WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING: LINCOLN BLACKWOOD

Back in the late 1990s, Lincoln struck gold with the Navigator large-SUV. Really nothing more than a rebadged Ford Expedition, the Navigator was the right vehicle for the time. The US economy was in great shape and gas was insanely cheap. People had extra money to spend and Lincoln happily cashed in. Because of the Navigator’s strong sales, the Lincoln brass figured they could repeat that with a rebadged Ford F-150. The Lincoln Blackwood launched in 2001 as the world’s first luxury pickup truck.

And what would have surely pleased Henry Ford himself, the Blackwood was available in only one color: black (it wasn’t just a clever name). Even the interior came exclusively in black. Instead of a typical truck bed, the Blackwood’s was more of a trunk, featuring a power tonneau cover, carpeting, and lined with stainless steel. The exterior around the bed had aluminum pinstripes over fake burled black wood. As you can likely guess, the Blackwood was a disaster and immediate laughing stock. A grand total of just 3,356 units were made before production ended in 2002. Lincoln dealers were forced to sell remaining Blackwoods for below invoice. Consider the Blackwood a brief but embarrassing chapter that Lincoln wants us all to forget.