The Lincoln Navigator: A Brief History


1997: The Lincoln Navigator Arrives With a (Big) Splash

The story of the Navigator officially starts here, but to explore its roots, you have to dig back to 1991 — the year that planning began on the project known inside the Ford Motor Company as UN93, but would go on to boast a far more adventurous name: Expedition. It was meant to be Ford’s own home-grown competitor for the increasingly popular Chevrolet Tahoe and Expedition — a three-row SUV built on the hardy chassis of the brand’s successful full-size pickup.
The Expedition made its grand debut in May 1996 and went on sale five months later. By the standards of the day, it was fairly fancy for a sport-utility vehicle, offering features like leather seats and a high-end stereo. Demand was hot; in its first full year on sale, Ford moved more than 214,000 copies — this in a time when there were 75 million fewer people in America than there are today. The Expedition was profitable, too, thanks in no small part to its shared architecture with the 10th-generation F-150 that came out contemporaneously.
But there was a plan for an even pricier version in the works from Ford’s luxury brand. Lincoln’s portfolio consisted primarily of aging luxo-barges for the aged, but the success of SUVs in the not-quite-luxury sector from the likes of Mercury and Oldsmobile had encouraged the automaker to create a true top-shelf sport-ute — and the Expedition’s brand-new platform was the perfect canvas.
The Navigator that was revealed in mid-1997 shared plenty of bones with the Expedition; its wheelbase and length were identical, and its width and height just a scant couple of inches apart. Design-wise, however, it took a careful eye to realize the two were fraternal twins. The most obvious difference was up front, where the Navigator rolled out with a stoic, stylish front-end design soon to proliferate across the lineup. Inside, the big Lincoln was laden with leather and other luxuries, ranging from a 290-watt stereo (serious power for the day) to a rearview mirror that automatically dimmed the glare of lights behind (serious tech for the day.) The pièce de résistance, however, was wood: on the center console and the steering wheel, just like a Mercedes-Benz S600.
While the Ford offered a pair of choices under the hood, only the best of the two was good enough for the Lincoln: the 5.4-liter single-overhead cam ”Triton” V-8 that made 230 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque. Just like the Expedition, rear- and four-wheel-drive were both on offer, with the latter featuring 2WD, Auto 4WD, 4-high and 4-low options at the twist of a knob; a four-speed automatic was the sole gearbox. It was hardly quick by modern standards — Motor Trend’s testing saw the 0-60-mph run take 10.3 seconds, 1.4 seconds behind a 150-hp Honda Civic Sport today — but buyers were likely more interested in the 7,700-lb towing capacity than how quick it could sprint.
Still, FoMoCo seemed to have a sense that it wasn’t quite enough juice for such a high-end machine. Come 1999, just two years after the SUV debuted, Lincoln swapped out the engine twice: first for an upgraded Triton that made 260 hp and 350 lb-ft, then for a more thoroughly revised version called InTech that made 300 hp and 355 lb-ft. (The latter motor, packing dual overhead cams, would go on to be the engine in Ford’s Mustang SVT Cobra R and Shelby GT500, as well as the reborn Ford GT.)
The Navigator didn’t need that power to win over customers, however. It proved a smash hit straight out of the box, moving almost 27,000 units in its abbreviated first year in showrooms and close to 44,000 the year after that. Everyone took note, especially the cross-town competitors at General Motors — especially after the Navigator helped push Lincoln past rival Cadillac in sales in its first full year in showrooms. Caddy’s own body-on-frame full-sizer, the Escalade, rolled onto the streets in 1998. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
(Indeed, Lincoln would go on to imitate itself by trying to turn the F-150 into a Navigator-style pickup called the Blackwood in 2001; either because of or in spite of its black African wedge wood-lined bed, it never saw much success.)