USA TODAY Looks at Top 25 Cars and Trucks As Part of 25th Anniversary Celebration

MCLEAN, VA - June 25, 2007: USA TODAY turns 25 years young this September, and to continue the celebration, the publication looks back at what they feel are the Top 25 Cars and Trucks that had the biggest impact.

Cars and trucks are an indelible part of people's lives. And picking 25 that made names for themselves -- good or bad -- during the last 25 years is no snap. The USA TODAY auto team wrangled mightily over which belonged on the list and a rough consensus emerged. USA TODAY has picked 25 cars and trucks that had an impact; share your choices at Top25.USATODAY.com.

Every week for 25 weeks, USA TODAY will offer an exclusive color page of Top 25 anniversary memories -- 25 lists over 25 weeks designed to spark conversation and debates. The Top 25 conversation continues today with the Top 25 Cars and Trucks That Had an Impact. Here they are:

1. 1992 Toyota Camry
Not sexy, but a game-changer. Japan Inc.'s first truly American sedan.
    The late Robert McCurry, then head of Toyota's U.S. sales, demanded
    Japan deliver a bigger, smoother sedan. That Camry became best-seller,
    muscling Detroit aside in the car segment.

2. 1991 Ford Explorer
Genteel by the standards of the day, smoother and more powerful than
    Jeep Cherokee and Isuzu Trooper, Explorer started the SUV craze.
    Despite a breathtaking sales plunge, it's still among the top-selling
    SUVs.

3. 2001 Toyota Prius
Too weird, critics said, when it hit U.S. shores in summer 2000. Who'll
    gamble on an odd-looking sedan with a preposterous gasoline-electric
    hybrid powertrain? Just 400,000 U.S. buyers so far, who love the 40-
    plus mpg.

4. 1984 Chrysler minivans
Revolutionary. Family-size Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth vans fit the
    garage, were easy to park and had the first cupholders. Unstoppable
    until SUVs came along.

5. 1986 Hyundai Excel
Hah, hah, hah, hah. A little South Korean car cheap enough at $4,995 to
    put on your credit card. Solid foundation, apparently. More models were
    added, sales boomed, quality improved. Hyundai's now No. 7 in sales,
    behind Detroit 3, Japan Big 3.

6. 1986 Ford Taurus
Crisp handling for the time, wholly out of synch with the barges
    Detroit had been selling. A wild success until the late '90s when Honda
    Accord and Toyota Camry turned Taurus into a rental car.

7. 1990 Lexus LS 400
A Japanese luxury sedan as good as Mercedes-Benz? Absurd. Not.

8. 1990 Mazda Miata
The affordable, two-seat sports car lives. Better than your best
    euphoric recall of those Triumphs and MGs you couldn't quite acquire
    during your misspent youth, or wished you hadn't if you did.

9. 1986 Acura Legend
The first separate luxury brand from a Japanese maker prices its
    flagship Legend sedan at -- gasp -- $20,000. Pioneers the way for Lexus
    and Infiniti and helps establish the notion that the Japanese are
    capable of true luxury cars.

10. 1996 Toyota RAV4
SUV body on a Corolla compact car chassis. Voila, the first crossover
    SUV.

11. Ford Mustang

12. Saturn SL

13. Ford F-150

14. Hummer H2

15. Mini Cooper

16. Lincoln Navigator

17. Yugo

18. Chrysler PT Cruiser

19. Pontiac Aztec

20. Cadillac CTS

21. Suzuki Samarai

22. GM Impact

23. Volkswagen New Beetle

24. Scion xB

25. BMW 7-series


HEY, MINI cooper made the list... sweet!