3. Volkswagen New Beetle (1998-2010)

Even icons get tiresome.

The Beetle traces its roots back to World War II, but by the mid-1970s other compact cars began encroaching on the Beetle's turf and Volkswagen was staring down bankruptcy. To right the ship, Volkswagen had to ditch the Beetle in favor of the Golf hatchback.

By the time a concept car surfaced in 1994, engineers had figured out how to put the engine up front, how to give it front wheel drive and a more spacious interior and make it look like an updated version of the original while giving it little tweaks such as a flower vase in the dashboard. Its overwhelming reception began the era of "new futurism" that brought drivers updated versions of beloved cars such as the Mustangs and Camaros mentioned just an entry earlier.

2. Mazda MX-5 Miata (1990-97)

Mini has made strides in the low end and Chrysler's 200 is filling in admirably for the Sebring, but neither of them are the sporty little two-seater that the Miata is.

Oh, and neither provides Porsche Boxster performance at roughly half the price. In fact, this little roadster got a big boost from Consumer Reports a few years back for not only matching the Boxster's performance, but proving a more reliable vehicle with fewer repair bills.

1. Toyota Prius (2004-09)

Simply put, nobody cared about hybrid vehicles until this car came around.

The first-generation Honda Insight got a combined 65 miles per gallon but had weird, covered rear wheels and looked like an escaped concept car. The first-generation Prius, meanwhile, got 48 miles per gallon, but was ugly, cramped and not overly powerful.

Before the second-generation Prius arrived, Toyota had never sold more than 25,000 of it in the U.S. in a single year. At the second generation's peak in 2007, Toyota sold 181,000 Prius models here. Now nearly every major automaker produces a hybrid vehicle, but their cars aren't the ones that boosters and critics alike mention when referring to a hybrid.

[Related video: 2013 Toyota Prius Plug-in] PLEASE GO TO LINK TO SEE IT - WOULD NOT COPY (CC)