High-tech safety gadgets in luxury cars have almost become the norm these days, but some especially thoughtful devices seem to rise above the din of automotive “bell and whistle-dom.” Enter Infiniti’s new parking assistant, the Around View Monitor (AVM). The name, though descriptive, is not that impressive. The application, however, is both simple and impressive. AVM consists of four tiny cameras cleverly embedded on all sides of the vehicle which, in this case, is the 2008 Infiniti EX due out this December.

Reaching far beyond the usefulness of rear-view cameras, this little device is mind-boggling in its application. There, clear as a bell on your navigation screen, is a “God’s eye view” of your (graphically illustrated) vehicle in real time alongside all the real stuff of life surrounding it  -- toys on the driveway, painted parking space lines, the curb, fire hydrants, those irritating concrete parking bumpers, poles in underground parking lots, pedestrians. Everything within a 360-degree area that extends just over six feet in each direction is captured and displayed for your parking and un-parking consideration.

Remember the Yugo, the AMC Pacer or the Chevy Chevette? These cars (among others) share the dubious distinction of abiding on Dan Neil's very personal and hilarious list of “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time.”

What did Dan think of the 1970 AMC Gremlin?

"Cheap and incredibly deprived — with vacuum-operated windshield wipers, no less — the Gremlin was also awful to drive, with a heavy six-cylinder motor and choppy, unhappy handling due to the loss of suspension travel in the back. The Gremlin was quicker than other subcompacts but, alas, that only meant you heard the jeers and laughter that much sooner."

Click here to read Dan's complete list of The 50 Worst Cars of All Time.