Originally Posted By: julf
Quote:
If you want speed, then you want a real D-SLR.

Unfortunately I also want something small and cheap enough to have easily at hand in the car,

If your choice of car is indicative of your lifestyle in general, then perhaps I could recommend one of the Olympus cameras? Shock-proof, water-proof, crush-proof and freeze-proof. Controls are reasonable, picture quality is mostly adequate, and they have idiotic policies on storage media, but it lives up to its claim on toughness.