This diverse segment offers the widest price range. It covers everything from the $34,000 Saab 9-5 to the $130,000 Mercedes-Benz SL500. Obviously our Best Buys are somewhere in between. We think that the Acura RL is a steal at $42,000 fully equipped. Though it is a front-drive V6 in a field of V8 rear-drive models, it has a great ride, plenty of power, and is quite luxurious. Mercedes-Benz E-Class, though a bit long in the tooth, also continues to impress with its impeccable road manners and luxurious comfort.

If you are looking for something a bit more sporting we recommend the BMW 5-Series. If your taste ranges more toward the luxury end, then take a look at the Cadillac DeVille or Lexus GS 300.

Town Car remains Lincoln's best-seller by far, but didn't sell quite as well in calendar 2000, orders easing some 4 percent to about 82,400. That was on top of a 13-percent year-to-year decline in 1999. A trend? Maybe. Is Lincoln worried? Probably not, because Town Car's basic engineering was paid for long ago (it dates from distant 1979), so most every sale is pure gravy. Indeed, Town Car makes almost as much money per unit as the high-margin Navigator SUV.

As caught in recent spy photos, the 2002 Town Car gets a styling update via a higher hood and rear deck, a smaller grille, and standard 17-inch wheels and tires. The raised hood makes room for a higher-tune 4.6-liter V8 with 300 hp instead of the present 225/240. Sister Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis get their own freshening for '02.

Further out, Town Car may morph into a smaller, more contemporary top-line sedan. Detroit detectives say Lincoln is working on a stretched version of its midrange LS, with a simplified rear suspension and different styling, as a possible Town Car replacement for 2004 or '05. Though not yet approved, but assuming it replaces Town Car wholesale, this smaller model would leave Cadillac's DeVille as the only traditional full-size American-brand luxury sedan. And that might just be okay with Ford Motor Company, which wants to give Lincoln a more youthful image and a greater presence in the global luxury market, goals that don't mesh with the current Town Car's late-'70s size and personality.