By Donald Hammonds

    As the headline implies, we think highly of the 2014 Ford Escape.

    To be honest, if we had test driven the Escape during the 2013 model year, it would have walked away hands down with a win for the best vehicle in the small crossover category  in our new Vanguard Award program for 2013–more on that in the next couple of weeks. 

     And frankly, unless somebody else’s small crossover really delivers the goods better than the Escape, this one …