The Smart Choice in Real Estate, says the slogan on the adorable little auto belonging to Dayna Blumel and Kerry Adams, real estate agents with Keller Williams in Old Town. Their photos appear under the words, drawing even more attention to both the realtors and the car.

Blumel and Adams insist that the Smart Car lives up to its name. Measuring 8.8 feet long, it takes up only half the average parking place, making it an especially clever choice for city driving.

Even more impressive, its small size means lower fuel costs. Specifically, it gets 31 miles per gallon in the city, Adams says. Thus, it compares favorably with the celebrated Toyota gas sippers, at 26 mpg for the Corolla, 27 mpg for the Scion and 48 mpg for the Prius.

This would be a definite plus in any profession, but is especially useful for Blumel and Adams. As realtors, we spend a lot of time on the road: going to appointments, dropping off brochures, etc., Adams explains. Although their Smart for Two model is perfectly comfortable for a realtor plus one client, they still use a larger vehicle for chauffeuring clients in groups.

Their romance with the Smart Car started where so many love affairs do – in France, where the car is manufactured by Mercedes-Benz. We saw it on separate trips, Adams recalls. Dayna was in Paris, and I was in Provence.

Before paying the $21,000 purchase price (compared to $22,000 for a Prius), they put down a $99 refundable deposit then stayed on the waiting list for a year and a half. Last July, their patience was rewarded.

A lot of people are still waiting, reports Gary Leeman at Lindsay Smart Center Alexandria. Since we opened in February, we have sold about 350 cars. When gas prices shot up recently, their sales did as well.

Throughout the country, the Smart Car is proving to be the little engine that could. There were 18,000 Smart for Two units sold between January 16 and September 30 last year, according to Ken Kettenbeil at Smart USA in Michigan. The Washington D.C. area is one of our larger markets, he said. That is hardly surprising, since we are known to be a pretty smart community.