Consumer Guide Automotive is the leading publisher of authoritative, objective reviews of new and used cars and trucks. Today Consumer Guide Automotive announced the recipients of its 2012 Best Buy and Recommended Awards.

The annual list represents the best overall values in 18 vehicle categories. This year’s list showcases 106 vehicles from the hundreds of cars, SUVs, minivans and trucks tested with careful evaluation of every aspect of each vehicle as it relates to consumers’ real-world driving experiences.

The complete list of Consumer Guide Automotive’s 2012 Best Buy and Recommended Awards can be viewed here. Hope that it will make car buying easier for any consumer.

The Saab 92001 was the first automobile built by Saab. The brand was founded by former aircraft engineers. The word Saab was originally an acronym that stood for “Svenska Aeroplan A.B.,” or “Swedish Airplane Co.”, a manufacturer of warplanes. The Saab 92001 was also called a 1946 Saab 92 prototype.

As World War II was drawing to a close, The Saab, realized that it needed to enter a different market and an automobile project was envisaged. In the fall of 1945, the company decided to start the automobile project. The project involved 16 engineers which were none of them had ever designed a car before, and only two held driving licenses. The weirdness that resulted, the car boasted incredibly low drag and an 18-horsepower 2-stroke 2-cylinder engine. The immediately-preceding Saab production code was for an aeroplane – the Saab 91 Safir – for this reason, the first car project started as the Saab 92 (92001). That’s why the car was also called a 1946 Saab 92 prototype.

The original 1946 Saab 92001 was driven thousands of miles. Today it is in the Saab museum in Trollhättan, with a cleaned grille and more roadworthy headlights. It is called Ursaab, meaning ‘original Saab’.

About.com is one of the largest providers of the original content on the web with over 60 million unique visitors per month in the United States. Recently, The 2012 Honda Civic has been named as on of the About.com Cars’ Best New Cars of 2012 as announced by American Honda Motor.

Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing operations of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. said that “Ranging from a gas-sipping hybrid to a kick-in-the-pants Si, the Civic lineup provides a variety of fun, fuel-efficient options to satisfy a wide range of customers, we are thrilled to receive this award that recognizes the many advantages of the Civic.”

About.com’s Aaron Gold called the award-winning Civic hands-down the most comprehensive compact car on the market. “You can get a sedan or a coupe; a high-fuel-efficiency version; a high-performance version; a leather-lined version; a hybrid version; even an alternative-fuel version that runs on clean natural gas,” Gold said describing the 2012 Civic. “And whichever Civic you choose, you’re virtually guaranteed years of trouble-free motoring.”

Before this About.com award, the 2012 Honda Civic has received a list of accolades that include being named Green Car of the Year (Civic Natural Gas), capturing Best Resale Value for a Compact Car by Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com, and earning a 2011 IIHS Top Safety Pick.

Reference: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Hybrid car is a new type of vehicle that runs on electricity (from a battery) and gasoline. It is created as an affordable and innovative way to help protect our environment and benefit from the increased fuel mileage.

A hybrid car has a small engine that is fuel efficient, which is combined with an electric motor that helps the engine when extra power is needed during acceleration. The electric motor gets its power from battery banks which continuously charge while you are driving.

Energy is conserved when you stop because the engine is shut off automatically. Then, when you apply gas, it automatically restarts.

The hybrid car also uses a more advanced aerodynamic lightweight body, and combines it with low roll resistant tires that are stiffer and narrower to help reduce drag.

A few years ago talk of hybrid cars had consumers stepping back unsure, but today hybrids offer a practical choice for consumers, and more and more consumers are jumping on board.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary Toyota Land Cruiser receives significant enhancement for the 2013 model year. Both exterior and interior designs are updated, and additionally many popular features that were formerly available as options but are now standard.

The 2013 Land Cruiser refreshed exterior design includes front grille and headlamps with HID low-beams, LED Daytime Running Lights, chrome side molding, redesigned outer side mirrors and tail lamps. The new grille and headlamps make Land Cruiser look steady and confident.

The updated interior design is available in either Sandstone or Black. New interior features include a Multi-terrain Monitor with front, side or rear selectable views, a new Multi-information Display, an Eco Driving Indicator light and zone display, a heated steering wheel, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, and an additional power outlet (DC 12V) at the rear of the center console.

Others enhancements to the Land Cruiser 2013 are the standard premium HDD Navigation system with Entune multi-media, new dynamic performance and safety features.