If the Blackwood looks familiar, it should. Never one to spend money frivolously, Ford culled the stylists' bin in creating the Blackwood. From front bumper to windshield, the Blackwood is a Lincoln Navigator, save for the foglights. Twixt windshield and cargo bed, it's a Ford F-150 SuperCrew, the four-door version of the company's best-selling pickup.The bed is, in fact, the only all-new element of the Blackwood. And the bed is the feature Ford counts on to set the Blackwood apart from the competition, which is for now confined to the Cadillac Escalade EXT. This appears to be a good strategy. The Lincoln Navigator has been a winner for Ford's upscale brand. Buyers have not been stampeding Lincoln dealers in quest of Navigators, however, and sales have slowed recently. Ford's F-150 SuperCrew has been successful in the limited market at which it is aimed. People who can buy into the limited-utility concept will find a subtle elegance in the treatment. The concept Blackwood, which debuted at the 1999 Los Angeles Auto Show with major league baseball's home-run king Mark MacGuire at the wheel, sported a bed with an exterior paneled in real hardwood highlighted by thin, horizontal strips of brushed aluminum. The production version looks the same, but the wood is fake. And inside the bed, the concept's neon tubes have given way to light-emitting diodes - they're cooler and more durable. The concept's Dutch-door-like, side-hinged tailgate survived, to spare the lower backs of owners from the stress of hefting golf bags or even groceries over an extended tailgate.
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