Mazda’s ‘better idea’ for sporty, compact SUV ends in Tribute
With the introduction of the Tribute, Mazda has finally joined the sport-utility vehicle world. And it has done so with style, as the Tribute is a swift, agile, sporty-handling vehicle at a bargain price.
In this era of $40,000 SUVs, Mazda wanted to create something different, planning to include a high level of refinement, plus features such as leather seats, six-way power seats, an in-dash CD player in the audio system, as standard equipment, while still keeping the price down. Mazda also insisted on following up its own tradition of fun, sporty driving, by making the new SUV sporty in its performance and handling.
The result is the Tribute, which is not an over-built, rugged off-road conqueror, but it is an exceptional compromise to provide all-weather security with both a luxury and sporty touch. For under $25,000, Mazda delivers an SUV that is compact on the outside, amazingly roomy inside, and is loaded with luxury features, and high-tech assests, such as its Rotary Blade Coupling drive system.
Unlike most four-wheel-drive SUVs, the Tribute has front-wheel drive with a system to divert some engine torque to the rear wheels depending on the degree of front wheel slippage, such as when you are in snow or on a slippery slope. The torque transfer is activated by a separate unit with a separate clutch mechanism, which shifts an allotment of torque from front to rear at the slightest hint of front wheelspin, and it does it so smooth as to be unnoticed by the driver.
If there is a large disparity between the front and rear wheels tendency to spin, the shifting power is modulated to allow for some spinning that can be a benefit if you’re stuck. And if conditions warrant, you can turn a switch on the dash to lock the vehicle in four-wheel drive.
Mazda has been something of an overlooked, under-appreciated automobile manufacturer. The 626 sedan has been just about as reliable and comfortable and enjoyable to drive as the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord; the Protégé has been every bit as impressive as the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla; the RX7 and the Miata have set the standard of Japanese sports cars for years. Even the Mazda pickup trucks set new standards for compact pickups in the years when it built its own truck, before rebadging the Ford Ranger.
But Mazda, like Honda, decided the unlikely market segment of sport-utility vehicles wouldn’t be a good venture. Oops! Mazda did try, belatedly, to sell a 2-door version of the Ford Explorer, called the Mazda Navajo, but it never sold well. Mazda’s connection with Ford goes back a ways; Ford owns a major share of Mazda, which is why such cars as the Probe were Fords, but were built by Mazda in Flat Rock, Mich.
While every manufacturer in the world seems to have jumped into the SUV market — including Honda, which finally, this year, is coming out with a luxury SUV — Mazda finally decided to make a move. So it started plotting and designing for its better-late-than-never entry into the SUV field.
Mazda’s concept was to build a new and different style of SUV, something that would compete with the more reasonably sized, compact SUVs such as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, but with all sorts of luxury features installed as standard equipment.
But a funny thing happened along the way. Ford was nosing around trying to develop a similar plan when it learned that its Mazda “partner” was well along with the design and development of a vehicle that might be the perfect ticket to get into the lower-end price segment of the SUV market.
So the new Ford Escape was born, sister ship to the Mazda Tribute. Typically, the Ford Escape has gotten the large share of the publicity, while the Mazda Tribute is comparatively relegated to the background. With Ford’s enormous presence in the SUV game, the Escape probably will sell three times as many as Tributes, and the Tribute is usually called “Mazda’s version of the Escape,” even though the truth is the other way around.
The joint venture is truly a partnership in this case, with both companies making both vehicles — Ford makes them in Kansas City, while Mazda makes both with right-hand steering in Japan. Both have a 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a 3.0-liter V6, both with dual-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The V6 in both vehicles is the Ford Duratec, and has 200 horsepower and 200 foot-pounds of torque, as is the automatic four-speed transmission. The five-speed manual transmission is Mazda’s, and there seems to be a discrepancy when it comes to the four-cylinder engine.
The Ford engine is the Zetec, listed at 130 horsepower and 135 foot-pounds of torque, same as the Mazda, but the Escape engine lists bore and stroke of 3.39 inches/3.52 inches, while the Tribute’s four-cylinder lists 3.34 inches/3.46 inches. A Mazda guy told me Mazda was using its own engine in the Tribute, other factions claim both are the same, but set up differently.
