Two cars illustrate these points.

First, the Range Rover. When the Range Rover was introduced in 1970 as a highly civilized road car with great off-road ability, the only remotely comparable competition was the then seven-year-old Jeep Wagoneer. That Wagoneer was produced in essentially the same form, albeit increasingly powerful and luxurious, for almost 30 years.

The Range Rover, now in its fourth generation, increases in popularity every year. A drive in one will explain why. Considered solely as a luxury sedan, the Range Rover, at around $75,000.00, is a reasonable purchase. It's spacious, silent, beautifully trimmed. It cossets and comforts its occupants as it hustles down freeways or back roads. Its considerable off-road and towing capacity is no-cost standard equipment. You could even call it a bargain!

One of the benefits of a Range Rover for San Franciscans is that you can buy one from British Motors, a local institution for over 50 years. I don't generally say much about dealerships, because that's really not what this column is about. But having been at various times a customer and a competitor, and always a friend of the Qvale family, I consider this a special situation. British Motors has maintained an extraordinary relationship with their manufacturers, employees and customers since just after World War II, when Kjell Qvale sold his first MG roadsters.

Today, it's hard to imagine what the car market looked like 50 years ago, when British Motors was getting started. Those of us who chose to sell imported cars then have prospered; our cars are accepted as the best, and our market share is high. But back then, we had less than 10 percent of the market. We sold cars like Austin, Morris, Renault and Fiat. Our cars weren't always of the highest quality or reliability.

Even under those conditions, Kjell Qvale ran an ethical, quality business, and took good care of those early customers. Now, when you visit British Motors, in that fine old Bernard Maybeck building on Van Ness Avenue, you can still sense that this dealership is different.

If the Range Rover exudes British breeding, along with its utility, the Subaru Forester Turbo All Wheel Drive has a completely different character. It’s a quite plain, ordinary looking family wagon – costs about $25,000, and shouts practicality. Driving it gives an altogether different impression. It accelerates with the best of high performance cars, touching 60-80-100+mph quickly as you go through the gears with astonishing ease, silence and competence.

The suspension, light-on-its-feet, but firmly planted at the same time, would do credit to a fine sports car. Nothing about this car is elegant (other than its all-around ability) but it's neat and tastefully finished. If you want a car to be seen in, this isn't it. But the purchase price may leave you with enough left over to buy a little flash-and-dash, too.

I drove the Subaru on some back roads in central California, in a 1000 mile event called the No Frills, Iron-Bottom Motoring Tour, a spoof on our rather elegant California Mille. The No Frills people pay no entry fee, arrange their own accommodations, and can bring any interesting old car that tickles their fancy.

This year, the 50-odd entries included a fine late ’20s Bentley, some early Porsches and Datsun 240Z's, an old Camaro, and a lovely 1940 Packard convertible. Everyone there was curious about the new Subaru, and were impressed by its astonishing performance. One entrant nick-named it the Birkenstock Boxster.

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More on the recreation of the 1919-1941 San Francisco-to-Santa Monica Open Road Race: Entry blanks have been sent out to about 50 owners of pre-1942 cars. It'll be interesting to see which cars are on the starting line at the Fairmont Hotel on September 9th, 2004. The first five are a ’31 Chrysler CM 6 roadster, a 1940 Buick Roadmaster convertible, the 1939 Juan Fangio Chevrolet, a 1939 LaSalle coupe, and a 1929 Packard Speedster.