2005 Ford Freestyle

Until fairly recently, people with children faced an unappealing decision: sell out and buy a minivan or blow a huge chunk of change on a gaudy, gaz-fiend SUV. Without much choice in the station wagon market, you needed either a minivan or an SUV to fit the family. However, several automakers have risen to the occasion and produced car-based SUVs that carry all the best traits of that genre (size, winter traction, and non-minivan-ness) with the ride quality, lower price, and fuel consumption of a regular old car.
The latest entry in this "not a car, not quite a truck, and sure as hell not a minivan" category is the unfortunately-named Ford Freestyle. Ford has high hopes for the Freestyle, projecting up to 120,000 units sold in the first year. Our first look at the Freestyle showed that Ford execs weren't high on fumes from the Dow Chemical plant when they made that projection. In short, the all-wheel-drive Freestyle is Detroit's best effort at competing in that category thus far (Buick Rendezvous, eat your angioplasty out).
For the base platform, Ford searched its global design bin and pulled a winner with the Volvo P2 platform (featured in the S60 and XC-90, among others). Not content with off-the-shelf design, Ford engineers took the platform and tweaked it to their exact needs. The only actual parts shared with the Volvos are the components of the all-wheel-drive system, which is optional across the Freestyle line.
For inertial motivation, Ford threw in a 3.0 liter Duratec V-6 putting out about 200 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque. Those underwhelming numbers are bolstered by the Freestyle's most noticeable technical marvel, the continuously-variable transmission (or "CVT" if you're into the whole brevity thing). A CVT is essentially a transmission without any gears, or with an infinite number of gears, depending on how your point of view. The ultimate effect is that the transmission doesn't ever shift, which is slightly unnerving at first drive, but you won't mind so much when you give the accelerator a generous push in highway merging situations and you find that you don't have to wait for the transmission to kick down into a lower gear, which can be interminable with some automatics. The CVT has a bit of a lag, but it's much quicker and smoother in most cases, and according to Ford, leads to better fuel economy (19/24 for models with AWD).
The ride quality is markedly smoother from most SUVs, noticeably lacking the creaks and rattles that Ford has been known for in the past. While the cornering ability and acceleration aren't anything to waste ink over, they also aren't value drivers for the Freestyle's intended segment. With a ride height between a sedan and SUV, overall visibility is great, given the length of the vehicle. Finally, the four-wheel disc breaks with ABS provide plenty of stopping power in chaotic metro Detroit highway driving.
While evaluating a vehicle's performance is all fine and good, the people-hauling utility of the vehicle is what most of the Freestyle's targeted buyers will be interested in, and for the most part they should be happy with it. With 3 rows of seats, the Freestyle fairly comfortably seats 7 adults, as I learned whilst fulfilling designated-driver duties on a trip to Detroit for a concert. While the third row was a bit cramped, kids should have no problem fitting back there. Need room for cargo? Second- and third-row seats fold down easily, instantly turning the area behind the driver into a wide open cargo hold. I was able to fit all the equipment for a three-person band back there with minimal effort. Ford also continues its recent renaissance in interior fit and finish - from top to bottom the Freestyle's cabin is rock-solid, if not terribly visually exciting.
While the car-ute category has a few tough contenders to challenge the Freestyle - the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander immediately come to mind - Ford has reason to have confidence in the Freestyle. With it's newfangled transmission, fuel economy, and mass-transit capabilities, the Freestyle has all the markings of a winner in an era where SUVs are increasingly seen as gaudy and minivans are seen as an irreversible thrust into maturity.

Assets
Cargo/people room
Decent fuel economy for the sizeLiabilities
Lacks the bling factor of an SUV, if that's what you're into
Viability of mass CVT production is untested

Bottom Line
If a minivan's too dorky and you don't have a home equity loan to pay your Amoco bill, the Freestyle should be in your shortlist.