I’ve always been highly challenged by the existence of the Navigator. Plunking a “classic” grille on the front of a trucky Ford Expedition was bad enough, on so many levels. But when I first saw this revised version in 2007, I almost browned my bermudas. Does it get an award for the tackiest attempt ever to cash in on the retro trend so hot at the time? As if soccer moms had a clue that it referred back to the 1963 Lincoln Continental. Maybe it was specifically designed to remind moms to not forget their kids’ appointment with the orthodontist.
I’ve never seen one of these in person; I live in farm country, and there are few luxury units of any sort to be seen.
Having said that, without the commentary I’d have assumed it was a photoshop job meant to be a parody; I cannot honestly believe FoMoCo released that onto an unsuspecting public. It’s both hideously garish and embarassingly amateur all at the same time…
Garish? Amateur? Clearly, you haven’t gazed upon its ‘I coulda had a Mark IV’ dashboard!
I’ve always thought that dash was just as gaudy as the grille.
Yes, I was going to add that, all that was missing was the Roman numerals.
Slow down! Keep it under MCXVIII!!!!
Why didn’t they just reuse the 1980-86 F-series pickup dash? They used it on the medium-duty trucks up to 1998 or so, so they might still have the molds around…
I saw this dash at the autoshow- such a contrast to the other Lincoln models on display
it reminds me of the square style analog dash that were on the Lincoln Mark VI’s and Towncars in the early 80’s
I’m not sure how unsuspecting the public was (is). I mean people walked into the Lincoln dealer looking for something that said “Lincoln” on it.
If I have the timeline correct in my head, this was Lincoln’s reaction to Caddy’s Escalade. If GM could sell a Suburban with a Caddy grill why couldn’t Ford sell an Expedition with a Lincoln grill?
I think people who buy Lincolns know they are Fords. I think they buy them to show they have money (or at least the ability to take on debt). As others mentioned every car is available with a long list of creature comforts. Luxury today is all about making sure others know (or think) you have money.
As an aside, I’m seeing a lot more Lincoln’s these days. Seeing them in a neighborhood where I used to see Lexi. I’m not sure if it’s a “buy American” thing or they had to “cut back” during the recession and can get a little better deal on a Lincoln. I’m seeing more Caddys in that neighborhood too.
It’s difficult to believe, but the Lincoln was first — introduced in late 1997 as a 1998. GM responded with the 1999 GMC (Yukon) Denali, which later spun off the Caddy; little separated the original Escalade from the Denali except for badges.
The interesting thing is that the Denali was first shopped to Cadillac which turned it down, then it went to GMC, Cadillac saw the popularity of the Lincoln and now wanted the Denali back, which is why the first Denali’s and Escalades are almost identical.
Yes, but if Lincoln had thrown out everything else and used the grille and headlights as the basis for a new Town Car-based Continental I think Lincoln would be on a very different path, possibly even able to justify those ridiculous MKZ commercials that show that aerodynamic lump alongside the 1939, 1956, and 1961 Continentals. It still wouldn’t be as timeless as those, but it would have been spectacular compared to what they are building now. I’ll never understand why they only used the beautiful Continental grilles on their hideous SUVs and turned all of their cars into split-grille fauxldsmobiles.
There we go, I made it look better.
I’ve always despised these. It’s bad enough that there are Cadillac and Lincoln “trucks” out there, never mind Porsche and Maserati ones.
A sure sign of the end times.
Cadillac & Lincoln pickups & SUVs still do not compute with me, or else I’m naïve. What exactly is the advantage of these over loaded Chevys & Fords? I’m trying to imagine, for example, a Ford shopper calling on a Lincoln dealer because some geegaw was N/A on the Expedition. What on earth might that be? Even downmarket compact cars have long feature lists now.
I am aware that the shoebox Chevies also had a very rich set of options in their day, but at least you got a bigger car with a Caddy.
I can understand them from a theoretical standpoint. If you want an enormous, powerful and roomy Cadillac, what are you supposed to buy? A CTS? Please. Even the XTS is small and cramped by traditional luxury standards, and it looks hideous. Unfortunately, the theory doesn’t quite line up with reality. A truck based luxury car may have some qualities traditionally associated with luxury cars, they are still trucks, utilitarian vehicles designed for power and durability, not comfort and style. An Escalade is no more of a Cadillac than a Cimarron (actually, compared to today’s “luxury” options, a Cimarron doesn’t sound so bad…).
