, always considered a bit of a joke but great things come in small packages, and I think very under appreciated
I enjoy your videos a lot but the ones I enjoy the most are always your attempts to save old and/or damaged cars. You and Mat Armstrong deserve your following.
Sean Dyche has diversified!
Who is Sean Dyche?
@@TheLateBrakeShow sorry. Mixing interests here. Football reference!
@@andyjamieson9576I got it Andy.
Was half expecting a fitness update on Dominic Calvert-Lewin part way through the video.
@@TheLateBrakeShowA football manager, also from the north, also eats gravel for breakfast.
Read the comment, mind went straight to Farley, NGL 😂
I had a FourFour Brabus for a good few years. One of the coolest and rarest cars I've ever owned (I think they made about 250). The wheels would buckle at just the thought of hitting a slightly bumpy bit of road! Another car to add to the list of 'Should have kept it'!
Good to see it being saved, I was hoping you were going to EV it, that way I could copy your homework!
I had a 451 ED which was great and always pondered about finding a donor to do the swap in to a Roadster Coupe.
Well done for saving the car Jonny. I really miss my Brabus Roadster - such a fun car to drive.
Thank you for saving this! I remember when they were new and I wanted one so badly, but they were never sold in Canada (so far as I’m aware). Such a cool little car.
I had a Brabus Roadster Coupe fastback about 15 years ago and loved it. The roadholding was amazing.
However it had to be garaged all the time, as the roof leaked. Also the slushy semi automatic gearbox is sooooo slow.
Mind you, I stuffed a 911 around Castle Combe with it and had great fun in the 3 years i owned it.
If it had been fitted with a 1 litre engine, 140bhp and a DSG box, it would have been a world beater, rather than the curio that they now are!
Good luck Johnny and well done for saving an unsung hero.
Nice one Jonny, I got one of these in June and really enjoying it. Definitely will be watching this series!
Well done Jonny for saving a pretty rare little car... I know I'm going to get s*** for this comment but every time I've bought a car with a previous one lady owner I've had grief, because in my experience they generally just, don't look after the car, hence why you had no locking wheel nut key and doghair all over the seats, anyhoo I digress looking forward to further instalments... btw I've used Autodoc for a while and they are just brilliant, they supplied a part that was unavailable anywhere else, highly recommended.
So excited about this looking forward to see what you do with it!! I absolutely love these little cars and dream of having one as a project one day so you’ve got my attention!!
Loved this. I have a Smart Fortwo 2015 on 115,000 miles as a work vehicle; I work around supercars but still happy to bimble along back home in my smart 🤪
These are probably the best B road burner ever made on 4 wheels. I was lucky to get to drive one back then. Almost sold my bike for one. Well done for saving it. Cool AF.
Loved my Roadster Coupe did 60kmiles in it in 3 years and Rob did all my servicing in that time back when he was starting out on his own in Watford. Eventually the turbo went pop and I striped it in my garage selling all the parts on the Evo forum. Rob took the chassis and was going to turn it into a mid engined (engine in pax seat area!) bike engined track car. Wonder if that ever happened? Still miss the car and now my daughter’s first car is a Smart forfour and guess who I will be taking it to when it needs its service! See you soon Rob!
Once again Jonny great video,thank you.Watching ,thinking this is exactly the car show/ format i enjoy watching,youre a knowledgeable, passionate guy who clearly enjoys sharing that,no b.s.or false jeopardy just a really good fella to watch.
Glad you enjoyed it. Many thanks.
Brilliant sponsor. Used them loads for OEM parts. Part number cross referencing and static data is super extensive. Like no other site!
Man, this takes me back to my RAF days. Worked with a guy who had one of these and really, really wanted one ever since.
Cool car. We never got these here in the US. Glad to see you preserving it. Thank you.
Brilliant car! We once had one parked on the base of our road. I used Autodoc to get rear shocks and springs for my Alfa GT, worked a breeze!
Well now, I missed these when they were out! What a delightful little car, kudos to you fella.
