Ford Pickup that Thinks It's a Lincoln?

When you start to examine current pickup trucks and you want one that has luxury too, the field thins. Cadillac has the Escalade EXT but after G.M's beautiful truck, there doesn't seem to be anything else that really jumps out at you. That is until you look more closely at Ford's F-150 options ... and study a little history.

To compare directly with anyone else's truck would not be fair to other trucks or to the Ford F-150 Platinum. When you start looking at the extras available on the Platinum, you wonder if this is really a Ford or some other make - like maybe a Lincoln? Well, you would be partially right.

The Lincoln doesn't make it

Lincoln has tried twice, unsuccessfully, to build a luxury pickup truck to compete with the likes of Cadillac Escalade EXT. Roughly ten years ago, Lincoln tried their hand with the ill-fated Blackwood. The Blackwood had limited options and limited abilities; therefore, it didn't last more than 15 months. A few years later, Lincoln took a stab at it again and did better while outselling their rival Cadillac for three years. They called it the Mark LT but after last year, it was discontinued ... sort of.

That's where the Platinum comes in. Ford just rebadged the Lincoln into a F-150 Platinum and the luxury pickup lives with us today. As the brochure or dealer will tell you, with every bell and whistle you would expect in a Lincoln, the Platinum has it all with new extras such as a rearview mirror camera, load flat floor rear interior (where the rear seats easily fold up), additional steering wheel-mounted controls including extra audio, capless fuel tank, heated and cooled front seats (very cool; pun intended), a 4.2" screen cluster with steering wheel controls; then on the outside, the Platinum comes standard with 20" polished cast-aluminum wheels. In addition, you get the Sony sound system with Sync and Sirius plus a great navigational arrangement. There are too many more extra's to list here.

Power

The power comes from either a 3.5-liter V6, 5.0-liter V8 (standard) or the 6.2-liter V8. You ask: A little V-6 in this big beautiful truck? OK, I'm not a big fan of V6s in large vehicles but this is a different type of engine. Ford calls it the 'Ecoboost' but before you roll your eyes as I did consider: 365 horsepower, 420 lb-ft torque, 11,300 best-in-class towing and again best-in-class payload of 3,060 lbs. The standard package comes with the 5.0 from Mustang's GT and offers 360 horsepower and 380 lb-ft torque. And those looking for real towing capacity, the big 6.2-liter offers 411 horsepower and 434 lb-ft torque.

The V6 gets 18 miles per gallon (mpg) overall, while the 5.0 gets 17 mpg and the 6.2 produces 13 mpg. There are no more manual transmissions, which is fine with me, with the electronic 6-speed automatic transmission with 'Tow/Haul' mode mated to all the engine options.

Quiet and powerful are two of many words that can describe the ride. While driving down the road in your leather seats, the AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control (RSC) system gives the ultimate feel, both on or off road. When turning and braking, the AdvanceTrac seems to reduce engine power along with selective wheel braking to help sustain control if cornering quickly. The RSC has a gyroscope to aid in all this. Funky!

Cost

So what does this cost you? The Platinum does have some options available but you'll start at about $44,000. When compared to the Cadillac Escalade EXT (which others have pontificated on), the Platinum runs roughly $15K less. When you have all the options added, the Platinum can cost a bit more than $51,000, but is still significantly less than the Cadillac.

The power, comfort and utility combined with many luxury car extras, gives the Platinum a quality few vehicles of this sort can offer. This is a Ford truck that truly thinks it's a Lincoln.


Source - Ford