Defender is a classic British automotive nameplate from Land Rover with as much history as nearly any vehicle in existence. Stretching back all the way to 1948, when it was first introduced as the “Series 1” as a Jeep-inspired vehicle, this tough customer has seen a seven-decade run and gone through a handful of redesigns (with the Defender name coming into play starting in 1990). More than 2 million of these vehicles have been sold worldwide between all of its renditions over those seven decades.

For the 2020 model year, after a few years dormant (and not being sold in the U.S. since the 1990s), a newly remodeled version of the Defender returned to the world automotive stage to much fanfare, and that excitement continues into 2021. I recently tested the latest incarnation of the Defender and I’m back with a full report of how this classic vehicle contends in today’s automotive landscape.

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First let me just say that for a rugged and off-road capable vehicle, the Land Rover Defender is a beautiful vehicle that will catch your eye and looks like nothing else on the road.

The exterior design is squared off and tall (with up to 11.5 inches of ground clearance). The Defender shares limited similarity to a Jeep design, with the added bonus of being much more attractive. Two-door and four-door versions of the Defender are offered.

While the bulk of Toyota’s sales come from the smaller end of the lineup (its Camry and Corolla sedans, plus the RAV4 crossover), they also have some strong offerings at the larger end of the vehicle spectrum.

The high-end and massive Toyota Land Cruiser sits atop the brand’s vehicle chain, but lurking just below it is another offering that can also handle itself well off-road and in all weather conditions, and at a more affordable price — the Toyota Sequoia.

I recently drove a Toyota Sequoia, and I’m back with a full report (Note: I drove a 2020 model year Sequoia, but there are only minimal changes for 2021)

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The best way to describe the Sequoia’s design is to say that it looks like a tank. It’s tall, bold and in your face, and even longer than the Land Cruiser at 205.1 inches (17.1 feet) long. Ground clearance is an impressive 10 inches, allowing for better off-road performance.

When you are in the Sequoia, you are sitting up high and looking down at the world around you on the roadways. Even most SUVs look small from this vantage point.

While the charge toward electrification of the vehicles we buy continues, some brands are taking the challenge more seriously than others.

Among the brands most dedicated to this incoming change, and leading the charge (no pun intended), is Volvo. The company has a lofty goal of having fully electric vehicles comprising 50 percent of its sales by 2025, and already offers all of its new models in some form of hybrid or electric model.

Volvo has the difficult task of maintaining the strong driving experience that Volvos tend to offer, while adapting to this new eco-friendly environment. I recently tested a 2021 Volvo XC60 Recharge, the plug-in hybrid version of their mid-size SUV, and I’m back with a full report on whether it lives up to these expectations.

In today’s automotive world, a vehicle like the Toyota Land Cruiser truly stands out, as it’s among the last of a dying breed, and that breed is high-priced, extra large body-on-frame SUVs.

The Land Cruiser has been around for seven full decades, starting in 1951 as Toyota’s version of a Jeep-style, off-road vehicle. Over the years it has retained that off-road ability while evolving into perhaps the classiest vehicle offered by Toyota.

What’s unique about the Land Cruiser is Toyota finds itself competing against both non-luxury vehicles (Ford Expedition, Chevy Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Nissan Armada, and Toyota’s own Sequoia), as well as luxury vehicles such as the Lincoln Navigator, Lexus LX, Infiniti QX80 and Cadillac Escalade.

After some time spent behind the wheel of a 2020 Land Cruiser (which is essentially identical to the 2021 version), I’m back with a full report.

Finding an SUV that offers a truly enjoyable driving experience is harder than you might think. Too often, in the process of improving other areas of the vehicle, the drive quality becomes a neglected area on many of the top-selling SUVs.

The good news is that some companies, such as Mazda, don’t go that route. They recognize that people want to enjoy their drive time and offer a vehicle that allows people to do so.

For 2021, the CX-5 retains this feature, which separates it from the competition in the compact SUV category, while also improving its technology offerings by adding a new standard 10.25-inch center display as part of Mazda’s infotainment system.

I recently tested a 2021 CX-5 and I’m back with a full report.