From a practical standpoint, you can make an argument that the world really only needs three cars (maybe four) a Toyota Corolla, a Dodge Caravan, and a Ford F150 (plus maybe a van) to fulfill 99% of the world’s transportation needs. But of course given that there are about 260+ models for sale in the US it is a bit more subjective than that.
Um….wheres the 2 seat convertible?
That would be a truly dark and depressing world riddled with suicides.
Probably but really, a middle aged guy driving a Lexus LS460 to work in the morning isn’t going to get there any less than driving anything else. So why does he drive it? Well, probably because such a car validates his “success ego” in life and his ability to control his environment. All subjective matters. So to argue the purpose of a Lincoln Navigator or whether I like its grille is like arguing over whether I want my cake in vanilla or chocolate. I can survive just fine without the cake (and probably look better for it), but sometimes it fills another need. My point is, yea a Navigator (or an Escalade) kind of sucks as a practical vehicle to drive but if it makes someone happy, more power to them.
The 2-seat convertible? Well that’s probably the other 1%. Since Mid-Life Crisis is covered under an “Adjustment Disorder” in the DSM-IV.
You said it. An Escalade is not a Cadillac. It’s a GMC truck.
And this…thing…is no luxury car. It’s a Ford truck-based station wagon with a Lincoln badge on it.
Badge engineering defeats the whole purpose of name brands – the brand is supposed to MEAN something! When I buy a Toyota car, I expect something. Or a Honda bike. There are characteristics I expect.
If Toyota takes an old Hino panel truck, puts windows and seats in it and badges it a Camry XtraPlus…and does nothing else…if I know nothing else of cars, I may fall for it. Once.
But then my view of Toyota products will be very…Third-Worldish. As this disappointment will send Lincoln buyers fleeing, and spectators who are supposed to be impressed, into laughing fits.
The original Navigator, like any S/CUV, wasn’t my cup of tea but they did at least get a unique motor not obtainable in any other Ford product between 99 and 2005, the 5.4 32V. When this nose job came out they reverted to using the same 5.4 24V available in the Expedition(and F series) on which it’s directly based.
Although, despite my dislike of the segment, at least it’s a Longitudinal V8 Lincoln. If someone put a gun to my head to choose between this or a current emkaywhatchamacallit, I’d take one of these without the slightest hesitation.
That grille reminds me more of the 1946-48 Continentals than anything else.
First thing that comes to mind: The Wagon Queen Family Truckster (with the optional Rallye Fun Pack)
Lincoln is a dead brand, or as good as dead; the final obituary is already filed. It’s a pity Lincoln is going the way of the dodo but it’s always been an odd duck at FoMoCo. The pre-Ford cars were masterpieces and then Ford cheapened out the brand with trash like flat-head V-12’s patterned off the almost as bad flathead V-8.
The only really amazing ones were the early 1960’s Continentals and that was when Ford wanted to really make a top end car. There really couldn’t be a lot of money in it and thus the Lincoln reverted to a Ford again.
Now a Lincoln is a Ford that costs a lot more for nothing worth it. It’s a shame, really, but there really isn’t a place for a big front engine, rear drive car in Ford’s lineup, particularly with fuel economy standards really getting strict now.
Sad, but only a matter of time until Ford pulls the plug.
Good call Len Lincoln is a joke just a cheap suit on a dunger and lets face it old Henry only bought Lincoln for revenge he had no interest in the cars at all and later having cheapened it out in typical ford fashion it was marketed as a rival to Cadillac yeah right give up its over.
but it appeals to our reptilian brains. Do you guys remember the Aviator? a $50,000 plus Explorer with even uglier proportions.
My son worked at a country club. One day, a golfer asked him to go get her clubs from “a black SUV.” After the kid drove past a bazillian of them, he found the car. He apologized for taking so long, saying that there were a lot of black SUVs in the parking lot. Her reply was “I didn’t think you would know what a Lincoln Aviator is.” His unspoken reply was “Maybe not, but I can read.”
Amen. It does not excel in any area. It is trash.
