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The Bottom Line: While working as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit, Henry Ford built his first gasoline powered horseless carriage. At around 4:00 a.m. on June 4, 1896, in the shed behind his home on Bagley Avenue in Detroit, Henry Ford unveils the “Quadricycle,” the first automobile he ever designed, or drove. On June 16, 1903 he established the Ford Motor Company, and five years later the company rolled out the first Ford Model T.

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2020 Ford Expedition 4x2 Platinum Edition

The Bottom Line: Now that your ship has come in, and you are ready to buy a full size Luxury Yacht sized SUV, Nissan has the one you have been looking for. Meet the 2020 Nissan Armada. This a full size, 3 row, body on frame, V/8 powered, large SUV that can seat 8 and tow 8,500 pounds. The Armada competes with the Chevrolet Suburban, Ford Expedition, Toyota Land Cruiser and similar large SUV's. The biggest change for 2020 is the addition of a new 22" Wheel Package with 22 x 8 inch 14 spoke forged aluminum alloy wheels and 275/50R 22" all season tires, and heated outside mirrors are now standard on all model levels.

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2020 Nissan Armada Platinum Reserve Edition

The 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Review: Putting a 707-horsepower engine in a street legal car is crazy enough. Now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has gone off the charts insane by cramming the supercharged Hellcat V8 under the hood of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, creating one of the strangest and most exciting Frankenstein SUVs the world has ever seen It’s called the Trackhawk, and it’s hard to believe a vehicle like this even exists. It does, though, and I just spent a week driving one in its powerful, wonderful, illogical glory.

The 2018 Toyota Sequoia 4X4 TRD Sport Review: The Toyota Sequoia is designed for people who need real SUV capability, not just the look. While America’s highways appear more like Jeep fan conferences every year as boxy, tough-looking crossover vehicles replace four-door sedans, in reality, very few of these newcomers, even the roomiest ones, can do what a Sequoia can. That gives this tall Sequoia major advantages but equally important drawbacks. The high points: Its tough-as-nails, body-on-frame design makes it a serious beast on trails, with ample ground clearance, torque from the engine and grip from its optional four-wheel-drive system.

The 2018 Infiniti QX80 Review: Infiniti’s gigantic, smooth-riding SUV, the QX80, gets a new look that makes it slightly less polarizing this year. Long defined by its love-it-or-hate-it snub nose, Infiniti is hoping refreshed styling will move the QX80 into the “love” column for more buyers. The hood is longer and higher now, giving it a more upright, truck-like look, and its previously rotund curves have been replaced by gentle, sleek creases. Its overall look is more contemporary now. Still, you don’t have to look hard to see within those pretty new lines echoes of its close corporate relative, the Nissan Armada. And that raises the chief question about the biggest Infiniti: is it worth the premium over its Nissan cousin?

The 2017 Nissan Armada Platinum Edition Review: In recent years, the Infiniti QX80 has topped my list of dream SUVs for road trips. It’s so spacious, so quiet and so sumptuously smooth that it makes a Cadillac Escalade shod with 22-inch wheels feel like a dump truck in comparison, so I can’t think of any SUV I’d rather drive on the highway. The QX80 is just that good, assuming you want an old-school, cotton-candy luxury ride like I do. Well, now the big Infiniti has some fresh competition from its corporate cousins at Nissan. The new 2017 Nissan Armada rides on the same platform, drives with almost the same panache and even shares much of the same styling with the QX80, all while starting at a dramatically lower price.

The 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk Review: At a time when American roadways seem to be overflowing with crossover vehicles, ones that visually project toughness without actually being SUVs, it’s refreshing to drive one with some authenticity. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is nothing if not authentic. This is a vehicle that has always offered a breadth of capability that few can match. It’s clearly a luxury vehicle with creature comforts and buttery smoothness for drivers who want to pamper themselves in a leather and wood cocoon.

The 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 Hybrid Review: The Volvo XC90 is a handsome, luxurious, comfortable, fuel efficient, and expensive large crossover. All brand new, it’s a huge step forward for the Chinese-owned Swedish brand. The old model, which was based on former owner Ford’s platform, is replaced by an all-new Scalable Product Architecture, which allows Volvo to build multiple cars off of the same structure, saving development time and expense.

The 2016 Lincoln MKX Black Label Review: To me, the new 2016 MKX feels like a turning point for Lincoln, taking the brand to a place it hasn’t been for years. I’ve always thought Lincoln, at least recently, doesn’t fight hard enough at the top of the market where all the world’s great luxury vehicles struggle for dominance, in that rarefied air where prices regularly top $70 grand. Yet here I am driving the all-new MKX for 2016, and it doesn’t just feel like it’s good for the money or good for an American luxury car. For the first time in a long time, it feels like a vehicle that I might actually buy over a top-of-the-line, extremely pricey BMW, Mercedes or Lexus. That’s a very bold statement, but hear me out.

