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Some say it all began 10 years ago with the return of the hyperdelicious Mini Cooper, what with its lethal combo of insanely cute yet stylishly cool yet "Oh my God this thing handles like a go kart on rails."

Here's the good news: while small, stylish, efficient cars from every major automaker are racing back into vogue, these are not the tiny, tinny piece-of-crap econo-boxes of yore -- not all of them, anyway. Many of these cars look to be surprisingly refined, cool and quirky creations, made with actual thought put into their handling, their form, their feel and curve and line, not just how many squeaky, spine-jarring miles you can eke out from a $3 gallon of Satan's blood.

That's what they all said, especially about the hot little Cooper S, which was/is some sort of serotonin-jacked, slot-car chunk of retro nirvana, a vehicle that, when it first hit, instantly made all those hulking Hummers, Escalades and Suburbans lurching about back then look like herds of slothful, distended elephants lost in a maze.

(BTW, word has it that Alfa Romeo, currently home of the sexiest car in the entire known galaxy -- the Brera -- is still weighing its possible full return to the States with its gorgeous MiTo and Giulietta models, but is waiting to see if Fiat sells as well as hoped. Let us pray).

Whatever the exact reason, we are now entering into the absolutely fantastic throes of an automotive renaissance, a surge of unprecedented small-car gloriousness, a wave that's set to crash all over the shores of U.S. in the coming year or two -- which of course means it's about 20 years overdue, but who's counting?

After such a seemingly endless glut of wasteful SUV bloat, it's delightful to report that America will soon see the white-hot Fiat 500, a smash hit in Europe that threatens to out-wink the Mini. There will (hopefully) be the Audi A1, a truly premium small car in a land almost entirely devoid of such bizarre and wonderful creations.

So significant and overwhelming is the small car resurgence, even the jaded car dudes at The Detroit News are a bit worried there might soon be too many small cars for stunned and confused American buyers to choose from. What a thing.

There will be the Mazda 2 and the Honda CR-Z, a sporty hybrid coupe that moved so fast from concept to production it made Toyota executives' heads spin. Hell, even the cheap-looking microcars -- the Smart and the Toyota iQ, contain genuine design innovations and a dash of style. And don't forget the electrics: Nissan is anticipating 20,000 pre-orders for the all-electric Leaf when it goes on sale this spring. And Toyota might crank out the cool little hybrid FT-CH of its own, the hipper sibling of the dowdy Prius. Weird.

U.S. automakers are wheezing as they try to catch up: Ford is most nimble, ready with its Euro-hit Fiesta, a horribly named but surprisingly stylish hot hatch that's already won design awards the world over and into which Ford is pumping about a zillion dollars to make it a global icon. Hell, even lumpy ol' Chevy was apparently able to redesign the awful, Korean-built Aveo and make it look sort of hot. Who knew?

So, the big question: Should you give a damn? Should you be excited about any of it, especially if you're not much of a car person? It seems like you should.

If that's not enough, just look over here. It's called the Granite. Will it actually be built? Why, is that a wild little concept car from ... It would appear so. It actually won best concept vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show. Who cares? Will it totally suck? GMC? The famously thick-necked, brick-eating, meat-sucking "We Are Professional Grade" truck dudes? The fact they're even tossing out such an idea with a straight face is astonishing enough.

But that's not quite true. It really started with the wallet-stabbing spike in gas prices a few years back, which just so happened to coincide with a looming global economic meltdown, which itself hooked directly into a long-overdue American auto industry implosion -- crushed under the dumb weight of all those selfsame distended elephants -- the result of the realization that Americans don't actually need giant five-ton vehicles that can't stop or maneuver and get 11 mpg, downhill.

And, of course, the one that started it all: Not one to sit on its savvy German butt and watch the rest of the industry eat its retro-cool lunch, BMW will be introducing upwards of four new Mini variants in the coming couple of years: a jacked-up 4WD crossover CUV, a roadster, a speedster and a special edition pocket vibrator wrapped in bacon that whips up a pitcher of margaritas while you drive, called the Mini Multigasm. Hell, why not?

Here's why: firstly, this whole "small & refined" thing is foreign as hell for loping, gluttonous America. That's for Eurosnobs and metrosexuals. Giant egos. Give me the XXL triple meat pizza with the liquid cheese crust and the free pound of breadsticks, then inject it straight into my left coronary artery as I pass through the drive-thru in my blinged-out Expedition XL on my way to the tailgate party. What about style, sophistication and a touch of simple humility? We've always equated size with value, and bigger equals better. Giant athletes, giant pay scales and a giant God who can out-god your god. Giant food. Giant colons. Giant homes. Thanks.

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