Here it is: The original Lincoln Navigator. I remember seeing these at the 1997 Chicago Auto Show, and thinking of it as a 4WD Town Car. But, lo! Today the Town Car is but a memory (he says, doffing his cap in remembrance) and the Navigator is still with us.
Did this and the Escalade kill the traditional American Luxury Car? Thoughts, please.
image via Wikipedia
Obviously both of them (Navigator & Escalade) made an impact on the traditional luxury 4-door sedan- and classic station wagon market rearrangement.
This was a hot truck back in the day. Still like it.
Pimpmobile of the 90’s…
But nothing like the Escalade . . .
Thank goodness.
No, and yes.
The Town Car most directly killed the Town Car. An unpopular redesign in ’98 combined with little real change for over a dozen year made it irrelevant to most retail buyers. Much of the neglect of the Town Car was CAFE driven; development of thirsty sedans was seen as a dead end at Ford.
The Navigator and SUVs and CUVs in general have killed off a great deal of volume in the near luxury and luxury sedan segments. Sedans generally lack the space, isolation and presence that luxury cars are expected to have – especially the current Lincoln offerings.
Although you could say the same thing about the Navigator. It hasn’t changed all that much from 1998 either. Of course, the all new Escalade (the one before it, too) totally trounces it in sales.
“development of thirsty sedans was seen as a dead end at Ford.”
So they developed even thirstier SUVs instead.
Which was the perverse result of CAFE. The law of unintended consequences will never be repealed.
Agreed. The big sedans were becoming illegal to build, but there were no such restrictions on SUVs.
Yep, and that drives me nuts.
No question about that. Ford ran scared of its big SUVs when the bottom dropped out of the market. They also seem to lack the institutional / commercial market that GM has, so they lack any guaranteed sales.
I considered the Expedition last year before deciding on my F-150. It is really a very nice riding and isolated vehicle. With a more car like suspension that was designed for ride and better interior space, it is a superior passenger vehicle in all three rows compared to any Suburban. But, it still had some of the same poor interior materials that are in my 2005 Ford Freestyle wagon – that was very disappointing to see, and I’m sure a contributor to poor sales.
The only reason I considered the Expedition was that a local dealer had a super year end clearance special on a rare (and apparently not popular) XLT set up like the old Eddie Bauer package. The dealer said they’ve learned to mostly stock loaded Limiteds.
Generally, the attitude at Ford since the recession is that they are happy to build a limited number of very loaded and very profitable vehicles, and discounting is quite rare. I think the 2015 revisions are sort of a “what the heck, its selling” moment for Ford, kind of like the 1990 Town Car that had only a few, but devoted, champions at Ford.
The folks next door to me are a die-hard Ford family. They recently replaced their 2002 Excursion with a 2014 Navigator L – sort of the typical sale Ford is catering to.
GM, not Ford, miscalculated. GM’s failed to take the opportunity of the complete redesign to lean out the big SUVs to their traditional level of commonality with the pickups. Sheetmetal, dashboards, all lighting fixtures should’ve been made common across all fullsize truck lines and divisions.
The only experience I can bring to bear on the question of killing the town car is that in 2005 or 2006 when traveling with my father and my wife and two kids, we had occasion to need to get from LaGuardia airport to JFK in New York in the middle of a trip. Dad made a reservation with a car service and it was a suburban. There were five of us with luggage and car seats and a town car would only carry 4 passengers. I guess in the “old days” dad would have ordered a limo, and in the old, old days we would have taken a checker cab with jump seats, but in today’s market, a suburban is a much more flexible vehicle than any sedan.
The Navigator, however, has very little cargo space behind a third row, and I assume they have captains chairs in the second row, so it was not as useful a replacement for a town car as a suburban, at least for the livery trade.
There is an extend “L” version of the Navigator that has cavernous space behind the third row – exceeding the Suburban. The Nav actually has a better designed rear suspension allowing for better interior space utilization and smoother ride. But, as a package, even with the 2015 revisions it is seen as dated compared with the new Suburban.
From what I can tell, GM is building ‘Burbs as fast as they can. The new style is EVERYWHERE.
Good point, forgot about the L version. But it wasn’t introduced until 2007 and maybe a lot of livery town cars had been replaced by suburbans already by then. I wonder if the independent suspension of the gen 2 and 3 navigators was considered a negative by livery compared to the potentially more stout truck axle of the suburban…
Of the big GM SUVs, a surprising percentage is sold to fleet customers. The figure is around 44 percent, if I recall correctly.
