Slightly OT: the Smart Car

I saw a smart car today and read about them in the paper this
morning.  The guy was so thrilled that he was getting 35 mpg in town.
That doesn't seem like good gas milage to me for a three cylinder car
that's not much bigger than my scooter.  My '92 Subaru Impreza gets
almost 30 mpg in toewn and it's a real car.  (Of course I am one of
the few people in town who knows how to drive - I drive like I'm out
of gas and can't find a station.)   My scooter only gets 80 mpg, which
is not bad in my view. I don't see how they can afford to drive those
gas eater Smart Cars in Europe where gas is $10 per gallon,. BTW, the
worlds record for mpg with an internal combustion engine is about
1,800 mpg, or so I've read.