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Crappy car of the Month: Lincoln Blackwood

Posted July 31, 2008

I'm was never exactly sure who Ford was aiming for with the Lincoln Blackwood. Is it the fella who got lucky with a lottery ticket but just can't give up his F-150? Or is it the country-clubber who wants more room for his golf clubs? At any rate, few people found it necessary to buy what is essentially a Ford F-150 covered in chrome and sporting a frou-frou pickup bed.

It's even more astounding that the Blackwood couldn't sell during the biggest buildup of trucks since World War II. After all, the blue-collar Ford couldn't cover all its luxury bases and still remain a work horse. And the Lincoln Navigator was a huge seller. Why not combine the two truck titans and triple the sales. Unfortunately, this line of thinking led to one of the biggest flops in automotive history since the Cavalier-based Cadillac Cimarron. In fact, most of them remained on the lot, only to be sold at heavy discounts. The finally tally didn't even top 4,000 -- a pathetic number compared with the 700,000 or so F-Series pickups Ford sells annually.

On paper, it seemed to have all the goods: 5.4-liter SOHC V-8 with 300 ponies, a pickup bed with power tonneau and lined bed, black/chrome exterior with an interior to match. Perhaps it lacked the Escalade EXT's obsequious grille. Or it was shod with way too much cheap plastic to pass for a luxo barge. Or perhaps it was the lack of options that doomed this Lincoln pickup. Or perhaps those with the bread to buy a $50,000-plus pickup would rather buy a Range Rover instead.

It highlights an endemic problem Ford's luxo division's struggled with for years -- warmed-over Tauruses and Expeditions with little soul or substance marketed to those with one foot in the grave. Should it come as any surprise that its biggest seller is the perennially awful Town Car? For those who don't know, the Town Car uses a platform older than this author, and its powertrain options are tepid at best.

In 2005, Ford rolled the dice again by giving Lincoln a pickup -- this time the Mark LT, in keeping with its alphabet soup naming scheme (and thus copying every other luxury nameplate). This time, however, the Mark LT got a more usable pickup truck bed and the signature waterfall grille to take on the Caddie. However, recent news suggested that Ford would again quietly sweep Lincoln's pickup under the rug by the time the new F-series debuts. Will we see another Lincoln pickup? Not if gas prices persist, because no one will buy a four-cylinder, Ranger-based Lincoln.

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