Prius, the most sophisticated car on the road?

When is a hybrid really a hybrid? Is it the electric motor coupled by the gas engine or is it the whole package, a car designed to be a hybrid? I drove a Camry hybrid last October on a business trip. It seemed ok except I had to put my luggage in the back seat because the trunk was so small. The Civic hybrid looks nice..but is it designed aerodynamically like the Prius...and does it sacrifice space like the Camry to accommodate the hybrid technology? I see the brain trust at GM are putting the first generation hybrid technology on gas guzzling trucks so they get 17 mpg instead of 14 mpg. I see $100K german vehicles that are beautiful but still saddled with fossil fuel technology only...really smart money says the 22-30k Prius is really the most expensive car on the road...a car built as a hybrid with the millions of dollars of technology and experience and support built into it....and from these postings, the future looks brighter and brighter for this car in wake of a major oil crisis looming in the future.
Oh, is there any tangible differences between the Prius touring model and the base model...beside the $1000.00 increase?

 

I meant tangible differences between the Touring and base Prius model? I drove both but now I wish I would have put them both through an obstacle course.....I guess I meant they feel the same driving ....oh , it only takes a large suitcase and some fairly big presents for family members to shrink the Camry hybrid trunk