Whatever, the differences between the two are more pronounced in style, where every body panel except the roof is different. The Tribute has a stylish grille, with some unmistakable Mazda touches.
While the two vehicles were not stacked side by side to be made different, the aims of the two companies had some differences. Mazda wanted that sportiness, and it accomplished it with sportier suspension for firmer handling, and quicker steering for more responsiveness. Ford’s plan was to aim more middle-of-the-road, for hauling or towing more; Mazda went sporty but certainly doesn’t approach being harsh. As good as the Escape handles corners, the Mazda sticks a little better, with less swaying.
Mazda also set the four-speed automatic (made by Ford) for different settings to shift more aggressively, to respond a bit quicker when the gas is kicked down, and to hold each gear a bit longer before upshifting.
Overall, both the Tribute and the Escape are fun to drive, more responsive than almost all other SUVs. I would take it a step farther. I would enjoy seeing how a Tribute (or Escape) would handle if those tires, questionable or not, were replaced by lower-profile tires for even better handling. As long as SUVs almost always stay on the road, we might as well try one with less ground clearance, better aerodynamics and even grippier hold on the pavement.
[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ The distinctively styled snout of the Mazda Tribute tips off the differences under the skin.
2/ Fold-down leather seats provide comfortable accommodations for four or five, with numerous creature comforts.
3/ Inside the compact exterior, the Tribute has big-SUV storage capacity. ]]]]]]
Entertaining day-trip can be as close to home as Hawk Ridge
The longest journey begins with a single step, as they say in the travel business. But the most satisfying of journeys may not require much more than a few steps. The destination is Hawk Ridge, right in beautiful, downtown Duluth. In fact, Duluth rarely looks more beautiful than from Hawk Ridge, one of the most interesting places to spend a morning, or an afternoon, or a full day, whether you’re seeking birds of prey, scenery, hiking trails, someplace to eat a picnic lunch, or simply some solitude.
I’ll take “all of the above,” but at this time of year, and for most of the next month, hawks are the attraction, with a few eagles tossed in for accent.
Growing up in Lakewood, just a couple miles up “the Shore” from Duluth, I was first attracted to the magnificence of hawks as a little kid, noticing them whenever they flew past our hillside home on the Lakewood Road. I’d look up at them, when they were there, and I looked for them, always, when they weren’t. Their sleek, streamlined, shape, and the compelling blend of gracefulness and power they exhibit, even while circling lazily above, always riveted my attention.
Every once in a while, there would be dozens of them, and if you looked hard enough, you might see dozens more, much higher. It fascinated me, and I can recall numerous days when I would lie down on my back in the grass of our front yard and stare at the sky, amazed at how many hawks I could see. In those days, nobody ever heard of any hawk migration, and while I was aware of their abundance on certain days, I was unaware that it probably was always from mid-September to mid-November, during what we now are aware is the annual migratory rite of all these raptors.
When I think about hawks, I think about those BIG hawks of my youth, the birds we used to call “chicken hawks,” and not the neat little accipitors, like sharp-shinned hawks. The little ones start in September, and as it gets cooler, closer to winter, the population of the flight shifts to the larger hawks. Those are the ones I like — Red Tails or Rough-Legged hawks, the big, majestic ones, with large wingspans, powerful and adjustable wings, and short, fan-shaped tails.
Even the wonderful Goshowks, which so enrapture the experts like Frank Nicoletti up on Hawk Ridge, don’t do it for me; yes, I know they’re neat and they’re much more rare, but they have stubbier necks and long, skinny tails, and they are disproportionate to my prototype hawks.
Of course, not many years ago, we also had no clue about Hawk Ridge, the fantastic strip of gravel road running along the ridge above Lakeside, as the eastern extremity of Skyline Drive. It is the focal point for the annual hawk migration. Repeated trips to Hawk Ridge have taught me that the hawks from Duluth and northward channel themselves along the North Shore so as not to be caught out over the vastness of Lake Superior. Then they “hang a left” over downtown Duluth and head south for the winter.
Nothing amazes me more than to ask virtually any Duluthian, especially those who have lived here for a few decades, about Hawk Ridge. If you ask a hundred of them, you might find a half dozen who ever go up there. If you do go, you find all sorts of out-of-state license plates on the cars that have gathered there, and maybe a tour bus or some vans. Yes, Hawk Ridge is a major attraction for foks from outside our Up North region, but it stands as the absolute perfect piece of evidence that you don’t have to travel far to make a fascinating trip.
