CarBrandLogos archive · Lincoln · 1997

LincolnLincoln Navigator

Lincoln got to the luxury SUV first, and Cadillac spent a year catching up.

Photo: Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Lincoln history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Lincoln Navigator, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

2001–02 Lincoln Navigator in College Park, Maryland

Origins

In the mid-1990s the profit in an American showroom was migrating to full-size SUVs, and nobody had yet tried to sell one as a luxury vehicle. Lincoln moved first, taking the Ford Expedition, giving it a distinct front end, a far better interior and a V8, and launching it in 1997 as the Navigator. It cost a great deal more than the Ford and the margins were correspondingly enormous.

2001–02 Lincoln Navigator in College Park, Maryland · IFCAR · Public domain

2003-2004 Lincoln Navigator -- 04-22-2010

Design and engineering

General Motors was caught out. Cadillac's response, the Escalade, was rushed into production for 1999 as an even more thinly disguised GMC Yukon, and the rivalry between the two has run ever since. The Navigator also arrived at the right cultural moment, becoming a fixture in hip-hop videos and professional athletes' driveways in a way that no amount of marketing could have arranged.

2003-2004 Lincoln Navigator -- 04-22-2010 · IFCAR · Public domain

In production

Subsequent generations improved the engineering rather than the concept: independent rear suspension in 2003, a long-wheelbase L version, and in 2018 a fourth generation with an aluminium body, a twin-turbocharged V6 in place of the V8 and an interior good enough to win North American Truck of the Year. It has been built at Kentucky Truck Plant since 2009, and it remains the most profitable thing Lincoln makes.

1949 Ford F-3 3.9 · Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1997–present

Body

5-door SUV

Technical specification

The Lincoln Navigator, in detail.

Production: May 1997–present
Class: Full-size luxury SUV
Body style: 5-door SUV
Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive
Assembly: Wayne, Michigan, U.S. (Michigan Assembly Plant: 1997–2009) ; Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. (Kentucky Truck Plant: 2009–present)
Manufacturer: Lincoln (Ford)