The fleet sale percentage does not surprise me at all. Around Chicago, livery cars tend to be Suburbans and Escalades (not GMC oddly enough–maybe livery buyers are going for lowest cost or most “prestige.”) Also see a lot livery drivers in the MKC (I think I have that alphanumeric right–I’m thinking of the Lincoln version of the Flex, with the back of a hearse and the nose of a Baleen Whale). The real death of any of these cars (or trucks) is when they can’t replace a generation of customers–the Town Car simply coudn’t appeal to younger buyers (and by that I mean folks in their 40s and 50s). The big GM utes still seem to be driver by a cross section of ages, so I would imagine they will continue as the king of the beasts for a while longer. I hardly ever see Navigators anymore, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it fades away just like the Town Car did.
Nope, the Town Car killed its own self off remaining in the same guise for well over 10 years. The previous Townie lasted only 7 years before it was changed.
No offense but when the last generation Town car came out in 1998 it looked outdated and remained outdated when it last rolled off the line.
I wouldn’t say the 1998 TC looked outdated. It did look cheaper though. They should have stuck with the 1995-97 style. It still looks good today.
It was outdated by the time it came out. Had it been offered in 1990 or 1992 along with the Aero Crown Vic and Mercury GM then it would have looked good and current but by 1998 tastes and styles changed.
Given its low sales record in the past decade, I’d say no. Lincoln has been slowly killing itself since the 1980s, as it has largely failed to adapt to the changes in preferences of consumers and the competition. The Town Car never took a direct hit from the Navigator; the Nav was only a lucky addition of cashflow for Lincoln that didn’t last too long. If the Town Car was still around today, I’d say that the MKC would have a greater chance of killing it.
One wonders if the idea of a low profile luxury car is gone with the boomers getting into their dotage. This was the first generation to dress down more often than up, and to want the rear of any car they owned to have the ample storage of a station wagon. Is there an untapped market that can be created for the high sitting Town Car that’s just a Navigator with a trunk? It would be a “next move” for folks who want the AWD, view and presence of a luxo SUV but want to say, “I’ve got money. If I want my stuff somewhere, I’ll have it sent”. We seem to want to promote ourselves as active outdoorsmen even if we aren’t, but maybe a backlash could result in some popularity for a Navigator Saloon.
Keep going Barko, keep going….
You’re working on the successor of the Lamborghini LM002 for soccer moms.
Take the “Beast” limo the President uses, get rid of all the Secret Service-y stuff, add a world-class interior, toss in a LS9 and call it a day. Next…
…Not yet. Add some extra ground clearance too.
That appears to be one of the “W” era Caddy’s still left for occasional use by the Secret Service, with the older style front end.
The current presidential limousine, affectionately known as “The Beast”, has a little more clearance than that model, as it’s now just a commercial truck with a limo body.
While the old one was clearly a large vehicle, this picture gives a good idea of just how enormous the current one is:
That DTS-inspired Presidential limousine appears to be from the Bush era.
CAFE killed the Town Car, and the classic rear drive V8 large American car in general. the SUVs just filled the gap. with the new CAFE regs coming into play we will see if they will also kill the traditional American truck too.
I don’t consider SUVs to be either cars or trucks, and IMO the more of them that get scrapped the better. Same thing with minivans. Bring back the Olds Vista Cruiser.
The Town Car turning into a blobby Crown Vic killed the Town Car. Plus the Navigator getting the InTech DOHC 5.4 made it more special than the fleet queen 4.6 2V Town Car by default. I’m not a fan of the SUV segment at all but it at least had substance, plus the exterior styling of the 98-02 was fairly unique and attractive for the times.
I always thought the Town Car deserved the 225 HP 5.0 H.O. back during the boxy era and the Continental’s beefed-up InTech engine. Having an extra 60-70 HP would have made a pretty big difference in overall performance and, more importantly, stature.
In 1978, my folks, who owned a travel trailer, were looking at Suburbans and Wagoneers. We then proceeded to buy a two-door, 4-spd Volvo 240. Go figure! (It went 300,000 mi, though.)
When the Town Car was introduced in 1998 it was fairly popular for a few years, especially with “car service” companies. But then, that’s also what killed it. Ford started catering to car hire companies and forgot John Q. Customer. In the meantime, the Escalade became THE car for rap stars and wannabe stars and the Navigator was left in it’s wake.
Many folks want a vehicle that projects an intimidating image, a Town Car did that until big, black, blocky SUVs came along. Rising gas prices, CAFE, and the fickleness of the buying public cut into Escalade/Navigator sales figures.
Well, the Town Car name kinda lives on with the “Lincoln MKT Town Car Livery” ….
Every time I see a full-sized crew cab pickup, especially when equipped with the popular (at least here in the suburban Midwest) hard tonneau covers, I think: “There goes 2014’s version of the traditional American full sized sedan”.
