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The most famous image of a New York City taxicab is probably the opening of the TV series Taxi, in which, through five seasons and endless cable repeats, Judd Hirsch piloted a yellow cab across the Queensboro Bridge. Drive your cab across that bridge for real and you end up at Dynamic Auto Repair, right off the bridge in Long Island City, where thousands of taxis are repaired and maintained each year. Dynamic was founded a decade ago by three brothers from Corona: William (pictured above), Junior, and Gio Ibanez. The shop stands next to one of the city's largest fleets, whose 300-some taxis mean a steady stream of work. "These cars run twenty-four hours a day, and the shocks and tires take a beating," says William, who directs the place. "You've got to change the oil every two weeks or these cars won't last." At shift changes, the cars gather like cattle in a feed lot. Guys yell at the drivers to hurry up the swap. Wounded cars come in for work. "It gets really crazy and chaotic," William says. The windows of Dynamic's two big garage doors are frosted with grime. Inside are eyeless yellow shells of Ford Crown Victorias up on lifts and car doors tilted against the walls. At one time, almost all taxis were Crown Vics, but today there are also hybrid Ford Escapes, Nissan Altimas, and Toyota Camrys.

Quick first impressions: Much more fun to drive than the usual crossover, thanks to the compact size and responsive chassis. I can’t say that the CVT adds to the driving pleasure, though. I understand that they’re efficient, but I think this car would be better served by a manual gearbox -- it’s a shame Nissan doesn’t see fit to offer the manual in conjunction with all-wheel-drive. I love the red trim inside, which is a really simple and honest (no faux anything) way to liven up the interior. Speaking of the interior, the back seat is a little tight -- you’re passengers had better be under six-feet -- but not horrible. The same holds true with the cargo hold; with the rear seats up it’s pretty modest, but at least it’s easily expandable.

Finally, a Nissan in a mainstream segment that possesses some of the charm and style of the brand's many niche offerings. I love the Quest's slab-sided styling, if only because it goes directly against the swoopy-van trend currently pursued by the new Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. It's almost like it's saying, "Yeah I'm a huge van designed for carrying around juice boxes and dog kennels. You got a problem with that?" I don't. The interior isn't quite as spunky -- no shag carpets here, like in the Cube -- but is still more interesting to look at than the cabins of its main competitors. I'm too young and too single to test the van's kid-and-crap-carrying capability, but I do like the utility of the deep underfloor storage bin behind the third row.

The Nissan Juke and Mini Countryman beg to be compared. The small crossovers are so similar in every physical measure and mechanical specification that you could imagine they were born of the same focus group, the same marketing gurus, and the same engineering team. Length, width, and height between the two are all within an inch. Each uses a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making about 180 hp. Both cars meter power to the rear wheels through electronically controlled differentials. The only place it seems our two automakers split paths was styling.