7Mary3

Actually seeing more Cadillacs these days. The Lyric is selling well and the Escalade has always been popular. XT-6's are out there, the cars not so much as you say but you will see a CT-5V (they are great) once in a while. Having a good dealership on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills helps. Closest 'Lincoln' dealership to Beverly Hills is Santa Monica Ford I guess. O.K., maybe Lincoln doesn't need a vehicle based on an exclusive platform (can't see a business case for one at this point, that's for sure!) but it would be nice if the Lincolns didn't LOOK so much like dolled up Fords with big grilles (as in M-E-R-C-.....). Agreed on an EV for Lincoln. As I said the Lyric is becoming at item. Time is right, I think people might be getting tired of Teslas.

Speaking of the W series, here is a link to an old 'Overdrive' magazine from 1974 with a road test of a WT-9000. Keep in mind Overdrive had a strong bias against the big Fords: https://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/truck_magazines/truck-and-trucking-/1974-overdrive-magazine/07-overdrive-magazi/july-1974-front-cover.html#media

True, but if you option up an Enclave to the Avenir model it's a bit north of $59,000. Take a look at one subjectively (when I take my Ford glasses off) it's right there with the $59,005 Reserve model. Honestly the Buick's FWD/AWD platform is a bit of a plus in this type of CUV, Lincoln might do better replacing the current Aviator with a 3 row version of the Nautilus (also gets it off the Explorer platform, might help quality). Anyway, Lincoln really needs a dedicated dealer network and some exclusive luxury vehicles or I don't see a bright future for them. Honestly I leave near some of the most upscale neighborhoods in California and the only Lincolns I see these days are Navigators in livery service (and they are outnumbered 10-1 by Escalades and Yukon Denalis). Yes, purely anecdotal, but Lincoln is conspicuously absent these days. Lincoln never recovered from the disasterous PAG.

That was a joke. Good point about high priced truck sales influencing a make's ATP. Keep in mind GMC's average transaction price is just about even with Lincoln's, and I expect GMC to pass Lincoln as the Hummer sales increase. And that includes 1000's of 4500 series cutaway chassis GMC unloads on Penske every year for next to nothing (no idea why they are not Chevy's). Does Lincoln offer any product on a platform not shared with Ford?

Agreed, maybe Ford could use Transit doors, dash, seats, etc., on a wider cab for the E series. Address the ergomonic issues and update the styling. Maybe get the Powerstroke back into them.

Lincoln is no better than Ford and doesn't sell because of price! But seriously Buick does have some very nice upper-mid crossovers and is doing well in quality. I am hopeful Ford will once again make Lincoln a contender in the high-end market, but for now they are what Mercury was- some nicely trimmed Fords. Lincoln also needs their own dealers, these days they are typically pushed off to the corner of some Ford showroom.

The Buick Enclave is priced slightly below the Lincoln Nautilus, but the Lincoln has more standard features. Similar price relationship between the Envision and Corsair. That's most of the volume between the two makes. Of course Lincoln still has the Navigator, but most Buick dealers sell GMC's too so they have the Yukon Denali. Buick does indeed have the price leader Envista which Lincoln does not have. Lincoln has no answer to the Cadillac CT4, CT5, Lyriq, and Celestiq. The theory that sales of the larger Ford commercial truck have a positive impact on light duty commercial trucks sales has been discussed at length in the 'Light And Medium Duty News' forum. Though it was true in the past I think it has little bearing in this day and age, I can say from extensive personal experience that fleets are far more inclined to buy medium and heavy duty trucks from specialized commercial truck dealers as their support for large vehicles is generally so much better rather than 'full line' car/truck dealers. Remember most of the 'real' Ford commercial truck dealers drifted away from Ford when Ford left the heavy truck market.

Lincoln year-to-date sales are trailing Buick 93,159 to 137,235. I think that is significant because it seems Lincoln competes with Buick/Infinity/Volvo more than it does with Mercedes/BMW/Audi/Cadillac/Lexus currently. Heavy truck (F-650 and 750) and stripped chassis sales are at 'why bother' levels, but the E series is still showing amazing resilience. Maybe it's possible Ford could update the E series with a Transit style cab on the existing chassis?

Most of ours were like the one in the picture, single drive day cab with a somewhat decent wheelbase. Cummins NTC350/13 speed RR. Here in So. Cal. the big windshield was nothing but a plus. We had one Astro 95 tandem straight truck flatbed. Never saw another one like it. I think the 'W' was the first big Ford anyone took seriously, really not a bad truck in its day except for the rust-prone steel cab falling apart. I wonder how many had the aluminum cab. The CL9000 was a real turkey (we had ONE and that was quite enough, thank you).

Have to disagree about the Astro 95, I thought it had a great cab. Excellent visability, an HVAC system that worked, great dash/gauge placement. Held up reasonably well too. Inside door handles were a little strange being mounted on the door pillars, not the doors themselves. After 1980 or so they went to a composite door (earlier years were steel!) that was a little wonky. As for the W, well I guess it was better than the H! The steel cab on the W did indeed rust, I heard stories of the floors falling out of them (the truck in the ad must have an aluminum cab). One of our Astro 95's back in the day:

If you want one you better hurry, Ford is suing the 'manufacturer'. Probably jealous Vintage Broncos is doing a better job than they are: https://jalopnik.com/ford-sues-restomod-company-building-vintage-looking-bro-1851705224

Check this truck out. 'Ford Blue' 8V-71, and it must have been one of the rare deluxe 'owner operator' WT road tractors when new. Notice the back trim panel in the sleeper! Those trucks came factory with nice paint jobs and a lot of chrome, but very few were sold. The W was a fleet truck, not many O/O's went for them.

2026 F-650?

It's an interesting arrangement to have Chevy Silverado medium duty trucks rolling down the same assembly line as International MV's too! But that's the world we live in. I suspect 7.3L 650/750's and 6.6L Isuzu/Chevy LCF's will have a good 2025 in CARB states.

Yes, I am wondering about the L9N going forward. Looks like it will eventually get replaced by a CNG version of the X10. I was hearing Freightliner was to eventually manufacture their own Cummins derived engines, is that still the plan?