Return a stored smartlist value as string?

Is there a non-groovy way to return a stored smartlist value as string? For example, let's say I have stored smartlist value: CarMake→Begbalance = "Ford"

I'm trying to return "Ford" as a string to be passed into a function: @UDA(Account,"Ford") dynamically by referencing the smartlist string value stored at CarMake→Begbalance

Thanks