The Toyota Land Cruiser, a pinnacle of toughness in the U.S. for 60 years, will be discontinued at the end of the 2021 model year.

That the end of the line for the Land Cruiser is that imminent was confirmed in phone conversations with Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America, and Scott Vazin, group vice president and chief communications officer.

For a farewell in its final year, I drove a 381-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8-equipped 2021 Land Cruiser Heritage Edition. The old-style SUV of rigid body-on-frame structure uses taut suspension – independent front with solid rear axle and coil springs. Its third-row seats, rather than tumble into the floor, are folded up at each side of the rear cargo area.

Development of the Land Cruiser began in early days of the Korean War, when American forces occupying Japan required additional heavy-duty vehicles to supplement their Jeeps. Toyota created a prototype known as Toyota Jeep BJ. The U.S. team went with another design, but Toyota continued to improve its vehicle, renamed it Land Cruiser, and the rest is history.

Toyota introduced its Land Cruiser to the U.S. shores in the late 1950s. It became a strong seller among SUVs for many years, competing with Jeeps and Range Rovers for “toughest” honors. With not a lot of modernization (the present generation dates back to 2008), sales began slipping as prices continued to rise.

Only 3,147 Land Cruisers were sold in 2020.  Farmers, ranchers and outdoor equipment representatives are primary customers of the big vehicle.

Sticker price on the review model I drove climbed just past $90,000. There are luxury utes cheaper.

We drove the Land Cruiser out east into Morgan County and past small towns of Orchard, Goodrich and Weldona, before turning back and stopping at Jackson Lake State Park. We enjoyed a visit with Luke Stucker, senior ranger for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife at Jackson.

With 8-speed automatic transmission, the near-6,000-pounder cruises easily the 65- and 75-miles-per-hour highways and is equipped with full-time four-wheel drive for offroad detours. It rides on BBS alloy wheels and Dunlop Grandtrek 285/60R18 tires. In 4Lo range and crawl mode, the Land Cruiser will slowly move over or around most any ground obstruction.  

The Land Cruiser’s overall fuel mileage of 15.6 fell near the middle of its EPA estimate (13/17).

With its third-row seats folded, the Toyota’s cargo area expands to 41.4 cubic feet. The rear liftgate can be fully opened or may be split, with only the upper portion being lifted.

Among other features for the final Land Cruiser are perforated leather seats, an inclinometer (angles of slope), a roof basket, navigation and JBL audio system with 14 speakers, subwoofer and amplifier, precollision system with pedestrian detection.

Final price on the Land Cruiser is $90,089. It is built in Aichi, Japan.

As far back as I can remember, GMC has offered the most comfortable ride among the auto industry’s full-sized SUVs.

Following a week with the 2021 GMC Yukon AT4 four-wheel drive, I’d say it continues to hold that distinction.  It offers a smooth ride, good acceleration, easy in-and-out and roomy interior.

The Yukon competes against its sister sibling the Chevy Tahoe, Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada and Toyota Sequoia.

New to the Yukon for ’21 is the AT4 trim level, just below Denali in price and equipment. It adds a  two-speed transfer case and limited-slip differential for offroading and a long list of amenities.

Bill and Kathy Allen joined Jan and me in the Yukon for a post-Christmas drive to Sterling to visit Dave and Norma Wagner (my sister).

Norma and Dave were traveling partners with Jan and me for 20 years or more.

We did the Alaska cruise, preceded by a land tour to Denali, and among other Far North highlights, as far as I was concerned, was finding a Starbucks at Skagway.

We later flew to Mexico, enjoyed the Mayan Ruins in addition to all the water-and-sun fun. We visited Orlando, where we drove a Kia Sorento; traveled to Branson in an Acura, came home from Seattle in an Oldsmobile Silhouette, toured the Santa Fe and Taos areas in a Lincoln LS.

We enjoyed Phoenix and Houston and numerous other shorter destinations.

Driving to Sterling and visiting with them stirs memories of those bygone days. Jana Lock stopped by while we were there.

The Yukon, like the Expedition, Armada and Sequoia, isn’t known for relatively high fuel mileage, though aided by the 200-mile roundtrip, averaged 18 miles per gallon overall for a week. The run down there and back posted a 19.6 reading.

While GMC offers a 6.2-liter V-8 for the Yukon, the AT4 trim uses the 5.3 V-8 with 355 horsepower, 383 lb.-ft. of torque, and tied to a quick-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission. An air suspension lowers the vehicle when parked for easier departure, then raises to ride height when placed in gear.

The AT4 Premium Plus package, at an additional cost of $9,145, includes dual-pane sunroof, power-retractable assist steps, air-ride adaptive suspension, trailering system with brake controller and hitch view, surround vision, head-up display, 10.2-inch color touchscreen with navigation/Bluetooth/wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rear-seat media system.

The well-equipped Yukon offers standard items, such as magnetic ride control, automatic stop/start engine, 20-inch aluminum wheels with all-terrain tires, perforated leather seating with heated and ventilated front buckets and heated steering wheel.

