My very first experience with the Dodge Dart came in high school, when my best friend’s dad bestowed one upon her as her first car. With four doors and a dated look, it wasn’t exactly the car of her dreams, and the fact that it was green didn’t do it any favors. (She quickly saved enough money to buy a much hipper Volkswagen Beetle.)

I thought the Dart was in my rear-view mirror for good once she upgraded to the VW, but fate has a funny sense of humor. (That’s funny odd, not funny ha-ha, just for the record.)

I was in college when an unexpected turn of events left me without a car, and a friend of the family stepped up and graciously donated her daily driver to me. She had just upgraded to a station wagon and no longer needed her 1967 Dodge Dart Swinger.

The car was not going to win any beauty contests. It was white, with a rear view mirror that had some sort of adhesive issue, as it failed to stick to the windshield when the temperature got above 85 degrees. The seats were torn in a couple of places, and it had a few other cosmetic failings that would simply sound like nit-picking this many years later. Still, it drove like a tank – which was bad for racing but great for durability. I lived in Kansas at the time, and cars were usually no match for the icy winter roads. But my Dodge Dart Swinger took them like a champ! On at least two occasions I slid helplessly across black ice into the waiting trunk of a tree, hitting it head first. Each time, I managed to drive away with a new dent but no real damage.

To say I drove the car hard was an understatement; I literally drove her to death.

We parted ways one night when I was driving back to the dorm after working the late shift at a fast-food restaurant. Yes, I saw the traffic barricades where they were doing road work, but I had been slipping past those barricades for days while they prepped the road for whatever it was they were going to do. This time, as I maneuvered around them, I was surprised to learn that, apparently, what they were going to do was remove the concrete. My durable Dodge Dart Swinger and I plunged into the black hole where once a road had been, and as I heard the poor old gal emit a steely groan, something told me we’d had our last adventure.

When I heard that Dodge was resurrecting the Dart, I admit that I was suspicious. I recalled its boxy shape and less-than-sporty interior. How could Dodge – which has put the muscle back in the muscle car – consider smearing its reputation this way? Then I saw glimpses of the new and vastly improved Dart, which will be introduced next month at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.

This time around, the Dart is based on Alfa Romeo‘s Giulietta platform, and the design is muscular, sleek and sexy. Smooth curves have replaced sharp angles, and drivers will have three options of how they’d like the four-cylinder engine: as a 2.0-liter (base model), a turbocharged 1.4-liter or a  2.4-liter. Dodge has yet to unveil the car – we’ll have to wait until next month for that – but just the glimpses of what’s to come are enough to make me stand in line for a test drive. The truth be told, a Dodge Dart hasn’t made my heart race like that since the last time I clutched its steering wheel as I plummeted into a gaping hole where once the road had been.

What’s the next best thing to valet parking? (Okay, limousine service is the correct answer, but it’s a trick question…)

When you absolutely, positively have to do it yourself, at least now there is a better way to park. The 2010 Lincoln MKS sedan, which will become available in mid 2009, is one of two new Ford models that will be equipped with Active Park Assist. (For the record, it is way better than having someone in the passenger’s seat simply point out that you’re too close to the curb/car behind you/car in front of you.) The system uses ultrasonic sensors and Electric Power Assisted Steering to ease your car into a parallel parking spot - which means that you don’t even need to touch the wheel while it does its thing.

The MKS sedan and the new Lincoln MKT seven-passenger luxury crossover are the first two vehicles in Ford’s fleet to be equipped with such technology, although the company expects to fit nearly 90 percent of its vehicles with such a feature by 2012. (More on the MKT after it is unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.)

The driver-friendly parking technology, known as Electric Power Assisted Steering, or EPAS, sounds almost too good to be true: Press a button, and the ultrasonic sensors identify and measure the parking space. Once the system gives the thumbs-up, the driver can accept system assistance, at which point the steering system takes over and maneuvers the car into the space – hands-free. (The driver is still responsible for shifting the transmission and operating the gas and brakes.)

Allegedly, this cool new system does more than remove the stress of parallel parking – it also claims to improve fuel economy by up to 5 percent. But of course, what we’re most impressed with is the idea that we don’t have to wrestle our cars into those parallel spaces any more.

If only they could make doing laundry this easy!

One of the biggest conflicts facing many auto enthusiasts comes from knowing the atrocities that their vehicles commit upon the environment.

While I won’t drink from a landfill-clogging plastic bottle, I will happily jump inside a gas-guzzling sports car with a carbon footprint that rivals Bigfoot. I know it’s wrong.

And I know I’m not alone in this conflict.

About a year ago, I was talking about cars and biodiesel fuel with Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing to you “Dallas” fans…) and he touted his passion for the Prius. Yep, the man who played the King of Oil in the ’80s drives a hybrid. His wife, Maj, meanwhile, confessed to absolutely loving her Ferrari – even though she knows it doesn’t fall in the eco-friendly category. Not even close. So what’s a girl to do?

Up until now, the options have either been to park it and assuage your guilt, or ignore that pesky conscience and hit the gas. But Fisker Automotive has a better plan.

The California-based car company first introduced its prototype, the Fisker Karma, five months ago at the North American International Auto Show. Since then, they’ve received some 500 orders for the luxury hybrid car, which is slated to be on the market in 2009. The company plans to hit a production schedule of 1,250 cars per month in 2010.

The numbers are impressive – this plug-in hybrid will hit 125 mph in sport mode, and tops out at 95 mph in electric (or “stealth”) mode. And the styling lets you know that this is no ordinary plug-in. With a sleek, low-slung profile, the Karma hugs the ground and stands about as tall as the Porsche 911 and is about as wide as BMW’s M-series cars.

The Fisker Karma goes from 0-60 in less than six seconds, and includes a full-length solar roof to help charge the car – and keep it cool – while it’s parked.

Inside, you’ll find all the electronic creature comforts required for today’s driver, including a built-in navigation system, DVD system and state-of-the art push-button controls. Of course, we’ve yet to see how this dream car translates from the showroom to the open road, but it looks like one of the most promising things to jump off the drawing board in quite some time.

And with a price point of $80,000, it’s easier on the checkbook than many sportsters out there – even before you start saving money on fuel.

Great styling and performance without the guilt? Now that’s what I call great Karma! Maj Hagman, I think your car is calling…