Hi Goober,
You could try a Dahua HFW5231Z12, it's a bullet whose varifocal lens zooms to 65mm, I think. According to
IPVM Camera Calculator V3, you would get about 55 PPF at full zoom.
You *should* be able to determine the make/model of cars in the daytime with that camera.
If you have a LOT of light down at the end of your driveway shining on the road, you might be able to get make/model at night. Motion blur would be your enemy, you need a lot of light in order to use short/fast shutter speed. The camera's built-in LEDs would not help in this case, you would need lights installed all the way down at the road.
Is the road perpendicular to your driveway? If so, you definitely would not get plates, even in the daytime. If the road is oriented in such a way that the cars' plates are angled mostly toward your camera, then you *might* be able to get plates in the daytime.
Even if you can get plates in the daytime, you won't get them at night unless you use two different cameras, or unless you have a HUUUGE amount of light down by the road.
You would probably be better off with an EPOE camera (or 2) and bite the bullet and dig a trench out to the end of the driveway.