I really hope you'll have many years and many miles of trouble free fun with this. Thank you.👍😁👍
Well done. Trent has been therr for a long time in Poole. The larger dismantlers used to have a good selection of cars to rescue but you have to be quick before they get stripped and crushed
Brilliant Jonny. Can’t wait to see how she progresses. You and Gordon are the reason I ended up with my own 452 project 2 years ago. It’ll be interesting to see how you tackle the underside. That is one job that remains on my To Do list. CMTMB
Such a cool car Jonny; well done for saving it. I have been buying Febi parts from Autodoc since my local independent closed down.
Remeber seeing my first one of these in an Aldi car park all miniature noise and aggression - instantly in love! What little beasties these are!
This channel just gets better and better. Ty.
I always love the look of these little cars, being a 6 foot five fella that has owned a couple of Fiat X1/9’s I have an idea of what they’d be like to drive…. I really wouldn’t mind finding a little Brabus Roadster…… thank you for saving this one certainly a worthy car looking forward to the next episode
Smart roadster is one of those cars I am really interested to drive one day! Cool to see this one saved from scrapping. I am a happy customer from Autodoc.I know they are not the fastest or always delivered the right brand of parts in the past, but if you are not in a hurry they are a great shop now. They helped me delivering the parts to save a few cars from the scrapyard.
Great to hear. Enjoy the discount code.
Excellent and informative episode and well done you for rescuing the car as I totally agree it’s good to recycle and save parts but the continued use of a vehicle that can be saved in more or less complete condition is by far a better option and keeps the motivation and motoring interest in the older rarely seen models that are disappearing from public view .
Really like these types of episodes. Can you do more? Bringing back old cars is great and follows Matt Armstrong’s great format.
We can try, sure. Have you seen our abandoned 2CV resurrection project?
Love the Brabus. I own a 451. Awesome little cars 👌🏼
Loved my old Smart Fortwo. Was the first CDI in the UK that I imported from Belgium. Sad the company has changed so much now
Well done Jonny for saving this Roadster - great episode & look forward to seeing more! 👍
I had a std Roadster 'notchback' from new for over 10yrs and loved every minute of it - even drove it to Switzerland for the 10yr birthday celebrations 😁 The sadest day was when I had to let it go because I couldn't afford the mounting repair costs despite trying to do most of it myself 😢
It too had water ingress but through the scuttle tray after a heavy downpour so probably needed a new SAM which I couldn't afford at the time 🙁
I think once you get it up & running it'll be your new favourite 😃
Hello Johnny, what a great save from the "Trent's" dismantlers! Such an interesting video. A friend had one as a "works car" to travel from the Midlands to London - enjoyed every journey!! look forwards to the next video. Best wishes from Lincolnshire
The car world needs more people like Rob.
I had one for 4 years. Best car ive ever had. It was 12 years old and i never had a single mechanical thing go wrong. The only issue j has was the roof leaked which i fixed thanks to the great forums.
Great video, these cars deserve to stay alive, even better if a manufacturer decided to revive them. Can you show in more detail the fixes, especially the roof? I have a roadster and I want to fix the roof (as I try to do them by myself). Thanks!
Thoroughly enjoyed watching this whilst eating my dinner tonight, Jonny. Looking forward to how this project car progresses 👍
A very eclectic car collection and I would say the little Brabus, ads the cherry on top
Great work Johnny,looking forward to the next installment👍👍👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Wow! Good on you Jony, that car needs saving 👍
Cheers to Autodoc
Customer service is superb!
Got my E34 parts from them & picked them up at Foto Trade Hollerich while there 🙏
Good luck Jonny with your Smart Brabus journey ❤ I’m glad you’re getting new flexi line the way he hung that calliper seems unprofessional. Always use cable ties to hold callipers on to suspension parts when changing discs and pads. So that’s two cars you have now with water ingress problems. Hopefully it’s an easy fix. Your dodge is my favourite out of the collection. Great stuff 👍
Hoses were always going to be replaced, hence less need to be careful with the old units.