Yup. Car and Driver tested the latest iteration of the Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab with 4×4, V6 – 8 speed auto, coil springs on all four corners, and Laramie package (tan leather etc) and declared: “if the traditional BOF American sedan was still being built today, the Ram is what it would be.
As a “traditional” Lincoln fan (1961-96 Continental/Town Car, Mark III-VIII) my point: an Expedition in drag is a travesty. I clearly remember the uproar when the Versailles came out. At least the Versailles platform (Granada/Monarch) was a premium up-scale compact CAR. I may be wrong, but I feel loaded Ford trucks with Lincoln grilles have eroded the hard-won Lincoln image. Thank God, to date, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce and Bentley have avoided this kind of nonsense.
I would love to see trucks and SUVs get nailed with the exact same CAFE standards as cars. Then, maybe we would see some more interesting luxury cars, or coupes, or wagons, since so many trucks and SUVs are purchased as “look at me, aren’t I fancy!” luxury accessories, and the factories can crank them out because when the regs went into effect, most trucks were used as TRUCKS!
Now we have King Ranch, F-150 Platinum, etc. Yep, ya really need a $60K pickup truck to go to the mall, dontcha? 😉
“Yep, ya really need a $60K pickup truck to go to the mall, dontcha? ;)”
To be fair, you don’t NEED a full size V8 luxury car to execute your daily duties either.
People shouldn’t be judged for buying what they want.
I’m just ticked off that CAFE screwed the cars I like, but not the vehicles I don’t care about or desire.
The original purpose of a looser standard for light trucks was to keep AMC afloat, so it’s obsolete anyway.
I can understand that. But car makers were trying to get their trucks into the mainstream long before CAFE.
The El Camino, Apache, F 100 “Uni” and a handful of Mopars were all trying to knock on Mr and Mrs Jones’s suburban tract house door.
Really, the Wagoneer should be considered the gateway drug, opening the door for the Luxo SUV and it’s attractive profit margins.
I hate CAFE. And while I’m not up to date on who it’ll screw next, I wouldn’t want SUVs or pickups to go all together. Like it or not, that’s as close as we get to the traditional American luxury car nowadays. Body on frame, RWD, hulking V8 in front, acres of leather (if optioned), and good interior space. It’s just in a taller package.
But the concept, and I dare say the buyers, are still the same.
And I recon that it’s because trucks are profitable that we still get a good amount of V8 development. Much of the Ford and GM and even Mopar engines in trucks are also found on those sweet few V8 RWD cars left like the 300/Charger/Challenger, V Caddys, and Mustang.
Ford should make a RWD flagship. The Taurus isn’t much of one.
(I know the Caddy engine is from the Corvette, but the foundation for the engine is used in trucks. Plus Suburbans have come with Corvette engines 😛 )
CAFE getting more stringent won’t bring back the cars we like. It’ll just keep forcing the appearance of sh*t econoboxes and cars that make no noise and put your soul to sleep.
Ford has an RWD flagship. Mustang. They’ve worked wonders with their V8 ever since they committed to OHC.
Ray Westafer:
Hate to rain on your parade but Jaguar and Bentley are both less than a year away from putting SUVs in (European) showrooms with U.S. sales not far behind. Well, actually, the Jaguar will be closer to being a CUV while Bentley’s will be a sort of SUV sized CUV. And there’s the possibility both brands will offer these types of vehicles in at least 2 sizes.
Tom Klockau:
Actually, trucks are being included in the overall CAFE number that used to allow for several (too many) loopholes. Why else do you think Ford is switching to aluminum for the 2015 F series along with more Powerboost engines. And Ram trucks with an 8 speed automatic?
Did not know that. Maybe I’m just cranky from not being able to see around such trucks when they’re in front of me in traffic. 🙂
I do wonder how the aluminum F-150 will fare when they start coming in with fender-bender damage.
It’s my understanding Ford has spent a lot training their body shops on how to deal with this in advance.
Having more aluminum bodied trucks on the road will bring down the cost of repairs of all aluminum vehicles as more body shops are used to it, this will bode well for us all non “truck guys” too.
What’s good for the F150, is good for the Jaguar…
Actually they started on Jaguar first to make sure it worked.
Yes they did; I think I confused my point by using a former Ford PAG brand in my example of a current “exotic”.
I simply meant that a much more mass market vehicle like the F150 going aluminum will spread this skill to many more bodyshops, thereby bringing down the cost of repairs for owners of existing aluminum bodied “exotics”.