To reach the Ridge, you can take any avenue up from Superior Street — 60th, 54th, 47th, 45th, 43rd — and go until you get to Glenwood, then turn left. The roadway is broad as it climbs the hill, heading over toward the Jean Duluth Road and Woodland, if you so choose. But as you crest the hill just above Northland Country Club, you’ll see the big wooden sign for Hawk Ridge. Turn onto the roadway and you will soon come to a parking area with a spectacular vista of Lake Superior and the horizon, overlooking Lakeside and the still-colorful foliage and residences.
But go further. The road turns from asphalt to gravel, and curves, dustily, up and up until it gets to another clear vantage point. If the parked cars, and Frank’s new pickup truck, don’t tip you off, look for the owl decoy perched high above the hillside, and the sign telling you you’ve reached Hawk Ridge.
There is much more to that little area than hawks, and, in fact, it is one of the neatest hiking areas in the region, with marked trails winding their way through the woods on both sides of the roadway, some going up on rock formations, others winding down through thick forest, still more leading out onto the wide ledges of rock for more spectacular views. You can even climb up on top of the actual highest point in the area, which is worth the only moderate effort required.
Any and all of those sites are perfect for a picnic. Make your own, or stop and buy sandwiches, or hit Sammy’s Pizza down on 47th and Superior Street, then drive up there to eat. The place is hypnotic in its appeal.
For this time of year, however, the raptors are the star attractions. If the wind is blowing from the east, off the lake, you might as well go hiking, because the birds don’t fly in abundance unless the wind is blowing from the west or northwest. Must be that instinct to go against the force that can blow them over the lake. The experts, however, will explain readily that the hawks particularly enjoy gliding up, up and away on the thermals, those circling winds created when the westerly winds hit the tip of the lake.
Frank Nicoletti is a fellow who came here from New Jersey to count birds during the migratory flight. After several trips he quit migrating and simply stayed here, got married, and now counts birds day after day. He would rather not be bothered, not because he’s antisocial, but because he doesn’t want small talk to disrupt him from his task of seeing and immediately identifying hawks when they hit the horizon, long before normal people have any idea that there’s a single bird in the county.
He has help, of course, from UMD and the Audubon Society, the nearby banding station back down the road and up in the woods, and from regular visitors, who scan the horizon with powerful binoculars or spotting scopes. This year, he also had the aid of Nia Palmersten, and she won his complete approval.
“Nia has been great, the way she explains things and relates to people,” said Nicoletti. “She’s the best thing we’ve had here in 10 years.”
This was last week, and Palmerston, a naturalist at the Heritage Nature Center in St. Cloud, was conducting a session with a school-busload of kids from some nearby school, displaying a goshawk that had been caught and banded and was squawking about being hand-held, unaware that release was coming right after a visitor made a donation to adopt the creature.
“I’ve been coming here for 10 years on visits, but this year I took a leave to come here and work from Sept. 1 until October 21st,” Palmersten said. “The neatest thing here? I would say it’s whenever any hawk dives in low to attack the owl [decoy], and anytime any hawk comes in low. I most wanted to see a golden eagle and a rough-legged hawk. I had never seen either one in the wild.”
There weren’t many hawks coming in low on Palmersten’s next-to-last day on the Ridge, last week, but just then a Rough-legged hawk came in pretty low, interested in the owl decoy but then narrowing its wings and racing off toward the gathering sunset. Another Rough-legged circled overhead a couple times, then rode an air current swiftly westward.
Frank read off his chart, and Nia logged them: There were 266 Sharp-shinned, 108 Red Tails, 45 Rough-legged, 7 bald eagles, 2 golden eagles, 23 American kestrals, 5 merlins, 1 Cooper’s hawk, and 7 Goshawks. Not a bad day. I only saw a few of those, in the bright sunshine, against blue sky, sparkling Lake Superior and colorful foliage, but I was only there about two hours. That wasn’t long enough, but then, no matter how much time you spend on Hawk Ridge — the closest day trip in Duluth — it’s never enough.
[[[[[CUTLINES:
1. The sign at Hawk Ridge is pretty unmistakable, but it keeps its well-groomed hiking trails secret.
2. Park your convertible and watch the late-afternoon sun light up the remaining colorful foliage on the distant Moose Mountain.
