2005 Buick LaCrosse CXS

That the CXS isn't your father's Buick is apparent in the interior, where the design is fresh if uneven in material quality (we just might have here the world's first example of fake paisley-pattern walnut). But you have to wonder if Buick is kissing-off its traditional clientele by so densely clustering the center stack's tiny sound and ventilation buttons or by the profoundly obscure operation of some of the switchgear (for instance, to electrically pop open the trunk, you must hold down the door-unlock button). While younger PDA and iPod-types will take to this sort of control arcane like duck soup, is it really so difficult to dumb-down the ergonomics for drivers with more than a learner's permit?

These left-brain gripes tend to dissolve, though, when the right brain is given a chance to tour the undulating, rather feminine bodywork. Walk around the LaCrosse in a deserted parking lot, and somehow your fingers tend to trace along the delicate grille and sinewy headlamp shapes...um, perhaps it's time we move on to the Ford Five Hundred.

Together with its crossover sidekick, the Freestyle, the Five Hundred represents a tall stack of chips placed on the bet that, after years of virtual abandonment of the big-sedan segment (the Crown Vic doesn't count), the Blue Oval will be welcomed back with all forgiven. Fortunately, the Five Hundred is one tasty box of sorry-about-that candy. Our example is a six-speed front-drive version (a CVT is also available, as is all-wheel drive), powered by the only engine choice at the moment, a much-modified 3.0-liter Duratec V-6. At a modest 203 horses, the power deficit is a bit much even for the close-ratio automatic to offset (wriggling through the cut-and-thrust of modern urban traffic produces an auditory spectacle of roaring downshifts). If that's all there was to the Five Hundred, there'd be plenty of wringing hands in Dearborn right about now.

Fortunately, there's lots more, starting with the Ford's voluminous packaging. Although it's a big car, the Five Hundred is as frugal with its space as any minicar. The interior is Michael Moore-roomy, the trunk is huge (some would say it's also Michael Moore-roomy), and its outward vision is particularly thoughtful, with elevated eye-levels, large picture windows, square mirrors, and retractable rear headrests that scrunch out of view when not needed.

As an object of visual desire, the Five Hundred will bring a welcome dose of taste to suburbia's driveways. This is an understated sedan, with good proportions, restrained details, and next-to-no garish frills. Some will see a 125-percent Passat in profile that's been pumped-up, as we say in California. Inside, the dash is elegantly European with oversized boxy seats (that approach Germanic firmness); only the dreaded Ford, one-size-fits-all gauges let some air out of the balloon.