Best cars 2004

Dan Neil profiles 10 of the great cars of the year, but begins with this commentary:

Think of our relationship with the internal combustion engine as a roller coaster ride. We’ve had our ups and downs, but 2004 was the first year most people could see, clearly, that the tracks were out ahead. Californians saw gasoline hit $3 per gallon and not for the last time. American foreign policy is bloodily fixated on a region of the world whose single strategic value is oil. Even the Bush administration had to concede this year that there was something to all this talk of global warming. But automakers, suing to stop California’s new carbon-emission standards, are in greenhouse denial.

Whose air is it, anyway?

The future belongs to automakers who embrace change.