2006 Lincoln Mark LT

So it's finally come to this: One of America's great luxury marques, once the preferred transport of presidents and plutocrats, is now basically a trim level on an F-150 pickup truck. That low rumbling sound you hear is Henry Leland turning over in his grave.

Leland is one of the forgotten pioneers of the American auto industry. A perfectionist engineer who made a name for himself building the single-cylinder engine that powered Oldsmobiles in the early 1900s, Leland was instrumental in the founding of Cadillac, which he sold to GM in 1917, and in 1920 launched a new high-quality car named after a lifelong hero, the man for whom he'd voted: Abraham Lincoln.

Leland's timing was bad, however: His upscale Lincolns were launched just as the post-World War I recession started to bite, and within months the company was in financial trouble. Henry Ford snapped up Lincoln in a bankruptcy sale.

Leland would hate the new Lincoln Mark LT. All the "Lincoln-ness"--that big chrome waterfall grille, the taillights, the badges, the alloy wheels, the wood and leather interior--has simply been screwed, glued, or sewn onto a regular F-150 crew cab. Modern automotive brand management doesn't get much more cynical than this: Even the Ford-based Lincoln Navigator and Aviator SUVs at least get some unique sheetmetal.

That said, it'll probably sell a bunch. Ford insiders hint the Mark LT is a stopgap product designed to keep agitated Lincoln-Mercury dealers in truck-friendly states happy. Meantime, they say they wouldn't be disappointed if 13,000 Mark LTs were sold in a full year, and if sales reached 20,000, they'd be ecstatic. You can understand why when you consider the base price for a two-wheel-drive Mark LT is $40,050, or almost 10 percent more than the sticker for a top-of-the-range F-150 King Ranch crew cab.