When it comes to full size pickups, three words have dominated headlines over the last six months: Toyota, Toyota, Toyota. Can the Tundra penetrate the Big 2.5’s final sanctuary? Who will crumble first, GM or Ford? It’s made in Texas! Yada, yada. But Toyota’s not the only American-made foreign brand playing in the full-size pickup truck sandbox. Nissan was here first and they’re not going away. So can this Mississippi Titan play ball or is it destined to remain a third-string niche player?

After Rick Wagoner “woke up” to the news that Toyota had replaced General Motors as the world’s largest automaker, GM’s CEO fired-off a post-Empire email to his execs. Rabid Rick admonished The General’s generals to stay focused on “further reducing our still huge health care cost disadvantage versus Toyota and other non-U.S. based manufacturers.” So Mr. Wagoner’s major dodos must sell the union on a “huge” health care cutback at the same time that regulatory filings reveal that the boss pulled down $10.2m in fiscal ’06 and just received a $370k increase to his base pay for '07 (regardless of results). Good luck with that.

In my early twenties, I went through jobs like a teenage girl trying on clothes at Abercrombie & Fitch: truck driver, actor, gardener, cook, bus driver, bicycle mechanic, painter. And that was just in the sales rack. My ADD extended to a seemingly endless succession of girlfriends. In fact, the only continuity in my life was my VW bug, a slow and steady anchor in those turbulent times.

In 2001, Land Rover parachuted their not-so-cute ute across the pond. The Freelander landed with a splat. Gas was cheap and XXL SUV's dominated the landscape. What's more (or less), the 174 horse Freelander was technologically quaint, reliability challenged and forgot to show up for its federal crash test. And so Land Rover has redeployed the second-generation Freelander, the forgettably-named LR2, into the American market. This time, sales of big SUVs are in the toilet, there's a burgeoning compact SUV market and Land Rover's traditional entryway, the LR3 (nee Discovery), now costs a lofty $45k+.

In 1997, Kiwi film director Lee Tamahori brought playwright David Mamet’s words to the silver screen in an Alec Baldwin/Anthony Hopkins vehicle called The Edge. Ten years later and David Mamet lensed an ad campaign for a crossover utility vehicle by the same name. Mamet’s trademark dialogue takes center stage, pitting the Blue Oval’s most important cute-ute against the upscale competition from Germany (BMW X5) for speed and Japan (Lexus RX350) for quietness. Does Mamet’s champion edge out its pricier rivals? Duh.

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway holding group, is the world’s second-richest human. Buffett’s no stranger to the transportation sector, having mopped up profits with Geico, Forest River (RV’s), McLane Company (foodstuff distribution) and the XTRA Corporation (semi-trailer renting and leasing). Berkshire Hathaway recently took a ten percent stake in the railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Warren Buffett’s seen the future.  

In 1996, the Toyota Camry was about to become America’s best-selling car. To protect the Taurus’ five year reign, Ford ramped up sales to Hertz Rental Car. The strategy worked– for a year. Despite the catastrophic effect on the Taurus’ resale value and image, despite selling off Hertz, Ford still relies on fleets to maintain economies of scale. As do the rest of The Big 2.5, who use fleet sales to mop up extra production, earn new money for old rope and blow out their sales stats. While Detroit knows fleet sales are slow motion suicide, their moves to curtail the practice are not as convincing as they could– or should– be.

When the BMW dealer handed me the plastic fob, he insisted I drive the 335i Convertible with the top down. Despite the cool, foggy San Francisco weather, I held the plipper’s unlock button down and watched the show. As the hardtop began its elaborate three part dance into the trunk, I felt that old familiar flutter. The feeling was born when I started driving lessons in my Dad’s 1963 Chevrolet Impala rag top, survived my first car (a 1962 VW Beetle convertible) and lead to my current stable of drop tops. Would the 335i live up to its predecessors?

“Our goal has never been to sell the most cars in the world.” For those who’ve been following GM’s fall from grace, this statement– following the revelation that GM has ceded its "world’s largest automaker" title to Toyota– probably comes as no surprise. Or maybe it does, because it arrived via Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco. Or maybe it doesn’t. Toyota achieved this monumental victory by focusing on a process that led to a goal; whereas GM has been all about the money, for quite some time. And therein lies the tale.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s current Federal Test Procedure (FTP) for city mileage was originally designed to represent a typical trip on Los Angeles streets. The test– codenamed FTP-72– begins with a cold start from 70 degrees. It then runs for 7.5 miles at an average of 19.6 mph, with a peak speed of 56.7 mph (from a short freeway segment). The EPA Highway Fuel Economy Test (HWFET) starts with a warm engine, runs for 10.26 miles, averages 48.3 mph, and peaks at around 60 mph. Does anyone in the real world drive like that?

So here we are, trying to convince American motorists to abandon their SUV’s for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, to do their bit to reduce global warming and eliminate the need for messy military entanglements. And along comes a scientific study from a reputable independent organization that concludes that you’re safer in an SUV than a passenger car. Nuts.

In an era where Explorers are MIA and Expeditions can't make it out of base camp, Ford's cute ute is a mission-critical machine. If Ford's going to Escape its financial woes, their compact SUV has to at least keep the lights on. To find out if the new Ford Escape is "the end to boredom" (as the website proclaims) or simply "the end of the line," I ran America's most popular softroader up the Adirondacks, down the interstate, into Manhattan traffic and ‘round the ‘burbs.

They were both gorgeous, in that all-American wholesome, sexy, energetic way. Voluptuous, but athletic. Heartland traditional, but ready for a good time. Exhilarating and accelerative. And they were both mine to do with as I pleased. So why was I, a healthy young man, having a problem?

When Car Czar Bob Lutz told the world that GM was putting the Zeta platform on hold, it was the second time the rear-wheel drive (RWD) program had been chopped. Two years ago, GM killed Zeta for being too pricey. Less than half a year later, the RWD program was resurrected; working with GM’s Holden division supposedly made it feasible. When Bob announced GM had second thoughts about its second thoughts, he blamed the double volte-face on government fuel economy and emissions legislation. In fact, there’s both less and more to this decision than meets the eye. 

Saab may have been "Born from Jets," but there's little about the brand's current offerings that you'd call state-of-the-art. The 9-3 has changed little since its ‘03 introduction. The 9-7X dates back to the ‘02 Chevy TrailBlazer. And the 9-5 has been stuck in holding pattern since ‘98. I recently tested a 9-5 to see if the quirky car lives up to its high tech brand proposition. My range-topping tester's trim designation: "Aero." That pounding sound you hear is GM's marketers driving home the high-altitude hype.