2002 Lincoln Blackwood

It is not my habit to review vehicles that have already been relegated to the round file. But the Lincoln Blackwood is such an interesting study, I decided to make an exception. Besides, you can still get the Blackwood from dealers (apparently as many as you'd like) and Ford is still running ads for them.

This Lincoln pickup debuted about a year ago as a 2002 model, at which time Ford expected it to be a limited edition of 10,000 per year. Now, about 400 Blackwood sales later, the project has been scrapped. Making it a really limited edition.

So what happened to the Lincoln Blackwood, the exotic pickup that wowed 'em at auto shows, but not in showrooms?

Here's what I think.

The Good News
The Blackwood is one handsome vehicle, albeit a bit funereal. From the front, it looks much like the Lincoln Navigator luxury sport ute; from the side, like a four-door F-150 Supercrew in a tux. Swathed entirely in black inside and out and accented in chrome, it is ballroom formal resting on 18-inch aluminum wheels.

The Blackwood features a stunted cargo bed subtly appliquéd to look like an exotic dark African wood. A one-piece hard cover that raises and lowers with the touch of a button protects it. I expect Dracula to rise up and grin every time it opens.

Beneath this lid lies a carpeted floor and brushed stainless steel strips, an area accessed by a split rear gate that swings open as opposed to folding down. Clever and lovely, but not the place for anything remotely untidy.

Inside, there are luscious leather bucket seats front and rear and a host of fancy sport utility luxuries like navigation system (the only interior option), electronic climate control, power adjustable pedals and a sensational sound system.

My particular favorite among this long list is its air-conditioned seats. The perforated leather allows air from a fan to pass through and cool the seat surfaces, preventing the dreaded summer stickies. A heat pump takes over in the winter. On a humid summer day, I find myself thinking it's worth buying the truck just for this.

Powering this Lincoln Blackwood is Ford's 5.4-liter, 32-valve twin cam V8 mated to a four-speed automatic. It's capable of producing 300 horses and 355 foot pounds of torque. That's a considerable amount of exhale for this truck, all the muscle you'd ever need.

The Bad News
I see the luxury pickup market, limited as it is, as one step beyond luxury sport utility to more utility, not one step back to more luxury. In other words, people considering these vehicles want great comfort with some degree of work ethic. This is where the Blackwood made fatal errors and the Cadillac Escalade EXT, its only competition, got it right.

The Cadillac Escalade EXT can actually be used as a working pickup, rides five people in ultimate comfort and comes standard with full-time all-wheel drive.

The Blackwood, on the other hand, is nothing more than a cross-dressing sports sedan. It only seats four, is not available with all-wheel drive and shutters at the thought of anything more unseemly than matching leather luggage in its cargo bed.

That would all be OK, except this sports sedan rides like a truck. Despite some suspension retuning to mellow it out, the Blackwood still jogs, jitters and bounces like the pickup it is. For all its fancy clothing, it seems to have learned no manners.

Finally: a base price of $51,785. Need I say more?

Gas mileage
EPA rated at 12 mpg city/17 highway

Price
Manufacturer's base, $51,785;
Price as tested, $54,495

Is it worth it?
Upscale vehicles as striking to look at and odd in concept as the Lincoln Blackwood will always have their admirers. But because the Blackwood isn't particularly good at being either truck or luxury transportation, I think it's folly of the worst sort. Expensive folly at that.

Is it worth it? Only if you're into collecting good-looking, soon-to-be-rare vehicles and have a lot more money than you need.

Beth Stein is a life-long car buff and free-lance journalist living in Nashville. She has reviewed new vehicles in print for 12 years as a weekly columnist for Nashville?s daily newspapers and on television for Road Test Magazine and Motor Trend Television. Currently, her reviews appear nationally on Car And Driver Television.