Spiky mullets, spandex-infused jeans for men and European carryalls: Just because it’s cool in Europe doesn’t mean it’s cool in the land of the free and the home of the bailout.

Increasingly stringent fuel economy standards, bumper height legislation, rollover protection requirements and, of course, the growing popularity of eco-friendly living have not killed the traditional big SUV – yet. In honor of these slowly dying big ‘uns, as Al Bundy might call them, we decided to take a look at Ford’s rugged Expedition King Ranch.

The Discovery has been a staple of Land Rover’s global lineup for about two decades now, but it has long suffered from two major downfalls – asthmatic powertrains and sub-par interiors. However, now in its fourth-generation – and appropriately re-named the LR4 for North American buyers – Land Rover has finally addressed these key issues, transforming the Disco into a truly luxurious off-road champ.

The look was unmistakable; in fact, it bordered on seething. Our 2010 Honda Insight had caught the eye of a Prius driver who cast an assuming glance, and by default, aspersions on our car of the week. A case of “green envy,” you say? She was peering at a car that looked surprising like hers, but in reality wasn’t quite the same.

Not long ago, when Americans indulged in luxuries, they toted themselves around in massive vehicles. But with time comes change, and with these uncertain times comes a change to smaller, more practical choices. Enter the 2010 Lincoln MKT: Lincoln’s newest seven-person luxury hauler crossover aimed at buyers stepping away from big SUVs like the Navigator.

Picture yourself hunkered down across the track from a silver Porsche Cayman S. The green flag drops and you sprint in a “LeMans start” the 35 feet across the tarmac to the waiting product of Zuffenhausen. Fling open the door, grab and turn the ignition key with our left hand, jump in, shift into gear and you’re off.

About to go into its fifth year without any serious updates, it might be easy to say that the Dodge Charger is getting a bit long in the tooth – but the best four-door Dodge in ages still impresses for the most part, as we learned during our recent evaluation of a Charger SXT AWD.

Less than a year after the successful introduction of the new, more sport-oriented 370Z coupe, Nissan, maker of the Fairlady Z, as it is known at home in Japan, decided to go topless by offering the 370Z Roadster for 2010.

The Mercedes-Benz Unimog is (and has always been), very simply, one of the most accomplished off-road machines ever built. From its strange wheel hubs to the design of its chassis, everything about its design is there to work.

Unquestionably the most highly-anticipated vehicle of the last five years – one that provides stellar performance and jaw-dropping looks at a price attainable for the masses – the Chevrolet Camaro was already immediate success for General Motors even before the first one was sold.

At first glance, it might appear as though Audi is taking a step backward with its less-powerful, less-expensive 2010 S4, but, really, the “third” German brand is finally living up to the tagline it recently dropped: Never follow.

Small pocket rockets like the 2010 Mazda Mazdaspeed3 get a bad rap from soccer moms in Suburbans – or at least they do when we’re behind the wheel. While blasting through some rather engaging twisties and avoiding horses, cows, sheep and old hippies just south of Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, we managed to encounter just one such concerned citizen.

There are few more obvious symbols of the conspicuous consumption that characterized the late ’90s and early 21st century than the Cadillac Escalade, but almost overnight, flash and excess gave way to eco-conscious minimalism. What’s an Escalade to do?

There are many memorable firsts in life. Your first kiss, first real job, the first time you drive a $150,000 supercar 100 mph down a very short back stretch and apply full brake 200 feet before a 90-degree right-hander. Wait… what?

Several years into his tenure as chief design executive for Jaguar Cars, Ian Callum continues to refine his vision of the leaper. Newly facelifted and featuring improved underhood motiviation for 2010, the Jaguar XK (now called Portfolio) continues onward, with improvements at all corners. From nose to tail, this cat is ready to pounce.

Few red-blooded Americans grew up without at least one Tonka truck gracing their toy box with its presence. These seemingly indestructible steel trucks were perfect for living out kid-size fantasies of high-speed desert romps, rock crawling and mud bogging. Most kids grew up, however, and are now living out their “rugged” fantasies behind the wheel of a crossover with all the mud credibility of a My Little Pony.

You would never take a Cadillac CTS off-roading. You would never use a Cadillac DTS to tow your 55-foot yacht. And you would certainly never, ever take the 2010 Cadillac SRX to a race track for some high-performance hot laps.

The four-door sedan has always been the red-headed stepchild to the halo-carrying coupes from virtually every car manufacturer in existence. Of course there have been exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, while the two-door model always gets the girl or guy in the end, the four-door seems to get a child safety seat as part of its package.

Thanks to a surprisingly sporty demeanor in a class where low-thrill point-a-to-point-b transportation is the norm, the first Mazda Mazda6 had the makings of a cult classic. Thus, it was with some trepidation that we accepted the keys to the redesigned 2009 model for a week’s romp. To say that the silver 2009 Mazda Mazda6 i Grand Touring had big shoes to fill is something of an understatement.

It’s a beautiful place, this state of Maine. The prospect of flying into Beantown for a quick week of rest and relaxation up north in not-quite “down east” Maine left us totally in the dark about what to expect when we arrived. The one constant for us would be driving in Audi’s new, 50-state-legal Q7 TDI.