3. A Rough-legged hawk sped past the Ridge as if eluding the embarrassment of coming close to attacking the owl decoy.
4. Larger hawks, like this Rough-legged, may soar and circle for minutes before speeding westward on its migratory trip south.
5. Naturalist Nia Palmersten stretched out the wing of a captured Goshawk for an assembled grade-school class, before setting the bird free. ]]]]]]]]
Toyota resurrects MR2 as all-out, but inexpensive, sports car
If Ferrari decided to build an inexpensive little roadster, it would be a stretched-wheelbase, low-slung 2-seater with its engine mounted amidships, it would handle like a dream and go like a scalded cat, and it would cost, oh, something over $100,000.
Toyota has accomplished the same objective in the real world, and it even has a little Ferrari resemblance when you look at it from somewhere off the front corner. It is called the MR2, and it sells for $23,553.
That’s right, for a sticker price less than some cars that are more like toys, you can own a mid-engined 2-seater sports car that does everything you could ever want a small roadster to accomplish. And it costs less than $25,000, loaded.
Typically, the absolute fun of driving a car may have nothing at all to do with its price tag. But if the MR2 cost twice as much, it would still be about as fun as you can make a car.
Toyota and Honda have had an interesting parallel in competing for auto buyers. Probably no other companies in the world have matched the exceptional quality, trouble-free ownership and long-term dependability as Honda and Toyota. A few years ago, Honda’s success in racing around the world was because of advanced technology that trickled down to the production cars, and whether you looked at the Civic Si, the Accord or Prelude, the Acura Integra Type-R, on up to the splendid NSX, Honda’s had the jolt of adrenaline built in.
At about the same time, Toyota quit building its most fun cars, like the original and cleverly revised MR2s, which ceased to be made in 1995. The Celica and the Supra also went south, and even though Toyota’s remained trouble-free and dependable, they developed an image of beingÂ…well, boring. They were much like appliances, and you don’t hustle off to work so you can boast about your refrigerator.
Maybe it’s just coincidence, but Toyota has leaped into high-tech motorsports in a big way since then. Toyota power now is making an impact in CART and is about to charge into Formula 1, where it will carry on its heated competition with Honda. But a wonderful thing has happened to Toyota’s street machines, whether by coincidence or not. For the 2000 model year, Toyota brought out a new and exciting Celica, with avant-garde styling, and stunning performance, particulary in the GT model.
Toyota also resurrected the MR2 name, only not just the name. The car is fantastic. Toyota obviously could have gone after the Honda S2000 at just over $30,000, or the Corvette, or BMW Z3, or Porsche Boxster, or Audi TT in that price category. Instead, Toyota went after the Mazda Miata — the standard of inexpensive fun sports cars in the world for the last decade.
When I finally got my hands on one to test-drive, I must report that Toyota connected on all its objectives.
MID-ENGINE BALANCE
Sports cars can come with the engine in front and front-wheel-drive, or with front engine and rear drive, or with rear engine and rear drive. But to find one that qualifies as mid-engine takes some work, such as locating a Ferrari dealership. To do so, a car must have its engine located between the axles, which in most cases means little more than moving the engine from just behind the rear wheels in a rear-engined car, to just ahead of the rear axle.
The MR2 has that, and the engine in question is the same 1.8-liter 4-cylinder that powers the Celica GT, with dual-overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and variable valve timing with intelligence — Toyota’s designation, as VVTi. It allows the valves to overlap when more power is summoned with the gas pedal, allowing more intake for more power. The result is 138 horsepower at a screaming peak of 6,400 RPMs (the engine redlines at 6,750), and 125 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400 revs. With a five-speed manual transmission, you pick your gear and hang on.
Those horsepower and torque figures won’t throw any scares into your friendly neighborhood Mustang or Camaro driver, but the MR2 weighs a mere 2,195 pounds. With that weight over the rear drive wheels, all the power gets used immediately, and the light front end responds instantly and precisely to the steering input.
