05/09/2008 23:12. After a week in an '08 Toyota Prius and an '08 Honda Civic Hybrid, I'm zapped. Don't get me wrong: These cars practically lumber down the road from the weight of their vast technologies. As you know, both can smoothly blend dinky 4-cylinder gas engines with electric motors for decent propulsion - no small feat.

The chiseled Prius - which I'm pretty sure is the official drive-by car for the Green Mafia - is the real California star of the two, widely loved by eco-celebrities like Big Al Gore and some of his enviro movie-star buddies.

If you don't mind, pass me the No-Doz and Red Bull. I don't want to nod off at a red light, asleep at my high-tech wheel.

Pardon the little geezer attack, but I want to drive a car I can hear, a car that doesn't turn itself off at every red light. (My '56... // The Olympian