I get mail every day from readers (you know who you are) lamenting that the cars you grew up with were so much better than today's cars. I hear about the accident that destroyed your new Camry but would have barely scratched Pop's '77 LTD. I hear about riding in a station wagon's rear-facing seat and making faces at following motorists. Nostalgia aside, you're oh so misguided. Technology and a host of government regulations have made today's cars far more fuel-efficient, better-handling, cleaner and safer by orders of magnitude.

View Gallery 23 Photos