This coming Wednesday, smart-car drivers from as far away as Canada will roll into the Courthouse Square in Athens to shop, eat and show off their eye-catching, ridiculously fuel-efficient rides.

Organized by Athens residents Charlie and Diane Plotz, the diehard smart-car lovers decided to bring a rally to North Alabama a little over two years ago while attending the national smart-car rally in Deadwood, South Dakota. Stopping at the Square will be one of the highlights of the week.

Diane said that the drivers in Deadwood were “gung-ho” to bring the rally south, so she started coordinating with local businesses and city officials to make the weeklong rally something her smart-car compatriots would always remember. They are expecting about 48 people to participate in the local rally, including drivers from Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Florida and the Athens area.

“It’s not quite as many as we had expected,” Diane said. “But, we are going to have a very good time.”

Most rally drivers will arrive Sunday in Athens, kicking off the week’s events by touring the historic train depot in Decatur on Monday and Helen Keller’s birthplace at Ivy Green on Tuesday.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, smart-car drivers will follow a parade route into town that starts at the Best Western in Athens, goes along U.S. 72, and ends at the Square via Washington Street.

The group plans to park along Marion Street, where they will disembark to take photos, grab a bite to eat, do some shopping and chat with the locals.

“We will bring a lot of business to the Square on Wednesday,” Diane said. “I know the visitors will be impressed by our hospitality.”

The group will round out the day by having an old-fashioned potluck dinner at Big Spring Park in Athens. At the start of the dinner, the AmVets from Post 21 will present the colors.

The North Alabama rally coincides with the smart car’s 10th anniversary in the states.

According to Diane, the smart car’s appeal goes beyond its ability to go 350 miles on a single tank of gasoline. She swears she has as much room in the driver’s seat of her smart car as she does in her pickup truck, adding the Mercedes-Benz-engineered vehicle brings people together. The couple has put 95,000 miles on the sporty convertible version of the smart car since they purchased it in 2009. Most of those miles were logged during rally trips.

“When my husband said we were going to look at one, I thought he was crazy. But, as soon as I test-drove it, I knew I wanted that car,” she said.

The weeklong rally will come to a close in Lynchburg, Tennessee.