We drove an $103,000 Cadillac Escalade and a $90,000 Lincoln Navigator to see which large SUV we liked better - and the winner was clear

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

The Lincoln Navigator.

• The Cadillac Escalade and the Lincoln Navigator are Detroit's kings of the large SUV segment.
• We sampled the aging Caddy and the all-new Lincoln.
• Believe it or not, even through the Navigator is clearly superior, I preferred the throwback Escalade.

Ford has endured some ups and down over the past year, but it's hit a home run with the redesigned Lincoln Navigator, the large-and-in-charge full-size luxury SUV.

The vehicle is so much in-demand that the company can't build them fast enough.

Navigator was really the first big luxury SUV, debuting in the 1990s. But not long after, crosstown Detroit rival Cadillac also jumped into the game with the Escalade.

Despite Navigator's recent surge, Escalade is still the segment leader. The SUV went into production in 2014 for its third generation, so it's longer in the tooth than the new Navigator.

With that in mind, we pitted the Navigator - with which we were already mighty impressed - against the Escalade. Read on to find out who ended up the victor.

Photos by Hollis Johnson unless otherwise indicated.

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