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The Mazda 6 is a fine car if you're looking for a mid-size family sedan. The V-6 is strong and smooth, the six-speed automatic selects gears smartly and without drama, and the ride is comfortable without being flaccid. Mazda also has the best-looking car in the segment with those dynamic, shapely fenders. Yet, when Mazda enlarged their American-market mid-sizer for the 2009 model year, they lost the biggest thing they had going for them: a car that supported their uniquely sporty image. Unlike the engaging Mazda 3, the 6 doesn't have that nimble, faster-than-it-actually-is feel.

Ambling by 120 East Liberty a year ago today, you could have stumbled upon a snarling Nissan GT-R, hormonal Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, massively seductive Audi R8, sumptuous BMW 750iL, and the hauling champ we knew as the Dodge Ram. But we knew that, eventually, all good things must come to an end, and those vehicles have since departed.

Giorgetto Giugiaro is the Car Designer of the Century, according to 132 (relatively) young automotive journalists back in 1999. Their grasp of automotive history seems to have been concentrated in their own adult lifetimes, however. Whether GG's influence is greater than Battista "Pinin" Farina's or Harley Earl's is very much open to debate, but there is no question that he is one of the most prolific designers alive. "I have designed cars for every major company but Honda, and one day I will do that," says the Maestro. The merging of his firm Italdesign with Volkswagen may signify an end to his half century of intense activity, but he remains a powerful and highly influential force in automobile design.