@@TheLateBrakeShow I suspected so. I certainly wasn’t saying that either you or the garage don’t know what they are doing I just wanted to share the information that it’s bad practice. Is there any way you could permanently seal the boxes on the brabus and the boxter to prevent water ingress as I’ve never been able to keep water out of soft tops unless it had a metal folding roof.
Love the barn finds really enjoy the channel oh and how is the little tortoise 🐢.
Saw and old fifth gear the other day too.
I think we are similar age (1979) so I guess we grew up with similar motoring experiences.
Good luck Jonny 👍👍
I have a forfour Brabus with 190k miles on it. I also sent it to a specialist to get some work done. Lovely cars!
So glad you have saved this modern classic. I have the slightly newer 2023 Smart #1 Brabus, it also has a slightly more 428 hp 😮. Joking aside thank you Jonny. ❤
How are you finding the Smart #1 out of interest?
@@TheLateBrakeShow had it a year now 7,800 miles. To say that I love it is an understatement. I’m a 74 year old boy racer this is my forever car I will never sell it.
I absolutely loved my Brabus Roadster Coupe. Was so much fun to drive. However, it was also the most unreliable car I have ever owned. Great to see you save this one and get it back on the road.
I’ve owned a smart car and driven the roadster probably one of the best cars I’ve ever driven, it’s not all about massive engine in the fun factory is amazing
Rob is a legend. I used to own this very car in the 00's and Rob was my mechanic. Looking good mate!! Blessings. 👍🏽
You used to own this actual car? Are you sure?
I think the roadster coupe was my favouriite car I've ever owned, it was certainly the one I kept the longest and only sold as I was emigrating. I drove it to Le Mans and back twice for Classic LeMans and did most maintenance myself though i did visit Rob in Rickmansworth a few times, mostly for clutch learns! You can get the rear apart for a plug change in less than an hour with some practise but the plug leads can be a bugger to get off, especially from the coil packs if you need to replace them. Fantastic little car with so much character and perfect around London.
"The greenest thing you can do is repair your car and make it go on for longer."
Instant like and subscribe.
Genuinely love these little smart roadsters. I always loved the review Jeremy did on TopGear about the normal version of this car, just loved the sound of the buzzy little 3 cylinder and that useless automatic transmission. Great stuff as always J, keep them coming!
never been a fan of the smart cars. except the roadster brabus. looks like so much fun to drive around.
Awesome to see you saving a 452 Jonny. I have been enjoying your channel for a while now and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the title of this episode. I have owned my 452 Coupe in South Africa for 7 years now. There are very few of them here and it always turns heads. It's interesting to see the puzzled look on peoples faces trying to figure out what car it is. I love the 'go cart' like handling and driving this little car always puts a 'smile on the dial', even though my other toy is an MX-5. The gear shift is painfully slow but you will soon learn to find the quickest shift by driving in manual sequential and shifting at high revs. Looking forward to the next episode! (oh, and enjoy the turbo flutter- no radio necessary)!
Really enjoyable video Jonny. It's a sweet looking little car, and it's great that you're giving it another life. 101 hp in an 800kg car is plenty. It should go very well indeed.
Great video Johnny, I'm a great supporter of keeping old cars in good mechanical order and having things restored or painted to keep them looking their best I have a MK4 Golf Gti an Audi TT and an Alfa 145 Cloverleaf, all well over 20 years old and I always do as much work as possible to keep them working well and looking their best, keep up the good fight of saving old cars 😬
Brilliant little build. I'd have splashed out on a set of brake calibers as well though. Autodoc are a brilliant part supplier.
So excited to see this video come up! Been waiting for you to get to this project. These Roadsters are addictive, I already have 2 - and there's only 30 or so in the country I'm in!
Great job fella.
Your editing is mainstream tv quality.
Quest should be all over you.
This brings back memories. I had a coupe in black with some mods. It eventually had 133bhp which isn’t much, but it was a laugh in a small and relatively light car. A silicone TIK pipe was a great upgrade and a BIG performance remap, if Ian is still doing his thing.