2006 Lincoln Mark Lt

Lincoln's second foray into the pickup market is a much better execution than its first. Remember the Blackwood? The Mark LT is a more down-to-earth design, with practical capabilities that allow it to work like a truck if needed, something the Blackwood wasn't able to offer. Based on a fully equipped Ford F-150 SuperCrew platform, the Mark LT is identical in structure. Included are the obligatory unique grille, badging, chrome accents, and wheel options--nice, but perhaps not differentiated enough to merit the Lincoln nameplate. There is enough interior opulence here to attract buyers wanting something other than a Cadillac Escalade EXT.

Available in 2WD and 4WD, the Mark LT's most significant changes involve Ebony wood accents and a cream-color Nudo leather (black is available as well). The interior layout is similar to the F150's: split captain's chairs, flat-faced dash, center-console transmission shifter. Several testers, who hadn't driven the Mark LT before, expected a Navigator SUV-type interior, with its unique dash and satin-nickel finishes. Among this field of five-, six-, and eight-cylinder competitors, the Mark LT had the slowest 0-to-60 time of the bunch, although midrange power and passing abilities are fine. It's tuned for smooth highway driving. Unfortunately, the Mark LT had trouble keeping composed, evidencing axle-hop and front-end wander on rougher pavement and rutted dirt-road stretches. And the Lincoln's not cheap, starting at around $40,000 and climbing quickly.

Ford aims to sell around 15,000 units. Big question: If Ford is sure there's a market here--and Cadillac seems to be doing well with it--why not inject some distinction (and more power) into a luxury-branded product that's supposed to make its buyers feel special? The LT serves as an uplevel trim package for the F-150, but does little else to justify the badge and the price.