My parents have a '98 Avalon which clearly falls into the model year(s) you hate. :D It's not the car for my tastes either, to be sure. But for them, it's been a great car. They wanted something roomy and comfortable that lasted a long time (my Dad keeps a car until the wheels fall off), and a car that got decent gas mileage. The Avalon fit those requirements perfectly. With over 225k miles on it now, they have had no significant problems. The car still runs perfectly, and gets around 25 mpg in combined city/highway driving. My parents are both over 70, so they fit the demographic, and the car fits them. To each their own, I guess.

Bill

 

With a little research I get this...

In 1769, the very first self-propelled road vehicle was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804).

1885 - Gottlieb Daimler invented what is often recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine - with a vertical cylinder, and with gasoline injected through a carburetor (patented in 1887). Daimler first built a two-wheeled vehicle the "Reitwagen" (Riding Carriage) with this engine and a year later built the world's first four-wheeled motor vehicle.

American car manufacturer, Henry Ford (1863-1947) invented an improved assembly line and installed the first conveyor belt-based assembly line in his car factory in Ford's Highland Park, Michigan plant, around 1913-14. The assembly line reduced production costs for cars by reducing assembly time. Ford's famous Model T was assembled in ninety-three minutes. Ford made his first car, called the "Quadricycle," in June, 1896.


So yeah either the French created the first automobile or the Germans.

And rx8wannahave... yeah i'm tainted. i'm going to stay wary of caddies until they have the reputation of being as reliable as japanese cars for a few years. i'm not so biased against other american car companies though.

 

I believe Daimler-Benz is recognized as having invented the automobile.