Consumer Guide® Automotive places each vehicle into one of 17 classes based on size, price, and market position. Large Cars comprise the biggest passenger sedans and wagons. Large, inside and out, they also include the only 6-passenger cars. Large Cars offer lots of metal for the money and are dominated by domestic brands.

Our Best Buys include the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum. Our Recommended picks are the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego.

Sources see a minor restyle and maybe a few new features for the 2006 Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis. A 6-speed automatic transmission has been rumored, but is still unconfirmed. Otherwise, these traditional biggies will be the basically same cars we've known for years.

What happens next is unclear. There has been talk of a 2008 replacement based on Ford's Australian-market Falcon, a rear-drive V8 sedan slightly smaller than Grand Marquis/Crown Vic. But company insiders dismiss that idea, and an '08-model debut would require some heavy engineering overtime. We'd guess Ford will opt for a different kind of next-generation big car, which probably couldn't happen before 2010.