Jason Harper

Highway 101 just south of San Francisco, and the orderly lines of traffic are holding a steady 65 miles per hour (105 kilometer per hour), placid and in no apparent hurry. California calm.

What was it, 10, 20 years since you took a driver’s education class? You passed your exam, got your license and school’s been out ever since. Shame. You could use a little help behind the wheel.

The BMW 3 Series sedan might as well be the official ride of the up-and-coming businessperson. The go-getter who likes going fast.

It’s called “Godzilla,” and the nickname is apt. The Nissan GT-R is fully capable of frightening children and terrorizing cities.

Two garage attendants are talking about the svelte Mini Cooper Coupe I’ve just parked. One says he likes it, the other laughs. “Are you kidding? That’s a chick car.” The first man’s face falls.

A big rock sits on the outside edge of a notorious switchback on Los Angeles’s Mulholland Drive. Too often that ill-placed boulder acts like a black hole: Drivers and motorcyclists try so hard to avoid it that they get pulled in. Ka-boom!

I grabbed the keys and told my wife I had an errand to run. We needed eggs.

On a racetrack, there’s something that could be called the art of the slide. In a $130,000 Mercedes-Benz at California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, I think I may just have perfected it.

I was once mock-charged by an elephant while on safari in South Africa. It was astonishing to see this massive, ponderous creature suddenly burst into motion, moving far faster than I could possibly flee on foot.

An automaker’s cheapest, smallest car will tell you how serious the company really is about quality. Sure the expensive sedans look great, but how about lower down the line? Are they sweating the details on a sub- $20,000 compact?

My hands are slick with sweat, and I don’t want to slip on the steering wheel right now.

Of all the automobiles I’ve driven this year, there are only a handful I would like to own and drive again and again.