Station wagons are suddenly hip again (or at least car manufacturers think so). They're a sensible alternative to thirsty crossover and sport utility vehicles. Plus, vehicles like the Acura TSX Wagon are the right size for the nuclear family.

Some companies, like Toyota, are trying to position minivans as the vehicle of choice, even calling the family haulers like the Sienna a "swagger wagon" in the hopes of appealing to younger buyers and latching onto that station wagon vibe.

It took all of two minutes for the 2011 Volvo S60 to grow on me. Hopping on the highway, I was impressed by the quick acceleration offered by the standard 3.0-liter turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine that delivers 300 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. of torque. According to published reports, it can hit 0-60 in six seconds, which is more than fast enough in real world driving situations.

A funny thing about industrial or technological ages is they usually begin well before we notice. It was on January 29, 1886 when Carl Benz filed for a patent on his three-wheeled combustion engine motorcar. At the same time Gottlieb Daimler was creating the first four-wheeled automobile fueled with petrol.

Today we recognize those efforts as the dawn of the Age of the Combustion Engine Auto, but actually at that time electric motorcars were somewhat more common.

Electric cars had been around since the 1830’s and remarkably ran initially on non-rechargeable electric cells.

This past summer I had the opportunity to drive the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI at its press introduction in Aspen, Colo. It was fun playing with the impossibly fast and well-handling sports sedan in the summer playground that is Aspen.

At the time, part of me really wished I could flog this car through a heavy snowstorm. After all, the beauty of this car is it’s a Subaru. It’s meant to be driven through all kinds of inclement weather with nary a concern.