The wheels are stretched out to the corners of the unitized body of the MR2 — which stands for Mid-engine, Roadster, 2-seater — and the steep-rising slope of the hood gives off the look of a more exotic — more expensive — sports car. The rear isn’t as stunning, it just sort of ends with a neat taper. But the silhouette is striking, with the contoured sides and functional air scoops on the flanks. The extremely low-profile tires are 185/55-15-inch in front and 205/50-15s in the rear, mounted on slick alloy wheels that show off the four-wheel disc brakes.
FUN OVER FUNCTION
To be functional, a car needs to also have some room, for people and for luggage, or to haul the odd bag of groceries. To be functional as a sports car, it needs only to be fun and perform.
That’s fortunate for Toyota, because the MR2 means never hauling your own bag of golf clubs. There simply isn’t room, unless you prop it up in the passenger seat and tie it in with the shoulder belt. In fact, there isn’t anything that would qualify as a trunk. In the rear, there’s the engine. In front, there is a plastic cover that, when opened, reveals a mini-spare tire, with just enough angled space to house maybe a tiny overnight bag, or your lunch.
The only real stowage space is in a pair of lockable compartments behind the two stylishly contoured bucket seats. You can stash a surprising amount back there, such as a small suitcase, a computer case and a camera case. But nothing more. Groceries? Only if you follow the golf-club concept and stand ’em up in the passenger seat, using the shoulder harness to convince ’em to not somersault off when you hit the brakes.
Otherwise, functional use is everywhere. The silvery-backed instrument panel and the round, ribbed air-heat switches are easy to use. There is a CD-player in the dash, along with the radio and cassette player. Two cupholders appear out of a little tray that pulls out of the center dash panel, located low, so as not to get in the way of the audio, climate or shifting mechanisms.
There is a glove compartment and a neat little bin on top of the center of the dash, with a switch to lock it closed.
The best example of a finishing touch on the MR2 is the convertible top. First off, the MR2 is a roadster that looks good with the top up, which is unique. But top-down driving is what defines roadsters, and putting this top down, or up, is a snap.
Much like the Miata, you unfasten two locking switches at the upper edges of the windshield, then just flip the top back and fold it into its receptacle. You might want to tuck the back part of the fabric down under the cowling, but once you do, you click the front edge of the top into a neat little switch that holds it down, preventing any thought of it billowing in the wind. A little wind-screen of plexiglass can be folded up just behind the seats if you choose.
Putting the top up requires you to flip the lock-down switch, then just pull the top up and forward, pulling it in place and locking it down. Takes about three seconds, unless you’re in a hurry. I got so I could do it from the driver’s seat, without getting out.
The wide, low stance has MacPherson struts on all four corners, with a dual-link arrangement at the rear. Whatever it is, it makes you seek out curving, twisty roadways, and it’s a blast to cruise down such roads and let this bright red roadster kick up a wake of colorful, fallen leaves. Airbags are standard, so are antilock brakes, and side-impact door beams. Aerodynamic halogen lights, air-conditioning, power steering, windows and door locks, plus a tilt wheel, remote fuel door release, aluminum sports pedals, and leather-wrapped steering wheel all are standard.
The little engine that provides so much punch also delivers up to 30 miles per gallon if you drive it easy. All I want to know is: Who can drive it easy?
[[[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ The front corner view of the MR2 provides the racy look of a car costing much more than the sticker of $23,553.
2/ The side view displays how Toyota has stretched the wheels out to the extremities, enhancing handling control.
3/ Although roadsters are defined with the top down, the MR2 design looks good with the easy-up top in place, too.
4/ The sporty instruments, ergonomically sound controls and aluminum sports pedals make the MR2 inside live up to the outside.
New Montero takes on luxury SUVs on road, beats them off it
In the ever-expanding world of sports-utility vehicles, the Mitsubishi Montero has carved itself an interesting niche. When introduced, 17 years ago, Mitsubishi was not thinking about the current trendiness of SUVs, instead it wanted to build an all-terrain vehicle that would be big enough to house real people in on-road comfort but also durable and rugged enough to challenge such stalwards as Range Rover and Toyota Land Rover.
The Montero did it, with a tall, somewhat tippy-looking and eccentric vehicle. To prove its merit, Mitsubishi entered a factory team of Monteros in the Paris-to-Dakar rally across northern Africa — a 6,000-mile marathon through terrain that ranged from desert to awful. It won its first try in the marathon class, in 1984. Since then, the Montero has improved, with a second-generation vehicle that was larger, more people-friendly and more stylish coming out in 1992, and finishing 1-2-3 in the Paris-to-Capetown rally. Monteros also won the 1993 Paris-Dakar race, and in 1997 and 1998, Monteros swept first, second and third in that one.