The full size car has fallen beneath the wheels of the truck and SUV, though I can’t understand why myself, so the upmarket car has fallen to the upmarket SUV.
Call me unfashionable, but Id take an 5 series over an X5, an XJ over a Range Rover and an A7 over an Q7 any day.
I’m with you Roger. I just never got into the truck/suv fad. That said, I still love, and will make an exception for the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and original 1993-98 Grand Cherokee, and original Jeep CJs. Actually, anything pre-2000 is fine with me too. 🙂
I am another who says that the Town Car committed suicide. I remember the early 90s when the Town Car was the first with the 4.6 V8 and the E4OD transmission. Of course, the MGM and CV got them a year later, but I sort of expected that the Lincoln would continue the arms race with some engine development and periodic restylings. Wrong. The old 4.6 stayed under the hood to the end, along with the 4 speed electronically controlled automatic. The car was still considered a premium product in the 90s, but sort of became the Panther you got when you wanted a little extra wheelbase.
A long wheelbase Ford or Mercury should have become the staple of the car services. The Town Car should have tried to remain a traditional American luxury car. Sadly, it did not.
Proof that courting Hertz and livery companies is not the way to succeed in business. 🙂
You remind me of that time in the 90s when auto manufacturers bought rental companies. Did Ford buy Hertz? I forget. But I do remember in the early 90s that Lincolns started to become common rental cars. My BIL had a job that required some travel, and he made it a point to rent a Town Car everywhere he went. He never seemed to have a problem getting one at a rental counter. Gobs of Town Cars went through the rental fleets, which I recall reading were being turned over three times a year in those days. Goodbye resale value.
Trucks until fairly recently were an affordable way to get a V8 BOF vehicle. The less strict regulations allowed one to buy a reasonably equipped base 6 passenger extended cab 1/2 ton truck at a low price point. It appears new regulations are driving the prices up quickly.
Due to an overbearing boss I had back in the late 1990’s, I have no good memories of the Navigator. I was taken to lunch in his then new ‘Gator, where I was supposed to have a “come to Jesus” moment with him. He was such a micro managing pr!ck that I walked off the job two months later and moved to Michigan to get away from the guy. Another story for another time, I guess.
WRT to SUV’s vs. full size cars: Remember the early 1990’s and what I call the “Rodney King Riots”. After the Rodney King verdict in LA in 1992 and OJ Simpson’s famous ride in 1994, SUVs became the car for folks who needed (for whatever perceived reason) ultimate mobility. Encountering a blocked street? With my SUV, I will just roll over the obstacles. Need a vehicle that can take the punishment of a high speed chase? With my SUV, I will just roll over the obstacles. ‘
You may find my line of reasoning a little obtuse, but follow along with me. Incidents like these are part of the reason why SUV popularity shot up like it did in the 1990’s. This combined with historically cheap gasoline prices. I paid less for gasoline (inflation adjusted) in 1998 than I did in 1978, and it was even cheaper than it had been in the 1960’s!
If you wanted presence on the road, something low and lean was not going to give it to you. You *had* to be riding high, wide and handsome. In a Town Car? Not so much. Those are for old farts and weddings. In a ‘Gator? For sure. What obstacle couldn’t you overcome? (Except gas stations…) You could go as fast as any car, and you could go off road (more or less) if needed, something you couldn’t do in a regular car. And probably out run the police, if necessary…
It was automotive invincibility. No wonder why soccer moms and gangsters took to them…
(To my brougham and Town Car loving friends: I did not mean to imply all Town Car lovers are old farts. Just a little exaggeration to illustrate my point. See you all on TBS!)
Tom Klockau:
I actually feel the same way about SUVs as you do. When an SUV pulls up on my left…into the crosswalk at an intersection and I can’t safely turn right on red I want to jump out of my Civic and b…h slap the driver. I also feel that many car manufacturers don’t really need to be in the SUV market, especially when other parts/nameplates of the same conglomerate build/sell SUVs. If Porsche, for example, needs the cash flow, create a sub-brand to sell SUVs. Bentley doesn’t really need an SUV and it detracts from the brand, IMHO.
The guy who once headed BMW was asked if his company would ever expand into the MPV market segment. In other words, would BMW ever build a minivan? The answer was NO, as that was contrary to the brand’s values. Apparently a 2 ton+ vehicle that easily tops 125 mph and has minimal luggage space (somehow) fits BMWs brand values.
What about smaller CUVs? Is the Lincoln MKC the 2010s answer to the four-door Cougar, right down to the SNL-parodied ad campaign?
ding, ding, ding… we have a winner.
Matthew McConaughey-hey…
Well alright, alright, allllllllllllright.
