There’s hybrid. And there’s hybrid, the difference between the two being as startling as the difference between a crow and a canary. For every youngish, hip and green-tinted Prius driver, for every grey-tinged commuter driving a Civic Hybrid, there’s a guilt-laden, moneyed housewife cruising suburbia in a Lexus RX 400h. The Lexus saves gas and lowers emissions compared to what she would normally buy, which is a good thing – but not a great thing, like the savings you can get from the likes of the Prius and the Civic Hybrid.

It’s all about making the upper class feel good. Few things are as important as that, which makes the 2008 Lexus LS 600 hL, introduced at the 2006 New York International Auto Show, the most important car ever assembled.

Okay, hyperbole aside, it may well be one of the most fantastic cars ever built, an amazing machine that offers luxury buyers V12 performance with V8 fuel economy, a SULEV emissions rating and a slew of safety technology – including a driver-facing camera that monitors your facial ticks and orders you a latte – should you need a pick me up. It also detects when you’re not looking at the road ahead, and takes escalating steps to get your attention or save your life – whichever comes first.