Luxurious LT

I feel really special. This week I've been pampered. Coddled. Swaddled in expensive leather skins, caressed by filtered, air-conditioned breezes, and serenaded by the finest classical orchestrations of human creation. You see, I've been parading around in a pickup truck!

Although pampering and pick-up trucks seem like contradictions, I assure you it is possible, thanks to the latest entry in the automotive world -- the Lincoln Mark LT (light truck). This is the first time Lincoln has used its signature designation, Mark, on a pickup truck. The manufacturer chose the name "because the Mark LT upholds the tradition of a vehicle that stands apart from all others," according to their literature. Lincoln is betting that their new truck will be as successful as other vehicles that have shared the designation, including Edsel Ford's first Continental, the Mark I, and the 1956 Continental Mark II. The LT is basically a gussied-up Ford F-150.

The Lincoln moniker wasn't originally a Ford brand. The line of luxury vehicles was founded 1920 by Henry Leland, who ran a machine-shop business with an excellent reputation for precision engineering. He designed and built a beautifully engineered chassis powered by a 357-cubic-inch V-8, but with a rather stodgy-looking body style. That, combined with the recession of 1920, resulted in financial woes for Lincoln, and the eventual purchase of the business by Henry Ford in 1922. Ford restyled the line, made it profitable, and eventually merged it with the Mercury division.

The LT isn't the first Lincoln pickup. The ill-fated Blackwood, with its exotic wood-lined bed that Ford would like to forget, takes that honor. Rest assured, this new truck is no Blackwood. Available in two- or four-wheel drive and sporting a real 5 1/2-foot bed, the LT is a SuperCrew four-door, powered by Ford's excellent, three-valves-per-cylinder, 5.4-liter Triton V-8, which produces 300 hp and 365 lb-ft of torque. It's a real truck!

Although expensive (my sample had a window sticker price of $46,950) the LT is not the only Ford-built truck exploring the upper-crust territory. The opulent F-350 King Ranch also shares the price range, but gives you awesome towing capacity -- 13,000-pounds -- while the LT can drag "only" 8,900 pounds. That's still plenty to pull your loaded horse trailer down to Ocala, Fla., for the winter.

Lincoln's marketing guys expect mostly men in their 40s and 50s to be attracted to the LT, but that doesn't explain my driving experience, as women seemed to be equally attracted to the black beauty, whether parked in a busy shopping mall, or stopped in traffic at a red light. The popular song says it all: they thought my truck was sexy.

The LT certainly is conspicuous. The familiar Lincoln waterfall grille is enough to make you look, and the bold chrome side panel gets many double takes. Ford hopes the styling, combined with the F-150's excellent reputation, will make it a good seller despite its narrow marketing niche. It will never approach the Ford's staggering 900,000-plus sales per year, but if it only does 10,000, the LT will be a profitable exercise. Helping with the glamour effort are 20-inch chrome-plated wheels with the Lincoln star at their centers, and chrome-wrapped tail lamps and tailgate.

Those admirers lucky enough to get to ride in your LT will experience plenty of lightly colored leather on the steering wheel, seats, center console and door panels. Their feet will rest on sheepskin flooring, and their eyes will admire the matte silver finish on the center stack, instrument panel, center console housing, cup holders and steering wheel spokes. Their hands will touch French-styled pleating on the front and rear seats.

The Mark LT is built on a hydroformed frame that forms a closed "box" section, as opposed to the traditional "C" frame design. The result is increased stiffness for excellent handling and a quiet ride. Both 2-wheel-drive and 4-wheel-drive models use a coil-over-shock front suspension with a cast aluminum lower control arm. The LT doesn't have the plush ride of Lincoln's sedans, nor their quietness, but it is as smooth and quiet as any other truck I've tested.

The rack-and-pinion steering system makes for a relatively tight 46-foot turning circle. Standard four-wheel disc brakes, four-wheel anti-lock braking system and electronic brake force distribution (EBD) round out the mechanical features.

New Lincoln truck buyers will appreciate the sliding rear window that opens with a touch of a panel-mounted button, and the power moon roof that came on my test vehicle. But twenty years from now, when old LTs are relegated to hauling lawn mowers and rotten roof shingles, passengers will appreciate the rear windows that roll all the way down, not just part way.

Steve Robertson of Robertson's Creative Photography is a car enthusiast and former staff writer/photographer for the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at sjr1@robertsonsphotography.com.