Along the way, Mitsubishi had to notice the splurge in sports-utility vehicles, but we can excuse the company for turning up its nose at the stylish boulevard cruisers built with no intention of going off-road. For 2001, the third-generation Montero is out, and it is entirely new, from the roofrack to the wheels. Mitsubishi says it fits “between the Mercedes S-Class sedan and a Senegalese camel train.”
Not bad.
The point is, the new Montero is the best of both worlds. It will still run the wheels off legendary SUVs in the world’s toughest competition over any and all terrain, but it is so plush inside that you might feel reluctant to send it crashing through the woods.
It looks the part of an all-new vehicle, with a massive, and somewhat rounded, front end, thick and indestructable panels outlining the wheelwells, and a distinctive look from either the front or the side. Inside, you climb into a seat you’d be proud to have in your living room. Comfortable, supportive, and classy in black, inside a silver test vehicle, which was the Limited version.
That means it comes loaded, with the 3.5-liter overhead-cam V6 and a 5-speed automatic transmission that has both an auto-stick gate for clutchless manual shifting, and a separate stalk to lock the transmission in 4-wheel-drive high or low, or in 2-wheel drive for simple highway driving, or a full-time, all-wheel-drive setting that lets the ActiveTrac use an electric motor in selecting drive modes and can let a viscous-coupling keep the torque going smoothly in either rear or all wheel drive.
With four valves per cylinder and 200 horsepower, plus 235 foot-pounds of torque, the Montero may have a struggle to reach its maximum EPA estimate of 18 miles per gallon, although it may be well above the city estimate of 13. Additionally, it has a 5,000-pound towing package maximum with those monster 265/70 16-inch tires.
The functional advantages of the new Montero are simple. Unitized body structure is much tighter and rigid, longer wheelbase and wider track give it a better stance for stability. Front wheels now have 1.6 inches more vertical travel, and the rears have 0.6 more. The sophisticated, computer-designed body allows for a step-in height that’s 1.9 inches lower while the neatly packaged undercarriage is 1.7 inches higher off the ground.
The Limited has all the upgrades of the XLS model, plus leather interior, a thick and classy wood and leather steering wheel, four heated seats, power driver’s seats with 14 adjustments to the driver’s seat, heated outside mirrors that are huge, an enormous sunroof that almost covers both the front and second-row of seats, a bold display at the top of the center console that be switched to show direction, miles to empty, outside temperature, time, and who knows what else.
There is a price, of course, for all that. The base Montero starts considerably cheaper, but the Montero Limited starts at $34,997, and as tested, this one was $36,392.
The third row seats fold down to disappear flat into the cargo area, while the front seats have side-impact airbags built in. Separate rear air and heat controls, a keyless entry with an integrated security system that includes an electronic engine immobilizer, and an upgrade from the standard 100-watt Mitsubishi audio system is a 175-watt powerhouse with AM-FM-CD and seven speakers.
Yes, it is big, which means it is also tall, which means it feels a little tippy if you drive it like a sports car. But driven reasonably, the new Montero is a powerful and impressively stable entry in the luxury SUV category. Besides, you can do your crazy and aggressive driving off the road, while a whole flock of current SUV on-road pretenders would never dare follow.
[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ The completely redesigned Mitsubishi Montero combines roomy luxury on the road, and rugged durability off it.
2/ The distinctly sculptured front end of the Montero give it an entirely new look, but it retains its heritage.
3/ The luxury of leather and wood highlight the interior and the plush bucket seats inside the Montero.
Lincoln Town Car is throwback to era of enormous luxury cars
Lincoln, as an automotive entity, seems to have rallied in recent years. The Cougar is a neat little sporty coupe, the Navigator has been a big success in the luxury SUV business, and the Lincoln LS has been an enormous hit among luxury sedans.
So when I got a Lincoln for a test drive, it was with some degree of shock that I spotted an enormous, black, stately, near-limousine sedan in my driveway.
The Town Car, Cartier model, is a vehicle that thrusts you into yesteryear, an overdose of déjàvu. I mean, years ago, maybe you saw cars like this; you may have even ridden in them before, or driven them, but maybe you forgot that they’re still being built.
