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With this year’s wallet-walloping rise in gas prices, enthusiasts, the general public, and the media have all been wringing their hands declaring the end of motoring as we know it. To absorb it all is to understand that soon we’ll all be sealed inside public transportation pods powered by moonbeams, to comprehend that the internal-combustion engine is issuing its death rattle, and to ponder welcoming the reinstitution of the double-nickel, as we don’t really need our bus parade going faster anyway. This, of course, is rubbish.

Just ask Europe, Japan, or in truth, most of the rest the industrialized world. $4/gallon gas will still accommodate a motoring majority, and carmakers can churn out just as many truly entertaining products as they did under $2.50 gas. We just have to realign our priorities and accept that both buying and operating a vehicle is going to be a more significant part of our budgets.

While it’s true that fewer of us will be able to justify driving around with V-8 soundtracks, I’m excited about finally having more small car choices in America—especially lightweight, entertaining ones. Winding Road has openly lusted after cars we don’t get in America, and many of our favorite Forbidden Fruits have skewed toward the small and affordable. Some of these very cars now look to be on the way.

While there’s no doubt that this Year of Fuel Reckoning will profoundly shape our vehicular offerings for decades to come, there are plenty of companies prospering in these changing times, and for different reasons.

THE BRITISH ARE COMING (BACK)

One part of the business that is enjoying a run of success is, oddly, the British auto industry. Yes, you could argue that the latter word cluster borders on oxymoronic, as the companies in question are all foreign-owned. But there’s no doubt that Britannia is cool once again, and this time, they’re making a profit while turning out some thoroughly wonderful automobiles.

BMW-owned Mini disproved the long-held notion that U.S. consumers won’t spend premium dollars on small cars—they just have to be the right cars. Mini’s sales have steadfastly bested projections since it first arrived in 2002, when gas prices were far less of a factor. It’s now sitting prettier than ever, with the new Clubman performing ahead of expectations and a soft-roader on the way.

We’ve documented Bentley’s successes in these pages before. The Volkswagen-owned concern currently has its most compelling product lineup in ages, and it’s churning more cars out with each and every passing year. It actually broke through 10,000 units worldwide in 2007, largely on the strength of its “entry-level” Continental range. That’s staggering growth from a company that barely shifted 1000 cars just four years earlier.

Admittedly, it’s too early to comment on Jaguar and Land Rover’s chances under their new masters at India’s Tata Motors. This bit of reverse-Colonialism at least has a good head start—the new Jag XF sedan—the best Leaping Cat in decades—has met with strong early sales. And Landie, too, is showing early signs of concocting a convincing green-aware image to go along with its off-road ability.

Aston Martin is also enjoying a Bentley-like growth curve. It began under the Ford Motor Company with a drive toward modern, quality platforms and gorgeous styling. In its bid for solvency, the Blue Oval divested Aston last March, selling it to a consortium led by a pair of investment firms, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment, the latter headed by Prodrive chair Dave Richards. Although it’s probably too soon to tell, Aston appears to be in very good hands. They unveiled a 29,000-square-foot design center in Gaydon last November and in June, they took home their second straight GT1 class victory at Le Mans and opened a Nürburgring test center. This, from a company that built forty-two cars in all of 1992.

I had the opportunity to sample Aston’s latest, the revamped V8 Vantage at the car’s North American launch in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, and I’m a believer. Neither the coupe nor the convertible’s gorgeous lines were ever in dispute, but I’ll admit I had my doubts about their performance. In truth, I hadn’t been behind the wheel of the previous Vantage, so I can’t thoughtfully comment on its progression, but colleagues had warned that the car it was replacing not terribly precise, being a bit soft-of-middle and not quite powerful enough. I can now say without reservation that the Vantage is a real corker.

I drove both a Sport Pack-equipped manual coupe, and a Sportshift convertible, and it’s hard to imagine needing more sport or luxury for the street. The 420-brake horsepower, 4.7-liter V-8 provides plenty of juice and noise without being unwieldy, and the real-world ride is class appropriate regardless of whether the more stiffly-sprung Sports Pack is fitted. There’s more than enough accoutrement and presence, too—this is a GT that can simultaneously satisfy gearheads, design geeks, and The Great Airbrushed.

It’s a crazy ride, this auto industry. If anyone had told me five years ago that I’d be looking at the UK as a beacon for anything in this business, I’d have accused them of inhaling too much smoke while tending to their Lucas Electrics.

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Magazine Issue: Winding Road Issue 37