Looking for more than just any old station wagon to haul home the groceries from your local Whole Foods? Then here's your ride: a one-off Fifties Mercedes-Benz station wagon

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This vision was probably a bit different in 1956 for Mrs. Caroline Folke, a woman of apparent means (with homes in Paris, Manhattan, and Palm Beach) for whom a top-of-the-line Chrysler, Mercury, or Buick station wagon would simply not suffice. Back when nearly everyone liked Ike, she walked into the New York City Mercedes-Benz dealership with a most unusual request: a brand new Mercedes-Benz station wagon. At the time, Mercedes-Benz was re-establishing itself in the automobile business. It was just 11 years after the end of the Second World War, after all. They were apparently eager to fill her unusual request--even though station wagons were not part of the Mercedes-Benz model range in 1956.

Our writer casts her winter coat aside and heeds the call of the Conch Republic

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The Florida Keys Overseas Highway, from north of Key Largo to Key West, was recently crowned with the title All-American Road, the only road in Florida so honored. And that's the highest recognition possible under the National Scenic Byways program established by Congress. Only 30 other roadways in the nation have earned the prestigious designation.

The Overseas Highway follows a trail originally blazed in 1912. Standard Oil millionaire Henry Flagler completed the immense logistical task--more nightmare, really--of extending his Florida East Coast Railroad the 150 miles from Miami to Key West. Just imagine Gibson Girl-esque young women in their swan-bill corsets and pompadours boarding the train in New York and--a mere 30 hours later--stepping out at the southernmost point in the United States. What a boom for Florida.

Then, in 1935, catastrophe struck this paradise. A hurricane collapsed the rail line, and the economic conditions of the Depression left the destruction lying in disarray. The Keys were accessible only by water.

This Jeep that thinks it's an imported all-weather sports wagon has but two shortcomings: a thirst for dead dinosaurs and an interior that could have been designed by Fisher-Price

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Guest writer Kent Lupino speaks with trade analysts and researches price fluctuations around the country

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Last week the four largest rental operators in North America all announced that they would stop renting Toyota vehicles that could be affected by sticky accelerator pedals.

John Healy, a trade analyst at Northcoast Research, told Automotive Traveler that rental-car customers don't have too much to worry about: "Most rental locations run at about 70- to 80-percent utilization on a daily basis, so they'll fill the gaps with other cars in their fleets. As long as you can manage the fleet well, there shouldn't be that big of an impact." While predicting a return to normalcy in two weeks, he did admit that short-term business operations will be more of a challenge for the companies with a larger percentage of affected vehicles.

So what percentage of the vehicles at the nation's major rental companies are Toyota cars and trucks? And how will the nation's travelers feel in the long run about picking up the keys to a Toyota at the rental counter?

Celebrate America's "best idea" with a road trip to one of our national parks

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To enter the contest, go to the This Is Your Land website during the month of February to explore America's 392 national parks, and then mark your favorite spot at one of them by sharing a special memory of your time there. Individuals who add their spot to at least one park will be entered to win a three-night trip for two, including lodging and airfare, to their choice of the following destinations located in, or within close proximity to, a beloved national park: