Lincoln Navigator

The Lincoln Navigator is a full-size luxury SUV marketed and sold by the Lincoln Motor Company brand of Ford Motor Company since the 1998 model year. Sold primarily in North America, the Navigator is the Lincoln counterpart of the Ford Expedition. It is the heaviest production Lincoln ever built, and is also the Lincoln with the greatest cargo capacity and the first non-limousine Lincoln to offer seating for more than six people.

Lincoln Navigator production was sourced from 1997 to 2009 at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. Since 2009, production has also been sourced from the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky.

At the end of the 1980s, in the United States, sport-utility vehicles gradually began to transition from dedicated off-road vehicles towards dedicated family vehicles, similar to station wagons. In 1991, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer (SJ) ended its almost unchanged 28-year production run. The vehicle had gained a famous reputation for its high content, featuring the same content as a luxury sedan. A smaller, unibody Grand Cherokee (ZJ) was induced during 1992 that offered new luxury equipment and class-exclusive features. General Motors introduced the Oldsmobile Bravada in 1990 and Ford later introduced the Mercury Mountaineer in 1996, convincing several other manufacturers to introduce mid-size luxury SUVs. As full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition are highly profitable vehicles, the Lincoln Navigator was positioned by Ford as a full-sized, luxury SUV.

The Lincoln Navigator was launched on July 1, 1997, for the 1998 model year, with the first vehicle rolling off the assembly line on May 14, 1997. Based directly on the Ford Expedition, introduced the year before, the Navigator gave the Lincoln-Mercury division its first full-size SUV (slotted above the Ford Explorer-based Mercury Mountaineer).

In its first calendar year of sales (i.e. 1998), Navigator contributed to an unprecedented event of recent decades – with Lincoln overtaking perennial rival Cadillac in annual sales volume. Initially, published figures indicated that Cadillac had outsold Lincoln by a scant 222 vehicles sold, thanks to an enormous surge in Cadillac Escalade sales in December 1998, from hundreds in previous months to almost 5,000. A subsequent audit resulted in a retraction/apology in May 1999, attributing the "error" to "overzealous" "low-level" employees.

The Lincoln Navigator was also developed under the Ford program code name UN173, with the Expedition developed under the UN93 program code name. A full-size body-on-frame vehicle, the Navigator was mechanically related to the Ford Expedition; both vehicles were related to the 1997 Ford F-Series. The Navigator featured independent front suspension (short-long arm/SLA); the rear suspension was of a live rear axle design. Using an optional feature from its Ford counterpart, the Navigator was designed with load-leveling air suspension; tuned primarily for ride comfort, the air suspension lowered itself when the vehicle was parked.

Although technically available with rear-wheel drive, the primary drivetrain on the Lincoln Navigator was ControlTrac, a computer-controlled automatic four-wheel drive system. As with the Expedition, the Navigator was fitted with four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes.

Using the same 230 hp 5.4L Triton V8 as the Expedition/F-150 paired with the 4-speed 4R100 automatic transmission, the 1998 Lincoln Navigator came with a towing capacity of 7,700 lb (3,493 kg). During 1999, Lincoln would fit two different engines in the Navigator in an effort to better match full-size SUVs from General Motors. At the beginning of the model year, the Triton V8 was upgraded to 260 hp; as a running change during the model year, Lincoln would replace the SOHC Triton with a 300 hp DOHC 5.4L V8, named InTech (borrowing a name from the Mark VIII). Due to the increase in power, towing capacity would increase to over 8,500 lb (3,900 kg).