The 2015 Lincoln Navigator L Review: A gigantic Lincoln Navigator with a V6 engine? I couldn’t have imagined it a few years ago, but I find myself sitting in one today. While the Navigator has always come with a big, unabashedly thirsty V8 before now, Lincoln decided to drop the eight-cylinder engine in favor of one that’s more in tune with the times: a twin-turbocharged, 3.5-liter V6 for 2015.

The 2015 Cadillac Escalade Review: Caddy’s giant SUV gets a makeover, but is it in tune with the times? While it may not sell in the same numbers it did when Lehman Brothers was still around, the Cadillac Escalade remains the go-to choice for people who like their luxury big and brash. And now, after a complete redesign for 2015, it’s doubling down on that formula.

Hybrid SUV Review: When you think of hybrids, you probably imagine dorky little wedge-shaped cars that look like they belong in a bad science fiction movie. But not all hybrids are like that. This week I drove a hybrid that can tow 6,200 pounds with a massive, 6.0-liter V8 engine. And, oh yeah, it's a huge SUV.

Infiniti Review: The new Infiniti FX looks and feels different from other luxury SUVs, opting for a more polarizing body style and a high-tech cabin.

Hybrid Review: Cadillac�s Escalade has been a big success for the brand. It takes the full-size SUV platform it shares with Chevrolet and GMC and loads in luxury features and then throws in some Cadillac styling and plenty of big chrome logos and presto! The King of Bling is now the Hybrid King of Bling!

SUV REVIEW: The seven-passenger Audi Q7 has the rock solid feeling of a German luxury car plus Audi is known for making some of the best automotive interiors on the market today. While it's not quite up to the same standards as the phenomenal Audi A8 sedan, the Q7 still has one of the nicest cabins of any luxury SUV.

SUV REVIEW: Is this thing a hybrid? The Yukon Hybrid leaves no doubts about its gas-electric drive train thanks to the Hybrid stickers and logos peppered all over this new hybrid SUV.

SUV REVIEW: The GMC Yukon XL Denali has a body that seems to go on for miles. It's more than 18 feet long, or bigger than many bedrooms.

San Francisco: It's really amazing that some vehicles ever leave the drawing board. Sitting atop Ford's SUV heap today is the Expedition EL, a stretched-out version of the Expedition that would have been a wonderful SUV 10 years ago

San Francisco: If you think your job is boring, consider what it must be like working for the Swedish military. It wouldn�t have been so dull back in the 80�s because Sweden had an unspoken enemy, that big red bear to the east.

San Francisco: Credit the Cadillac Escalade for much of the General Motors division�s growth in the 21st Century. Not long ago, the division, once the Standard of the World, was attracting mostly traditional well-heeled retirees. Sales dropped as this buyer group, well, diminished, and Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and others nibbled away at the market.

San Francisco: Not content to be left out of the luxury SUV market, Audi introduced its Q7 for 2007 with everything short of the proverbial kitchen sink. There is certainly room for one; it�s just not on the order sheet. At nearly 17 feet long and about 5,400 pounds, this Audi takes up plenty of driveway.

San Francisco: Here's what you'd get if a five-star general went on "Pimp My Ride." It's the Hummer H2, a smaller, civilized version of the military machine that chases third-world dictators.

San Francisco: Based on the same platform as Nissan�s Titan pickup truck, the huge Infiniti QX56 offers luxury on a grand scale with room for eight people and lots of standard amenities. Leather seats, a navigation system and a rear-view camera are just a few of the luxuries that come standard on Infiniti�s QX56.

San Francisco: When Mercedes Benz leaped into the American sport utility market back in 1997, they modeled their new ML series on the popular SUVs of the day, such as the Ford Explorer. They even built a brand-new assembly plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Over the years, more than half a million units have rolled out of that factory, about half of them exported out of the U.S.

San Francisco: The big news at Jeep this year is the largest Jeep of all, the brand new Commander. Loaded with traditional design cues and Trail Rated offroad virtues, it offers something no Jeep has provided before, a third row seat.

San Francisco: A sensuous, curvy front end makes the 2006 Navigator fit in with the rest of Lincoln's high-class lineup. Power deployable running boards are a flashy option, as they disappear under the body after the doors are closed for a clean, uncluttered look.

San Francisco: Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. There are the imaginary ones under the bed (they aren�t really there, right?). Then you have the cute ones recently featured in myriad animated movies. Then there are the monsters of the road, the tractor-trailers traveling the highways of America, and now the land yachts of this generation, the mighty SUV.

San Francisco: A few weeks ago the General Motors OnStar media rep called and offered me a new GM vehicle to road test with the OnStar communications system fully activated. Of course I said, sure send it over, and I�ll let you know what I think about it. So in rolls a 2005 Hummer H2 SUT, a Sport Utility Truck model with a pickup bed in the back. OK, do they really think this thing is gonna get stuck in the mud and need a tow? Well, of course not. GM�s OnStar system can do a lot more that call a tow truck.