Always liked the first gen Nabigator styling , but when this refresh hit the streets, I thought I heard a thud (maybe it was Elwood E turning over in his grave.)
A former boss of mine has a 2003 second-gen model, which splits the difference stylistically between the original and the current atrocity. It’s decent for what it is… a blinged out Expedition… with a simpler grille and more subtle detailing than the current model. Plus, it still has the 300-hp Intech V8.
How about the split grille from inspired by the curvy 41 Continental adapted to the brick shape of the F150? The Mark LT lives on in Mexico. Apparently Mexicans are willing to buy Lincoln pickups more frequentlty than folks in the United States.
Photo Credit: Car and Driver http://blog.caranddriver.com/2010-lincoln-mark-lt-first-drive-review/
The Lincoln Mark LT is still available in the US–it’s just called an F-150 Platinum. Personally, I think it’s geared more towards the guys who want a nice luxury truck but don’t like the Western/cowboy look of the King Ranch. Personally, I think all that black leather and polished metal is a little boring, plus I don’t care for luxury trucks or SUVs anyway, but it’s a free country, for now.
Can’t argue with that. I personally wouldn’t be caught dead in one of these things. Time for Ford to clean house once again.
big and imposing… check
quiet inside and soft riding… check
leather and chrome… check
lots of power features (automatic running boards, power lift-gate, etc.)… check
roomy for four adults… check
powerful V8 and automatic trans… check
Sounds like Detroit’s heydays to me.
I agree, not my fav, but I look at them as todays version of the large 7 passenger touring sedans from the 20’s and 30’s.
True, but there’s still the issue of style and class. A seven-passenger Model K was a three piece suit and fedora, while the Navigator is a pair of overalls, a confederate flag shirt, and a top hat. The top hat may be slightly classy by itself, but combined with the rest of the ensemble it just looks like a joke, and no one (apart from rappers and reality TV stars, who obviously don’t count) would ever call the Escalade stylish and classy.
Exactly what is so Redneck about this? Because there really arent enough rappers and reality TV stars to sell as many of these as they sell, and considering I do see them parked infront of homes in really expensive neighborhoods, there are at least a couple of people that think they are stylish and classy outside of rappers and reality TV stars.
It’s a pickup truck. Also, I’d bet that a fair portion of people who buy these don’t do so because they think it looks beautiful, they do so because they want or need an SUV for whatever reason (either because SUVs are “cool” or because without traditional full-size cars there are no other options) and they want to have the prestige of a Cadillac or Lincoln badge (or Mercedes or BMW or Lexus or whatever). It’s easy to tell whether someone thinks it looks good or not: if it’s washed and detailed daily and has expensive aftermarket rims, that person probably likes the way it looks, but if it is covered in dents or honor student stickers (like most of the ones I see), the looks probably weren’t a deciding factor.
Half or more of the cars on the road….are pick ups. I don’t know if you have been keeping track of things, but trucks are no longer just the mainstay of toothless rednecks and road construction crews.
I had requested a 4WD for some work in Brookings, SD but had to fly into Minneapolis first. Well, I was upgraded to a black Navigator. It was Hertz’s last 4WD. What made it worse was that this was during the 2008 election season and it had Illinois plates. Well, it was a nice ride once I got out of the Twin Cities and cruised effortlessly getting 14mpg. But I was taken with some hostility when they thought an engineer from Idaho was coming, not some flashy dude from Chicago.
On the way back, I tried E85…. Averaged 8mpg.
Still a nice ride though.
Can anyone out there say Versailles?
Changing a grill and some trim but charging thousands more for a luxury nameplate…….hmmmmmmm…….
Lincoln, Dead brand rusting.
Question, were they ever available with the V10? Although the diesel really would have made it interesting.
One could look at it this way: Lincoln & Caddy produce what many of us consider pointless vehicles, which subsidize development of cars we might consider buying. It’s the 1st Law of the Car Biz: Big profits are from tarted-up luxury models, not basic transportation.
This is analogous to how AT&T subsidized inexpensive local POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) back in its monopoly days, via high long-distance charges. BTW I miss some things about Ma Bell, like their industrial-strength Western Electric phones.
I love those Western Electric phones, bomb-proof.
