BRISTOL/WARWICK For at least a couple of new owners, their attention-grabbing Smart cars have more than met their expectations.

“I’ve really reassessed a lot of my assumptions,” said W. Brett McKenzie, an associate professor of computer information systems at Roger Williams University’s Gabelli School of Business, who has been driving his yellow-and-black Smart car for a couple of months. “It’s surprising. It feels like a real car rather than the toy car it looks like.”

He said he liked the fit and finish, noting the paddle shifters in the steering wheel, “like a Ferrari.” He said the speed is more than enough, adding that he often does not realize how fast he is going.

“You look down and you’re going much faster that you should,” he said.

“It’s advertised and touted as a city car, but I live in a rural area,” he added, noting that he commutes from Little Compton to Bristol. “It’s not a car to burn up the autobahn, but it’s certainly a blast to drive. And the fit and finish are just fabulous.”

John Nelson, a corporate pilot with Textron Corp. for over 30 years, agreed. He has been driving his blue-and-black model for about the same time.

“I’m totally impressed,” he said, noting that he had sold his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he bought it. “I love it, the car grows on you.”

Nelson, 58, who commutes between his home in South Kingstown and T.F. Green Airport and Providence, where he volunteers as a reserve officer with the Providence police one day a week, said he had been following the car since he first noticed it on trips to Germany several years ago.

The car has been sold in Europe since 1998 — with sales now reaching about one million cars in more than 35 countries.

“I travel internationally with Textron and noticed the car in the late 1990s,” Nelson said. “I fell in love with the car and swore that if it ever came to this country I would get one.”

McKenzie and Nelson both put down $99 refundable deposits on the $14,000 Passion coupe during a nationwide promotional campaign last July. The Pure coupe sells for $11,500, and the top-end Passion Cabriolet convertible sells for $17,000. The rear-wheel-drive cars, which are made in Strasbourg, France, are a brand of Mercedes-Benz.

McKenzie said that buying the car had been stress-free.

“Buying it was so easy,’ he said. “There was no hassling, no this, no that. It was straight up; the quoted price was the delivery price.”

Susan Lemoi, Smart director at Inskip Auto Mall in Warwick, which is the only Rhode Island dealership selling the cars, said more than 20 had already been sold and delivered with another 50 on order.

“People are very enthusiastic,” she said in a recent interview. “I wish I could get the cars here sooner.”

Indeed, Mercedes is reportedly struggling to meet demand for the iconic cars. Current plans call for the delivery of 25,000 Smart coupes and convertibles in the U.S. this year, with orders slightly ahead at 30,000.

Automotive News quotes Roger Penske of Penske Automotive Group, owner of Inskip and the sole U.S. distributor of the Smart car, as claiming he could easily sell 40,000 Smart cars this year.

Lemoi attributed the success of the Smart car to a number of factors, including its fuel efficiency — both McKenzie and Nelson said they get about 40 miles to the gallon — and its nimble parking abilities. But mostly she cited its looks.

“It’s the reception thing,” she said of the attention the car gets. “People love it.”

“It’s the first notable car than my wife and I have ever owned,” McKenzie, 50, said, adding that he had been surprised at how much his artist wife, Johanna, loved it.

“I’m surprised she likes it — didn’t think that she would be so enthusiastic about it,” he said.

He attributed that to the height of the vehicle, with the seats affording better views of Mount Hope and Narragansett Bays when they cross the Mount Hope Bridge than he ever got from his 1993 Buick Century.

He said he and his wife now both want to drive the car; they decide based on who will be traveling the farthest that day.

“It’s the low-mileage car, so the discussion is who is going to driver the farthest,” he said. “Most of the time I don’t drive it, because she does.”

Nelson said his wife, Laurene, also loves the car.

“She’s started to drive it when I don’t drive it,” he said, also citing the car’s height. “And you get a lot of people staring and asking questions.”

“It gets a lot of attention,” McKenzie agreed, adding of his own Smart car, “And it’s a riot that it’s yellow.”

That was certainly true during a visit with McKenzie and his Smart car on the campus of RWU.

“I love the look,” said Jim Tracy, vice president of sales and marketing at Image Printing & Copying in Warwick, who was making a delivery at RWU’s law school. Tracy stopped long enough to try out the passenger seat.

“It’s the way we should go,” he said approvingly.

“That’s what I want!” said Mike Janelle jumping down from his Coca-Cola delivery truck to take a closer look. “You can’t beat the mileage.”

For more information, go to:

http://www.smartcenterwarwick.com/

They’re looking pretty Smart these daysYou can see aslideshowandmultimediapresentationofW.BrettMcKenzie,JohnNelsonandtheirSmartcars at projocars.com

pelsworth@projo.com