The Lincoln Blackwood is a luxury full-size pickup truck that was marketed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company for the 2002 model year. The first pickup truck marketed by Lincoln, the Blackwood was derived from the Ford F-150 SuperCrew and the Lincoln Navigator. Drawing its name from its simulated black woodgrain cargo box, the Blackwood was offered solely with a black-painted exterior.
Although the concept vehicle had a positive public reception, the production Blackwood fell far under sales projections in the United States and Mexico. After the 2002 model year, the Blackwood was discontinued in the United States, with a short run of 2003 models produced for Mexico. In total, only 3,383 units were produced, making it both the rarest and shortest-produced Lincoln model line.
For 2006, Lincoln entered the pickup truck segment for a second time with the Lincoln Mark LT — again based on the Ford F-150. The Mark LT abandoned many of the model-unique features of the Blackwood in favor of providing the functionality of a pickup truck and proved more successful as sales nearly matched the Escalade EXT.
The first Lincoln vehicle manufactured exclusively outside of the state of Michigan since 1958, the Blackwood was assembled by Ford at its Kansas City Assembly facility in Claycomo, Missouri, alongside the F-150 from September 2000 to August 2002.
Background
The 1998 launch of the Lincoln Navigator was met with success; along with becoming the second best-selling Lincoln (behind the Town Car), the Navigator contributed to Lincoln overtaking Cadillac in sales for the first time. To build on its success in the light-truck segment, a Lincoln Blackwood concept vehicle was introduced at the 1999 North American International Auto Show; it was also displayed at the 1999 LA Auto Show. The concept Blackwood received nearly universal approval from the public.
Named the "ultimate utility vehicle" by Ford, the Blackwood was intended to combine the utility of a truck-based vehicle (such as the Navigator or an F-150) with the comfort of a sedan (such as the Town Car), replacing the F-Series pickup bed with an enclosed cargo area bodied with black African wenge wood (adopting a styling element of wood-bodied station wagons). To produce the cargo bed at a realistic cost, the of expensive wood was replaced by screened laminate composite panels (the inlaid aluminum strakes remained).), Lincoln did plan to sell at least 18,000 vehicles over multiple years. Production began with early units on September 25, 2000 with production ending on August 8th, 2002. The highest number built in a single month was 718 in May of 2002.
Model overview
Chassis
The Lincoln Blackwood used the chassis of the tenth-generation F-Series (introduced by the 1997 F-150), using a wheelbase. The Blackwood shared its front short-long control arm independent front suspension with the F-150; while retaining the solid rear axle, the rear suspension was also fitted with air springs (closer in line with the Lincoln Town Car).
In contrast to the Lincoln Navigator, all Blackwoods were manufactured with rear-wheel drive (to maintain a lower ride height
Powertrain details
Shared with the Navigator, the Blackwood is fitted with a 5.4 L V8, producing . In place of the SOHC 16-valve Triton V8 used by the F-150, the Blackwood used the DOHC 32-valve InTech V8 used by Lincoln; the engine was paired to a 4-speed automatic transmission.
{| class="wikitable"
!Years!!Engine!!Power!!Torque
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|2002||5.4 L InTech DOHC V8||||
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Body design
left|thumb|2002 Lincoln Blackwood
Exterior
thumb|280px|Lincoln Blackwood, rear cargo doors closed|left
thumb|Lincoln Blackwood, cargo area doors open
Sharing its cab with the Ford F-150 SuperCrew, the Blackwood sourced its front bodywork directly from the Navigator. In contrast to its Ford counterpart, the cargo bed of the Blackwood was constructed of plastic composites. the cargo area of the Blackwood was larger than the trunk of the Lincoln Town Car (itself, the highest-capacity sedan produced at the time).
Interior
Sourced almost directly from the first-generation Lincoln Navigator, the interior of the Blackwood shared its dashboard primarily with the F-150 (as does the Expedition and Navigator), using imitation black oak wood for interior trim. While sharing the same exterior as a standard Blackwood, several upgrades were made to the interior, including Neiman Marcus logo-embroidered headrests and a modified rear console, including a 7-inch widescreen LCD Panasonic DVD player with wireless headphones; the console also received a cooler/warmer compartment. Car and Driver named it one of the worst flops of the past 25 years, saying, "Check out the cargo box: It's lined in carpet and gen-yoo-wine stainless steel. That's stainless—means it can't be stained. You can't carry nuthin' heavy or dirty in it without uglying it up, but it makes for a nice trunk, see?" Jalopnik included the Blackwood on its list of "Ten Cars That Should Have Never Left the Factory", saying "Riding the cheap upgrade, big margin wave of the Navigator, Ford gave its F-150 the same treatment, calling it the Blackwood. Except they stripped out every ounce of actual utility from the vehicle, save for towing, by making it a RWD-only pickup with an aluminum lined, carpeted, power tonneau'd bed. This was where they decided to pour their resources rather than refining their new RWD LS sedan. This is a symbol of the fall of the brand. Now we're stuck with a lifeless shell of a company, making badge engineered Fords that bastardize the Mark (MK?) name."
Although the Blackwood's RWD-only configuration limited off-road utility, air suspension and a Crown Victoria cop-car steering rack gave good handling and a ride that was more akin to a car than a truck. Despite its lack of success, the Blackwood "did foreshadow the changes that were to come in the pickup truck market. Trucks with luxury amenities have become much more popular, and many high-line trucks now resemble luxury cars in the cabin. The Blackwood was a truck ahead of its time."
Introduced alongside the Blackwood for 2002, the Cadillac Escalade EXT outsold the model line by more than four to one. While also sold as a crew-cab pickup truck from an American luxury brand, the Escalade EXT was available with multiple utility features favored by buyers, including optional four-wheel drive, an open-roof cargo area, and multiple colors. Based on the Chevrolet Avalanche, the Escalade EXT had a reconfigurable interior with five-passenger seating.