+3 on the Western Electric Phones
Around here these types of vehicles are owned by people that drive like idiots. The truck version such as a 50k dollar f150 platinum tend to be driven by guys with big wallets and small d%^%.
Lily nailed the purpose of an Escalade in her mystery novel, “A Bitch Called Hope”. Our P.I. Lennox Cooper is talking with a police detective about a fatal hit-and-run. The Caddy belongs to a real-estate developer:
“We found traces of dark blue paint on Makem’s clothing. Came from a Cadillac. Any of your guys drive a gangsta-mobile?” Dan was what she should’ve said. Nope, was what she did say. Dan didn’t own the truck, it was his dad’s and it wasn’t a gangsta anything, but it was a Cadillac. An Escalade four-door pickup, one of those big-dog rides you can take your banker pals in or haul lumber from a building site. And it was dark blue.
Whenever I see this front end, I am reminded of the 1946-48 Lincoln. Particularly the lower grille with the foglights. Also not an exercise in restraint. (edit – oops, just noticed that pfsm got here first. 🙂 )
Yeah, but you posted a PITCHER, lol. I see the resemblance now.
I guess it just depends on your perspective, as someone who graduated high school in 1998, just after the release of the ‘Gator these things are the definition of luxury for me. Even in our early thirties as we are now, my peers and I generally think of a large luxury SUV as the ultimate “I made it” vehicle. After all a large powerful V-8, plenty of room inside, the ability to glide over crumbling, potholed urban roads, and just presence when you arrive somewhere can be luxury to many. I remember the stir the Navigator made in my neighborhood when it came out, at the time Eddie Bauer Broncos and Yukons were already becoming the cars of choice among wealthy people in the neighborhood (no old money in my urban neighborhood), the Navigator and then later the Escalade became the cars to have in the neighborhood. The older generation baby boomers tell me that these aren’t luxury, luxury is an stiff riding, anonymous looking, overly techie German sedan, preferably in silver. The younger generation than me lectures on natural resources, saving the planet, and owning luxury goods period. For me however this is what comes to mind when I think luxury, the fact that it irritates both the older and younger generations is just icing on the cake.
Like it or not this is probably Lincoln’s last legitimate hit. It got interest in the brand and sold modestly well for several years. I don’t like the look of 2-box vehicle shapes, so SUVs never have tickled my fancy, but the layout is as classic American car as you can legally get since CAFE happened, unfortunately.
In terms of The Navigator being Versailles part II? Just compare it to any other platform shared vehicle built in the last 30 years. It’s no better or worse than any other Lincoln product, that’s for sure. Frankly the first generation took a good staring to notice the hard details shared with the Expedition and that’s a pretty good accomplishment given the universal/utilitarian nature of the SUV shape. Also, before the In-tech 5.4 DOHC was replaced by the regular Expedition mill in late 2005. it also had a certain additional aura of exclusivity as well.
The local limo livery service likes the old Towncars. Bought a bunch of 2011’s while they still could. I asked what will they do when they pass the half-million-mile mark, the length of time the 302’s last in these. They said “buy Navigators”. It IS the only V8 Lincoln anymore.
I’ve got a 94 Towncar, still rides nice. There’s a Lincoln ad showing a similar model morph, in a ball of fire, into a new MKZ “like a Phoenix”. Turns out that MKZ is powered by a 120ci straight-4, possibly the same engine as in my new Miata. Kinda’ funny thinking my old Lincoln morphed into a Miata. I like both cars but prefer thinking of them as opposites.
At least somebody had the good taste to black out the ridiculous chrome grill cap on that one.
Looks as though the “Lincoln Motor Company” themselves body colored it at some point
http://www.lincoln.com/suvs/navigator/
Ah, indeed. Bless their hearts. That had to be one of the worst styling elements of the modern age ( never mind the entire vehicle ).
Towing folks…
You can tow a horse trailer and take the entire extended (or melded) family of seven with you.
I have always consider these things to be the perfect country vehicles for those who have to do our fair share of large hauling. Then again, a perfectly good used one with 200k can be had wholesale for all of $2000.
If you know of any vehicle that is as luxurious and versatile as this one for all of $2000 please let me know. Oh, and make sure you replace that air suspension. That and a bit of creakiness for the first gen models are pretty much the only outstanding weaknesses for the Navigators.