The Town Car, in a word, is huge. You could say that Lincoln went to great lengths to make the Town Car roomy.
What kind of length, I hear you ask? Consider that the Navigator is a very large sport-utility vehicle, right? It is Lincoln’s version of the Ford Expedition, and it is 204.8 inches long.
Hah! That’s NOTHING. The Town Car is a foot longer than the Expedition. OK, not quite a foot, but the Town Car is 215.3 inches long. That gives new meaning to the term “two-car garage,” because most folks who need a two-car garage envision it being side-by-side.
It is the good-ol’ version of luxury car, which is to say soft and squishy, plush at every touch.
With a sticker price of $39,000, you expect world-class luxury, and you get it. The interior is beautifully done, with neat wood on the steering wheel, and high-polished woodgrain stuff on the dash.
The seats are leather, in the case of the test car a classy light grey leather that looked good with the black exterior. They are quite comfortable, with eight-way power adjustment, including an inflatable lumbar support. The window and lock controls, and other remote push-buttons, are mounted on the door panel.
But if you’re buying a Town Car, you should also have the need for an enormous rear seat and trunk. You could carry several kids in the trunk, it would seem, but certainly you could carry enough golf bags for a foursome. The capacity is 20.6 cubic feet.
Inside, you won’t find a car with more room in the rear seat than the Town Car. Again, luxury and soft, cushioned comfort. The rear has 41.1 inches of legroom extension, while the front seats have 42.6. The Navigator doesn’t have that kind of room in its front, back or way-back seats.
All of that room takes the excessive length of the Town Car, and it weighs in at 4,121 pounds. And it takes 42 feet of width to turn this boat around — also longer than the Navigator.
The Town Car accelerates well, with the 4.6-liter V8 pumping out 235 horsepower at 4,750 RPMs, and 275 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 revs. With a 4-speed automatic, the Town Car takes off quite well and holds cruising speed with ease. It has a 2,000-pound towing capability, as well.
With all its heft and comfort, though, you can’t expect great handling. Twin-tube shock absorbers on all four corners give the Town Car some stability, but when you turn a corner hard, it can’t help but wallow a bit, just because of its weight.
The front-engine power goes through the rear wheels, which probably aids towing and mere performance in such a long car. But it would be a true handful on icy roads, despite all the latest touches of traction control and antilock brakes on the 4-wheel discs.
Obviously, the only competition for the Town Car is the Cadillac DeVille. The top German and Japanese luxury sedans are aimed at an entirely different market, which is to say they demand lean, agile performance from a handling standpoint as well as power. Most U.S. manufacturers have revised their aim and gone after that same sophisticated BMW-Mercedes-Audi-Lexus-Acura segment with cars like the Cadillac Seville, Lincoln LS, and Chrysler LHS.
The Town Car, however, provides an answer that maybe only aging or extremely wealthy buyers are still asking. Those who grew up with the bigger-is-better philosophy that used to be common among domestic manufacturers might still consider the soft-as-a-cloud comfort of something like the Town Car to be the pinnacle of luxury.
Parking the Town Car is another chore. Parallel parking is tough enough, because of the length, but even in a shopping center you have to be careful. No matter how closely you pull up to the car facing you, there will be several feet of overhanging rear out in the traffic lane at the rear.
Style-wise, the Town Car is impressive. The familiar grille is integrated nicely into wraparound headlights, and the rear pillar slopes gracefully down to meet the trunk.
The Town Car has a small, and dwindling, but specific market segment. Extremely wealthy folks may demand one, and those with a chauffer on call may also. Or, I suppose, a family of means with three kids who like to be chauffered around. Then there are business possibilities. My family suggested that the likeliest businesses looking for a car like this these days would be funeral directors, or secret service men.
CUTLINES:
1/ The massive length of the Lincoln Town Car, Cartier Edition, provides luxurious interior room, but is nearly a foot longer than a Navigator.
2/ There is unquestioned, and possibly unexcelled, room to stretch out both front and rear, in the Town Car.
3/ The woodgrain dash and wood and leather steering wheel set off the luxury touches in the Town Car.
4/ The grille and headlights wrap around the front of the Town Car as a modern touch to an old-style luxury sedan.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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