Safety standards include lane-keep assist with departure warning, automatic emergency braking, forward-collision alert, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear park assist and automatic high beams.

Pricing of 4WD Yukons begins around $55,000; sticker price on the AT4 review model reached $75,455. It is built in Arlington, Texas. An extended-length Yukon XL is available also.

“Merry Christmas” was my 2020 holiday greeting from the open window of the 2021 Mazda CX-5 Signature all-wheel-drive edition.

The message was muffled somewhat by the mask on my face, adhering to suggested practice in the face of the severe pandemic of the past nine or 10 months.

Finished in snowflake white pearl, the Mazda fit perfectly into the winter holiday scene.

The CX-5 holds its own in one of the most competitive fields in the automotive industry, the crowded compact sport utility division. In fact, it is considered one of the best.

One of the rating agencies I follow placed it second-best among top five compacts with Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, Ford Escape and Nissan Rogue.

The well-equipped Signature trim level model provided for my testing performed and handled exceptionally well with the optional 227-horsepower, turbocharged 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine and 6-speed automatic transmission. Moving it into sport mode sharpens responses and eliminates any hint of understeer. It rides on Toyo P225/55R19 tires.

The CX-5’s overall length of 179 inches is 3 inches shorter than the Honda CR-5 and an inch less than the Ford Escape. When it comes to measuring cargo space, Mazda’s 30.9 cubic feet behind the rear seat is noticeably smaller than Honda’s 39 or Ford’s 37.

A couple of highway drives helped the CX-5 to an overall fuel mileage average of 24.9 miles per gallon; its EPA estimate is 22-27.  Base engine for the Mazda compact is a 187-hp, 2.0-liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder, which is rated at 24/30 mpg.

An interior highlight is a 10.25-inch touchscreen serving navigation, 10-speaker Bose audio, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

While pricing of the lower-level Mazda CX-5 Sport with all-wheel drive begins at a bit under $28,000, the loaded Signature AWD review model was sticker-priced at $39,025, including heated and cooled Nappa leather-trimmed front seats and heated steering wheel.

A lengthy list of items also shows power rear liftgate, power moonroof, rain-sensing windshield wipers and paddleshifters. Included among safety features are lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist, forward automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert and pedestrian detection.

The CX-5, built in Hiroshima, Japan, became a part of the Mazda lineup when introduced in 2012 as a ’13 model. It quickly soared to the top in Mazda sales. It is the brand’s runaway leader, almost tripling sales in 2019 over Mazda3, the runnerup.

Nissan unveiled the 2021 version of its full-sized SUV, the Armada, in a 12-minute virtual presentation one morning in December 2020, a month before it was to go on sale.

Twenty minutes after the online showing, a noise in my driveway caught my attention – being parked there was one of the new Armadas brought to me for review.

A wider grille and new logo separate classy LED headlamps, though most prominent on the prototype 4X4 brought my way is a big, strong look from a Midnight Edition black finish. The grille is painted black, there are black exterior logos, black-painted roof rails and black front and rear skid plates.

Brightening the interior, which has black leather seats and headliner, is a redesigned center stack with 12.3-inch touchscreen color display featuring Wi-Fi, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and wireless smartphone charging. A 13-speaker Bose audio sound system, around-view monitor and moonroof are among other features.

In the second row are optional captain’s chairs with center console; behind the third row of seats is 16.5 cubic feet of cargo space.

The 5.6-liter Endurance V-8 engine has been boosted to 400 horsepower and 413 lb.-ft. of torque, mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission. The SUV is of body-on-frame structure and carries a tow rating of 8,500 pounds, with four-wheel-drive offroad capability, plus smooth highway performance. It rides on Bridgestone Dueler P235/60R20 tires.

With Jan, Dale and Sandy Wells as passengers, I drove it up north to the Terry Bison Ranch near the Colorado/Wyoming border.

The easy drive along I25 and back paid off with a fuel-mileage reading of 18.5 miles per gallon, best I’ve ever posted with an Armada. The last two I reviewed averaged 16.9 in 2018 and 15.7 in ’17. Still, the ’21 doesn’t yet measure up to mpg claims of Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon.

Among standard safety technologies are lane intervention, intelligent forward collision warning and blind-spot intervention.

It retains its large presence on a wheelbase of 121 inches, overall length of 209 and curb weight barely beneath 6,000 pounds. It stands almost 80 inches in height.

The new model is to be offered in SV, SL and Platinum trims. Nissan officials declined to estimate price levels for the three. Based on the previous-model pricing, the SV with 4X4 might fall in the $50,000 range, the SL 4X4 around $55,000 and the Platinum $60,000 and more. The Midnight Edition package on the Armada SL review trim could range toward $60,000.

Nissan introduced the Armada to the U.S. in 2003 as an ’04 model to compete against the Toyota Sequoia, which had reached our shores three years earlier. The two full-sizers battle for market share with the GMC Yukon, Chevy Tahoe and Ford Expedition. All five boast strong engines and offroad capability.