Lemesee... A Luxury pickup limited utility, no 4 wheel or all wheel drive, a bed that's way too nice and fancy to carry anything you wouldn't normally put in the leather clad back-seat of a Luxury sedan, and a 55 thousand dollar price tag? I never wondered if Ford would realize their mistake and kill it, only when. The EXT would have clobbered the thing sales wise.

 

We are still building them everyday here in Kansas City and soon be be launching the 2003 all wheel drive Lincoln!

Just a heads up

 

Guys, it really isn't up to me to defend my choice of what I drive, but I think this truck is kind of getting a lot of flak that it may not deserve.

My two previous rides were a '96 SHO and a '99 Lightning and while both were not all that "practical" either, they sort of defined what I wanted for transportation. These two had performance and handling and a certain degree of exclusivity.

The Blackwood has primarily luxury going for it with more than reasonable performance. As mentioned elsewhere on this board, I got a heck of a deal on the Wood or, frankly, I might not be driving it today but that should not take away from what it is which is awesome.

My employees fondly refer to it as the "Ultimate Ghetto Ride" and it has gotten more favorable attention in a week than even the Lightning would get in 6 months.

At some future point, I will post a fairly complete drivers impression thingie, but I can mention that adding some auxiliary carpet in the bed has let me haul 12 bags of fertilizer or mulch, various plants and such just as in the L. At 5/10 driving, it handles just as good as the L and I can finally haul my three grandkids around all at once.

I would certainly agree that it is not as practical on the surface as the Escalade EXT but then again those vehicles are "statement" rides and not likely to be used much as pickups either. And, looking at my own motivation, a rare ride, you see an awful lot of those things on the road here in Atlanta, most with chrome 24s on them.

Not trying to throw rocks back, but you need to try it before you knock it and if you can buy it right you will have a vehicle that you won't see on every street corner.

As a PS, Showya I hope I can communicate with you directly here or by e-mail to get more info about the Blackwood, how many produced so far, how the build process is going and so on. The Lincoln owners site can give me nothing and I like to collect as much data on vehicles I drive as I can.

Thanks for listening Bill

 

lincoln is killing the blackwood, i read it in the paper a couple of weeks ago. sales are very slow, because everyone would rather buy the escalade ext. the ext comes in every color, has that "midgate" thing, has a more powerful engine, and, in my opinion, looks better. not to bash the blackwood, it looks quite nice, but these aren't just my opinions. anyways, lincoln is stopping making them after this model year, i think they are making another 10k of them, then ending it. and i think they expected to sell about 10,000 of them their first year, and so far haven't even sold 600. ford wouldn't have this problem if they upped the power on the engines.

 

Bill, can you post some pics of your new blackwood all ive seen is the press type pics. would like to see pics of interior and bed. thanks!! congrats on the sweet new toy!!

 

Would love to see your ride! Have seen two on the showroom floor, but yet to see one "in the wild".

As far as the Aval....errr...Escalade EXT goes, IM(sometimes H)O that is one fugly vehicle. I know everyone has different taste in vehicles, and that is cool. Given a choice between the two, I would definitely be in the 'wood.

 

Thanks for the comments:

Sporkdevil, you are close by, my store, Hobbytown USA, is in the center just across the street from Bill Heard Chev on Barrett Pkwy. in the old AMC 8 theatre. Love to meet you.

Pictures will hopefully be coming. I am camera/computer illiterate, but my daughter is pretty good at it and we will try to set up a gallery on f150online if we can figure it out.

Been busy at the shop so just clocked up at 300 miles and filled the tank for the first time yesterday. UGGGH. 12 mpg, the same as the Lightning. Perhaps I am trying too hard


As a BTW, I am thinking of doing the chip and filter thingie as well as a true dual cat back exhaust. With that more or less $1k investment, I will achieve about the same amount of HP as the Escalade. Since the Escalade is still selling at pretty near sticker and I paid nowhere near sticker, I can perhaps have the same moxie for a lot less money. We will see.
Bill

 

yeah, im up at town center probabley once a week. i still haven't actually seen a blackwood not at the auto show, but i think it'd have been a bit of a better truck for me. the most i've hauled is backpacks, i've got a black truck anyways, and i can't fit too many in the back seat (oh well, i don't ride there). my truck is hard to miss, a black f150 supercab with black billet grill, cobra hood, window tint, clear lights, and recently, some subs, so you may hear me (ofcourse i turn it down when theres lots of people around). i would love to see a blackwood, my dad has a navigator and what i love the most are the seats (heating/air conditioning all in the seats!) i'm trying to think of exactly where i've seen a hobby town around there. are you within about a mile from town center mall? i think theres one by shlotskys (definatley spelled wrong)

 

Question.

was it my imagination or did the Blackwoods come with a 300 hp 4-cam 5.4? I thought it was standard in the Navigators and Blackwoods.

 

I never doubted it would happen. Just thought it was ironic.

I mean to walk up behind it at the theatre and put a gun to it's head...

 

Indyfan:

Not sure if you were answering my remarks about a chip and filter to get more power, but:

Yes, the Blackwood has the same motor as the Navigator, a 5.4 DOHC with 300 hp. I am still compiling as much info as I can about both the Wood and competitive vehicles, but 300 HP and a curb weight of 5700 lb. does not translate into a whole lot of thrust. It's fine on the takeoff, which I attribute to trannie and rear end gearing, but it weakens in the mid range a bit.

It's primary competitor, the Escalade EXT has 345 HP. As far as I can find out reading road tests on the net and in the magazines, the Wood is sometimes faster sometimes about the same as the EXT in the 0-60 and 1.4 mile times.

As a BTW, this is the 4th FMC vehicle I have had with the DOHC setup on a V8. One SHO, two Continentals and this one. Three totally different motors, but all were sweet as all get out, rev freely and only fall victim to Ford's famous "detuning" to save the trannies. I never chipped the SHO nor Pat's Conti's, but will most likely do so with the Wood.
Bill

 

Bill

Do you know what the torque ratings are on both vehichles? When it comes to launching a heavy vehicle hard, that would be the numbers to look at. Just curious, I'm rather ignorant about both trucks, one because I can't afford it and the other 'cause it's just a Avalanche with pretty paint.

 

1. ext is UGLY in every one too (though I think the Blackwood could use a slightly more aggressive look to it)

2. ah yes, the midgate thingy that will soon be the next 'corvair' for gm. I wonder if they know anything about exhuast fumes entering passanger compartments through open rear hatches? or have they considered the poor slob (soon to be bisected by a sheet of plywood) who rear ends someone while on his way home from the lumber yard, carrying four sheets of CDX in back, tailgate closed mid gate down.

 

well, i never thought the ext was ugly. i liked the blackwood too. i saw one for the first time a few days ago, and it was pretty cool looking. i also saw a pearl ext with 22's and it was pretty cool too. the thing have had selled if ford changed just a few things, like made the bed useable, and put it in different colors. the ext's are selling (or atleast i think they are, i've seen aplenty). ofcourse, if you own a blackwood, your one in like 600. the ext has 380 lbs of torque, and the blackwood has 355. so it looks like the ext has the blackwood beat engine wise. still, both are cool, but if you have a blackwood, your truck is rarer than lambroghinis.

 

surprising: new automobile magazine ext vs blackwood
blackwood 0-60: 8.1
escalade: 8.4
whats that extra 45 hp for?