Ferrante Motor Cars

601 Jackson Avenue


Vandergrift PA 15690

Open Mondays  thru Fridays 8 AM - 5 PM
Saturdays 12 PM-2 PM
Evenings by appointment
 724-567-5675
FAX 724-567-5531
Ferrantemotorcars@verizon.net

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Smart Cars to ZAP Across America

Rally Around Smarter Cars

On April 4 an eclectic group of men and women ages 22 to 66 will journey across the United States of America with the aim of reaching the New York International Auto Show, Celebrating Earth Day, and returning home, all to raise awareness about advanced technology vehicles.

 

WHAT:

Cross-country rally of the Smart Car Americanized for ZAP,

the most efficient all-gas turbo in the country

WHEN:

Rally begins April 4 in Santa Rosa, California

New York International Auto Show

April 14-23

New York Media Availability

11 AM, Tuesday, April 18th

Return Leg to California begins

April 25

Vandergrift PA

April 26

WHY:

Fuel-efficient micro-cars, common around the world,

are now available in the USA via ZAP

at a time of record gas prices

WHERE:

From ZAP Headquarters in Santa Rosa, California to

The New York International Auto Show at

the Jacob Javits Convention Center

in New York City

 Smart Cars visit Vandergrift


4/26/06 Another beautiful sunny day provided ideal viewing of the Pennsylvania countryside, while we proceeded north on Why 66 I continued to be awed by the beauty of the small towns nestled among the gently rolling green hills. The quaint two story cottages surrounded by acres of lawns would beckon any landscape painter artist. These were so different then the typical ranch style houses so common in my home state of California. Also, the houses here were never separated by any fences, giving the countryside a very clean and open look. It came as a surprise to pass a fenced business building until I noticed that it was Beaverton Fencing. One can only wonder how or where they make their money. Our Smarts handled the knolls, ravines and turns like a true sports car; they seem to 'enjoy' maneuvering through the winding roadway. Our destination town of Vandergrift, about 35 miles NE of Pittsburgh. The dealership was an Oldsmobile dealership that was morphing into a specialty dealer that sells old classics and hot rods. There were also 2 Smart Cars in the showroom, both already sold of course. My encounters with the general public since we left N.Y.C. have been universally positive with several serious inquiries from people who were ready to buy now. As a company stockholder it was very satisfying to see that the cars are getting out there. Congratulations to Zap for enduring the long haul to bring in these vehicles to the U.S.A. just when they are needed most. After the photo shoot on the car lot, they led us down town to an historic building that had "Casino" embossed into its edifice. It is now a museum and special events building. We lined the smarts up in front of it to match the positions of several new cars that were in the same location when their picture was taken around 1915. I tried to place my camera at the same location to show the building and cars from the same angle as the original photograph. This meant standing in the middle of a street while cars rolled by. If the pictures turn out well, I will do a side by side of both photos to show what a difference 90 years makes. The dealer offered to take us to lunch, but we needed to go, so I asked for a rain check. Soon, we were out on the open road on I 80 headed to Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The weather could not have been more perfect and once onsite, we lined up the cars for a photo shoot and waited for the media to arrive. During that time we looked around the museum. While the old tunes played; it took me back to a more innocent time. As a product of that era, I had many reflections of what went on when I was in High School and the top 40 on the am dial were all the sounds we had in our cars. Just before we departed, we ran the Smarts around a small triangle so our videographer Eric Goodman could get some action footage of the line of cars with the museum in the background. With no time left, we headed west on I 80 again to our Motel in Toledo, a distance of about 110 miles.