10 Hot Cars for '05; AND A FEW OTHERS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!(News)

Byline: J.P. VETTRAINO

It's nasty out there. The mid-November drop in oil prices was short-lived, and it seems $50-plus-per-barrel is not an aberration but the new rule. Cheap gasoline costs $2 a gallon, and we in the United States have it good compared to the rest of the world.

The environmental movement is screaming for more rapid development of alternative drivetrains; cars like Toyota's Prius demonstrate exactly who is listening. The idea of a "sin tax'' on SUVs is making headway inside the Beltway. The dollar is at an all-time low against the euro (not to mention the yen), and the price of some of the finest automobiles available will surely rise faster than any market-basket measure of inflation. The electronics under your hood can give The Man a more intimate view of your driving habits than he is currently entitled to. All levels of new restrictions seem to make it more difficult-and expensive-to express enthusiasm for the automobile.

Pretty grim, isn't it?

Well, no, actually. Underneath the gloomy white noise, an immutable truth remains. Car enthusiasts, and car buyers in general, have never had more good choices. As a reminder of this bounty, we've assembled a list of the hottest cars in the pipeline. That would be HOTTEST-not best or fastest or most appropriate-as defined by how quickly you or your neighbors will make tracks toward the dealership for a look. What are the selection criteria? Well, our judgment, of course.

Herewith then, are the 10 hottest cars on the horizon, and another five that merit honorable mention.

1. MERCEDES-BENZ CLS This gorgeous coupe-inspired sedan, first shown in Frankfurt back in the fall, could be a Maybach for the rest of us, or some of the rest of us. Mercedes' 5.0-liter V8 is the standard powertrain and the car goes on sale in January.