1.

Unfortunately, perhaps, the Prius isn't so much a car that you buy and drive as a political statement that you make.

2.

If you want to make that statement, you'd better get in line.  Prior to launch last October, Toyota had 12,000 orders for the vehicle.  Given that the Tsutsumi Plant where it is built was scheduled to produce 36,000, that's not a trivial number.

3.

Speaking of non-trivial numbers: Check the price at the pump.

4.

OK.  The Prius that I drove didn't get anywhere near the EPA numbers that are listed: 60 city; 51 highway.  Perhaps because I was being conscientious, glancing at the "Liquid crystal multi-information display panel with energy monitoring, fuel consumption, climate control, outside temperature and audio status modes" that sits in the center of the dash with all-to-great regularity, seeing how well I was doing MPG-wise.  (Seems to me that if that screen was installed in all vehicles, people would have a whole new appreciation of fuel efficiency: When you see an instant number like "7.4 MPG" in a Prius when accelerating from a cold (still winter) start, imagine what the shock must be to someone in, say, a Suburban.)  Overall, I got 39.  Not great.  But not bad.

5.

Executives at some vehicle manufacturers say that putting hybrid systems in small cars doesn't make as much sense as putting them in big trucks.  But they have yet to do that.  This is sort of like saying that Angelina Jolie would be hotter if she was surgically enhanced.  Which could be the case.  But the present version seems sufficiently incendiary.  The Prius is out there.  Has been.  Where are the other offerings that are nearly as technically advanced?  Talk is, well, talk.

6.

This is not to make the claim that the Prius is the Angelina Jolie of cars.  That would probably be something from Ferrari.  But the profile and the presence of the Prius are sufficiently futuristic to turn heads without looking odd, like, say, the Honda Insight does.  So perhaps if forced to make a female analogy: Judy Jetson.

7.

About that "small car" talk.  The Prius seats five.  Perhaps the person in the middle of the rear seat wouldn't be particularly comfortable.  But in what car that has an MSRP of $20,510 is the center person comfortable?  The Prius has passenger volume of 96.2 ft³ and luggage space of 16.1 ft³.  Small?

8.

It has what's being called the "Hybrid Synergy Drive."  There are a 76-hp, 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine; a 67-hp AC motor; a nickel-metal hydride battery.  And an array of smarts.  They figure out when to deploy what.  So, for example, when starting out slowly, you're running just on the electric motor.  When giving it more throttle, the engine kicks in and the motor is deactivated.  When you really get into it, you can get both working.  When you're stopped at a light, the engine is shut off.  That is the most disconcerting part about the vehicle.

9.

You'd think that a vehicle that is about, in part, fuel efficiency would be stripped down and comparatively Spartan.  Not the Prius.  Even with the entry-level ($20,510 version) there is a level of technology and suite of accessories that would make buyers of cars costing twice as much feel a twinge of jealousy.

10.

This is probably the best car deal, period.