By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

(June 17, 2020) More and more buyers seem to be opting for luxury SUVs and crossovers or the most opulent versions of mainstream vehicles. For that reason, Ford has felt the necessity of bringing back the King Ranch version of the Expedition that has been missing from the lineup since 2015. King Ranch has continued to be offered on the F-150 pickup, and the lavishly outfitted King Ranch now rides just below the Platinum edition and above the Limited in the 2020 Expedition lineup.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

During the last half of the 20th Century a famous Ford slogan was "Ford has a better idea," which included a lightbulb as a visual image. It lived up to that mantra several times with the upscale two-seat Thunderbird in the mid-50s, the Ranchero car-based pickup in 1957, and the iconic Mustang in the mid-60s. Another "lightbulb moment" was the Explorer, a four-door compact family SUV introduced in 1990 as a 1991 model.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The Ford Escape has been one of the best-selling sport utility vehicles in the country since its introduction in 2000 as a 2001 model. It moved away from the bigger body-on-frame SUV that dominated the market at the turn of the century with smaller car-based unibody construction to compete with such relatively new models as the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We secured a 2019 Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab mainly to test the prodigious 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 diesel engine. It came in a luxurious Limited top-trim package that left us at the outset concentrating more on the elegant interior than Ford's diesel setup with its 3,760-pound payload capability and 21,000-pound conventional towing capacity.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The iconic Mustang is the last car standing at Ford Motor Company as the entire fleet of coupe and sedans has been terminated in the U.S. in favor of the current popular flavor — crossover/SUV and light truck. Lucky for Mustang fans — and sports car enthusiasts — the current pony car is enjoying worldwide success or it might have been on the chopping block as well.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Probably one of Ford's most debatable decisions of the 21st Century was to ax the aging Ford Ranger in 2011 — for many years a compact/mid-sized pickup truck leader — instead of building an all-new version. It left General Motors a clear playing field when it introduced all-new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-sizers that were far advanced from previous models.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

With sedans and coupes all but gone from the Ford lineup — Mustang being the lone exception — Ford's performance team has no choice but to work their magic on SUVs, crossovers and trucks. Meet the 2019 Ford Edge ST, which replaces the Sport in the Edge lineup, and becomes the first ST-tuned Ford crossover. This is one very fast — for a mainstream crossover — vehicle, but it falls short if you are looking for a true replacement for ST-tuned cars.