I have no idea what attracts people to SUVs, both big and small. They are strictly appliances. They have no style whatsoever. For those who buy them strictly for utility (because they certainly have no class, like a large sedan) there is the issue of gas mileage. I couldn’t begin to drive one of these contraptions even if all I had to pay was the gas bill. These are not something that will ever be sought after or collected like older cars. Of course neither will the jelly bean car. I guess I’m just bemoaning the disappearance of “real” cars.
I am a station wagon fan, especially woodgrain ones. Yes, even the later models with fake woodgrain. Many people laughed at them, but just try and find a decent one today for a reasonable price. Pretty much all ’70s and older station wagons have become collectors items. Even the huge, ugly, early ’90s Caprice and Roadmaster wagons are sought after, though mostly by someone who wants to put 30″ wheels on them.
The Hug sedan was an americana trademark. The end of it was the enf of an era. The standard and plain designs of The cars of today show no glamour, luxury and grandiosity. The SUV is one more kind of poorly undistinct product. In true, nowadays a kcar sounds much more attractive then current garagem that rolos on The streets. no personality, no glam, no cushy ride and that cheesey feeling of The ol’ days cars.
The loyal buyers that loved old floaty boats died off or are no longer driving. GM and Ford aimed their big cars at these buyers, and never updated them after mid 90s. And Boomers looking for roomier cars, fell in love with SUV’s.
But also, when “Town Car” became a genericized term for ‘livery car’, it killed any pretense of luxury. All the TC’s at airport clogged in traffic ruins any image for buyers. Why buy a car that “the help” drives?
The Flagship German luxo cars have a small buyer set, but still get drools from young adults, since they are “not like my grandparents’ cars”.
The things that are nostalgic to car fans like wood grain wagons, vinyl tops, fender skirts, and excess chrome, are a joke many buyers under 50-40. One person’s “style” is anothers “tacky old folks stuff”.
I never liked the Town Car as a standalone name either, despite being born well after the two names were split between the Panther and Fox(later Taurus), I still consider the Panther cars true position as being a Continental. Town Car just sounds so pompous and stuffy, and you know what? I feel the same way about the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis names for that matter. What was wrong with Galaxie?
The name “Galaxie” fairly reeks of high grade formica and plastic palm trees. It has all the cachet of a modern art church. So. Dated.
On the other hand, pompous and stuffy tend to be fairly timeless. Just like Sedan DeVille and Coupe DeVille (which translates to Town Car anyway). The name of a luxury car should be pompous and stuffy.
Tom,
I was always amazed at Lincoln’s ignoring the TC. At LCOC meetings, I often joked when we had a Lincoln rep in the audience that…”the only change for the TC in 2009 is making the handicap placket standard.” Or, addition of the AARP option group, which included trunk closer (arthritas precludes reaching up that high), driver’s seat exit release and reverse beeper (reasons are obvious!). They made a conscious decision to concentrate on the PAG cars (Jag, Aston Martin, Volvo) and ignore Lincoln. How’s that tastin’ now?
Eons ago, in one of my ancient history textbooks, was an illustration of a type of carriage popular in the waning days of the Roman Empire. The thing was built very tall, so the occupant could ride well above the peons that walked. The caption of the illustration said this type was favored as a status symbol. I thing of that illustration every time I pull up to a light as the door handle of an SUV in the next lane is about at my eye level.
Everyone who drives an SUV has an excuse. My female coworkers would insist they “don’t feel safe” in anything smaller than an Explorer. My male coworkers would say they feel “powerful”, sitting up high in a big truck. I had an SUV, a Taurus X, for 2 years. Got rid of it in favor of a Jetta wagon. Guess I’m just not vain enough to “need” anything that big.
SUVs have not only killed big sedans. They have killed station wagons and minivans as well, by pandering to the paranoid, the vain and those trying to compensate for physical deficiencies.
I had a run of Explorers culminating in a tricked out 2002 Eddie Bauer. I really liked it, because of all the things it had but honestly, if I was thinking back in 2007 the same way I am now, I would have probably bought a Town Car instead. All the times I’ve either moved or helped someone move, it was a godsend but other than those times, I liked it because of the sunroof, backup sensors, leather-i.e. more luxury oriented things.
I, unlike you, are vain but in a different way. I like the presense a Town Car (or Deville for that matter) and its almost unique now that this kind of car is pretty much dead. It seems like everybody and their brother have an SUV of one type or another. I like looking out over the hood and seeing that big hood ornament gleaming in the sunlight.
I’m the owner of my third Lincoln Town Car. It will be a “keeper”.
I have NEVER, EVER felt the urge for ANY of the SUV’s out there.
My “keeper”.