The Roadster version of the Smart was marketed in 2003. Very agile and light, it never really managed to establish itself on the market. The car was available in two configurations, pure roadster and roadster coupe, with a minimum of luggage space. The 82 horsepower engine gave pleasant sensations; the power rose to 101 horsepower with the special version prepared by Brabus, introduced in 2004. The brilliant behavior was frustrated by the robotic gearbox, too slow. The Smart Roadster was produced until 2006.
The Danhausen company of Aachen, Germany, began producing its own series of handcrafted 1:43 models under the names Metal 43, Plumbies, SD Models and Minichamps in 1974. Between 1976 and 1990, AMR produced over 70 different Minichamps models for Danhausen. The mass production of highly detailed die-cast model cars, marketed under the name Minichamps, began in China in 1990 and marked a real revolution in the field of model making, with high quality products at extremely competitive prices. Minichamps models are developed in Germany, but production and assembly takes place in the Far East. In less than ten years Minichamps practically became the reference in the diecast sector. In 2004 the first resin miniatures were introduced. Over the years other scales have been developed significantly, including 1:18. The Maxichamps range, which includes affordable reissues of older Minichamps items, was introduced in 2016.