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If small cars are your thing, you won’t find a more practical package than the boxy, yet handsome Golf. The car’s hatch was capable of swallowing just about any type or size of baggage and the flat roof was ideal for adding bicycle or sports-equipment racks. A tall greenhouse aided visibility, which proved helpful in the cut and thrust of urban driving. The base 170 horsepower five-cylinder engine was strong enough, while the 140-horse turbo-diesel had lots of torque and was thrifty.

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The main strength of the Genesis is its value: plenty of luxury content for considerably less money than the competition. Base cars arrived with plenty of equipment, but at the top end, buyers could load up with a heated and cooled driver’s seat, power rear sunshade, auto-leveling ride, 17-speaker audio system and navigation system, to name a few.
Other pluses included an attractive, yet conservative body and a comfortable interior. . .

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Nissan was one of the first automakers to combine the aspects of passenger cars and sport-utility vehicles to create its new premium wagon for the 2003 model year. Muranos, in front- and all-wheel-drive, used a modified Altima-sedan platform and also shared suspension components and the V6 with that model. Unique to the Murano was its belt-driven continuously variable transmission (CVT), technology now spread throughout most of Nissan automobiles.

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The F-series has been a best-seller since its introduction back in 1948. Since then, the popular pickup has received regular updates and added many specialty editions such as the King Ranch and Harley-Davidson and the high-performance SVT Lightning. The 2009-model-year redesign made the F-150 bigger and beefier than its General Motors and Chrysler (Ram) competitors.

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Subaru’s all-wheel-drive wagon was originally an offshoot of the Legacy brand for the 1995 model year. It was given distinctive side cladding and a slightly raised roof the following year. A brilliant advertising campaign featuring actor Paul “Crocodile Dundee” Hogan helped put the Outback on the map and gave Subaru the cachet it needed to propel sales of its other vehicles.

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The FJ Cruiser was was no faux ute, but a true-blue crevice-crawling, boulder-bounding, body-on-frame retro-warrior that was enjoyed by off-road enthusiasts. Design touches linking the FJ to its glorious past included circular headlights, wrap-around rear glass and signature two-tone color scheme. The rear access doors opened clamshell style for easier cargo loading/unloading and the flexible fender trim shrugged off damage.

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The TL (the initials stand for Touring Luxury) sedan was the 1997 replacement for Acura’s entry-luxury Vigor sedan. The car was redesigned two years later as the 3.2TL and again for 2004 when it simply became the TL. The 2009-model-year version came in front- or all-wheel-drive Type-S models, with the latter using a 305-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 (front-drive TL models used a 280-horsepower 3.5-liter V6).

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The 2007-’14 Escalade was good looking and very well equipped, certainly befitting the luxury status. Passengers (up to eight of them) were coddled with ultra-soft perforated-leather seats and genuine wood trim that added an air of limo-like decadence. But when serious hauling was required, these tough-cookie Caddys could tow up to 8,300 pounds. With the standard 6.2-liter V8, the Escalade was capable of producing sub-6.5-second sprints to 60 mph. . .

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The X6 had nearly as much passenger and trunk space as the squared-off X5. Credit the extra-tall body for that slight of hand. As well, sharing the X5’s engine choices meant the, uh, car-utility-whatchamacallit was a lively performer despite its 5,000-pound curb weight. The X6 could hold its own on twisty roads thanks in large measure to a superior all-wheel-drive setup.Most amazing was the brutish 550-horse X6 M that was capable of sprints to 60 mph from zero in the low-four-second range.

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One of the world’s most popular automobiles of all time made its debut at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City and has been reinvented numerous times in the 50 years since. For the new retro design for 2005, base coupe and convertible body styles were fitted with a 210-horsepower 4.0-liter V6, while the GT came with a 300-horsepower 4.6-liter V8. For 2010, the Mustang’s sheetmetal and interior were revised, but the most significant changes occurred the following year with a new 305-horsepower V6 and an optional 5.0-liter V8 with 412 horsepower.

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