With the introduction of the Smart Fourjoy design study at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Daimler-owned French firm is previewing a new generation of Smart cars. It is a four-seater with no doors, no rear window and an open roof, designed for a carefree life. A car full of joie de vivre that provokes a sense of jovial nonchalance.

Or at least what the makers of it hope to achieve. Smart Fourjoy certainly does look quite interesting as a concept, but in reality, well, it cannot become a reality. Not in this state at least. What this car does is give you a fair idea what the next Smart production car would be like. And we’re glad to see it is going to look less idiotic.

The car is still fairly compact – (length/width/height: 3494/1978/1494 millimetres) and a turning circle of 9.1 metres – which makes it a perfect city runabout, but it appears to be alike a fully-fledged family hatchback now, which is a step forward for Smart. The Fourjoy features a new tridion cell that is made of polished full-aluminium, complementing the white paint work. It looks a bit too fancy, but it is actually rather understated by Smart standards, as they have previously used more brash color combos on production cars.

Smart Fourjoy is a zero-emission car powered by a 55 kW magneto-electric motor and backed by a 17.6 kWh lithium-ion battery. It has a on-board charger that tops up the battery from a public main in less than one hour. No word on the range and performance numbers, which is fair enough, since the Fourjoy is just a design study.