Like I say, that one was done with humour. Not in every episode, but in a lot of them. And there was a guy who would turn into an SUV and then play Tarzan.
Oh, there've been a couple animated series with that name, and one comic book series. Though the original Japanese name of the first RiD show was 'Car Robot', which fits better, because it was one where the bots didn't hide. It was also hilarious.
Minicons. Yeah, 'Armada' was pretty good, other than the terrible dubbing that showed up in places. My favourite TF shows are 'Cybertron' (which is NOT a sequel to 'Armada'. LOL), 'Transformers Animated', and 'Rescue Bots'. Yeah, I know the last one was a spinoff of 'Prime' aimed at little kids, but it had some good stories. (also the one character of any show I've ever had a crush on...)