A new company called Motorflirt is up and running there. You can register yourself, by your car license number. If another member of Motorflirt notices you, that member can be put in touch with you discreetly, and with identity protected.

Guys driving Lamborghinis probably look better than van drivers, so what you drive, and how you look, might be getting even more important.

The car design problem is this: the practical, capacious, all-round useful car you probably need has, until now, looked pretty pedestrian. Think soccer-mom vans and SUV’s.

Solution: enter Nissan, perhaps the hottest car design company in the world today. Two of their recent models are our subjects this month.

First design problem: How to make a tall, utilitarian SUV into a sexy, sporty car. The Infiniti FX is the result. As James Cobb said on the New York Times Auto Page a few weeks ago, "Suppose the Porsche Cayenne Turbo cost half as much and looked twice as good? It would be more like this… (FX)." Very high praise for a praiseworthy vehicle.

The two FX models, 35 & 45 (to identify the V6 and V8 models) share some basic engineering with the Nissan 350Z and the Infiniti G35. Like them, the FX is a very sporty drive. Its shape makes every other SUV look like yesterday’s newspaper. The sleek shape does slightly impair its carrying capacity, although on a recent trip we found it had plenty of luggage room for our family of four.

Its road manners, at any speed, on any road, bring joy to a keen driver. Power? Plenty! Reliability? Based on Nissan’s past performance, it'll be at the top of the list. Value? At $35,000 for a very well equipped "base" model, up to around $50,000 for the top-specification "loaded" version, these FX’s are a relative bargain.

I still don’t quite get the concept of a $2000 navigation system, when maps are so good, and fun to read, to boot. And the TV camera that shows you where you’re going in reverse, while cautioning you to look where you’re going, and not totally trust the camera, seems like a gadget one could do without.

Second design problem: Make a practical passenger van that’s not seen as a soccer-mom-mobile. The latest Nissan Quest is their answer to that problem. The issue is that the ideal van is a "one-box" design – sort of a powered shoebox. Practical but dull. Nissan came up with a very shapely sculpture that gives at least a hint of beauty to the van concept. A van still has to retain its carrying capacity, so the Quest couldn’t turn out as sexy as the Infiniti FX35, but it is pleasing to the eye, and with its 260 hp V6 engine and well-designed chassis, it makes all the right moves.

Two non-Nissan designs worth noting come from Daimler Chrysler. The Chrysler Crossfire is the first German-built Chrysler – a two-seater GT car. While I’m not a great fan of the styling, it is unique, distinctive, and attention-getting. More important, the car underneath is really good—quick, agile – truly a driver’s car. In fact, I liked it much more than I thought I would on a 600 mile, two-lane road reconnaissance, while choosing the route for our 2004 California Mille historic race car tour.

More traditional is the Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 convertible – the most costly of these four cars. Although it’s well made, I found it bland – a perfect car for non-driving enthusiasts who value presence over performance.

Expect to see more great car designs as the auto manufacturers place renewed emphasis on style and design, in order to stand out in a competitive market.

Does that mean that Motorflirt could thrive here?