She's tiny and squirmy and has changed my being.

This past summer, a beautiful baby girl joined the Quiroga family. As a friend predicted, my capacity to love has grown exponentially.

- Tony Quiroga

She's my first child, and the resulting shift in priorities has spread throughout the house and into the garage. My automotive wants have changed from cars chosen because they make me smile to sober thoughts of cargo capacity and passive safety. My time-capsule 1991 BMW 325i convertible will be auctioned off on Bring a Trailer, and the money from the sale will be going toward a car for my wife and baby.

My beloved has a few wants: the ability to fit a rear-facing child seat without nullifying the front passenger's seat, good visibility, analog gauges, a CD player (we're older parents), copious cargo space, an automatic, reasonable service costs, and the ability to go 150 mph. I'm assured the last one isn't a deal breaker, but we are a Car and Driver family after all. I've never owned an SUV or an automatic, but I have driven nearly every vehicle for sale over the past 25 years and therefore have come up with a short list of contenders.