Think back to the 1950s and æ60s when sports cars, with all their color and spirit, were exploding onto the American car scene. Because of its canvas top and two little seats tucked into a compact skin, the sports car was, well, cool.

Today, sport/utilities - with 4-wheel drive, oversize tires and brutish styling - have supplanted the sports car and redefined cool.

No other vehicle spans the generation bridge much better than the 1995 Geo Tracker, which more or less brings the sports-car formula to the sport/utility culture. In size, weight and tidy styling, the Tracker blends the driving flavor of a sports car with the go-anywhere, do-anything practicality of a sport/utility.