The Toyota Prius arrived in the United States in 2000 amid the SUV boom with the sole purpose of squeezing as many miles as possible out of a gallon of gas. Before the Prius, a “hybrid car” was not something American consumers had seen, let alone driven.

Lexus is Toyota's luxury division, but Toyota often builds a Lexus-badged twin to capture buyers who want that extra refinement without the higher sticker price. The Grand Highlander and the Lexus TX mimic that pattern as closely as any two vehicles have. Both are three-row midsize SUVs, both ride on a version of the same platform, and both come from the same Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Princeton, Indiana.

Lamborghini's personalization division, Ad Personam, has been dressing up Aventadors, Huracáns, and now Temerarios since 2006, when it debuted with a limited run of Gallardos at the Paris Motor Show. Twenty years and more than 400 exterior colors later, the division did something it has never done before in a Lamborghini production car. It put wool inside one.

Minus any aftermarket accessories, the vehicle you bought however long ago has the same features today as it did when it rolled off the assembly line. For all intents and purposes, everything about your car, from the powertrain to the infotainment system, is exactly the same as the day you drove it off the lot. And you have not had to pay extra for any of the features you use and enjoy most.

Toyota introduced a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius for the 2012 model year, giving buyers a way to drive on electricity alone for short trips while keeping the same hybrid safety net for longer ones. More than a decade later, that basic idea has not changed all that much, but the price of admission has.

Most of us deal with the same handful of headaches on our daily commute, from aggressive drivers and traffic congestion to the occasional speeding ticket. Here in Detroit, where I live, there are even some unique road and infrastructure designs that can make rush hour driving a challenge.

The Prius arrived in the United States in 2000, a tiny fuel-sipping Toyota amid an SUV onslaught that included Dodge Durangos, Ford Explorers, and Chevy Suburbans. Although “everyone” had an SUV, the Prius was the first hybrid most Americans ever really gravitated toward, its name forever attached to the idea of environmental stewardship and frugality.

In the summer of 2023, an eerie and lingering haze blanked skies all across the East Coast following a record wildfire season in Quebec. New York City's Air Quality Index reached a hazardous level of 465 as the smoke eventually drifted into cities like Boston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. More than 350 million people were exposed to record levels of unhealthy air before it finally cleared.

In 2002, the production version of the Hummer H2 debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show, becoming an immediate symbol of American excess. It had a thirst for gasoline that was punchline-worthy, but a flashy shade of yellow paint that turned it into an eye-catching status symbol.

The Toyota Corolla dates back to 1966 and the era of the Space Race, when the compact cruiser debuted in Japan before reaching American dealerships two years later. Toyota describes the Corolla as a car that has evolved to meet changing times, guided by the principles of quality and value. It’s a formula that has worked for the automaker, since the Corolla has been one of the best-selling cars in history, with cumulative global sales now surpassing 57 million units.