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When it comes to being the kind of a car it needs to be, poor Lincoln just can’t seem to catch a break. Should Lincolns be luxurious and ornate? Sporty and athletic? Traditional, or techno-laden? It’s interesting to look back at Ford’s idea of “What A Luxury Car Should Be”, and see that for one brief, shining moment, Lincoln swung for the fences and hit what should have been a home run on the stage of internationally sized-and-themed sedans.
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No, we are not talking about the Versailles, that tarted-up Granada from the 1970s. Instead, we’re looking back at the first Motor Trend Car of The Year for the New Millenium, the 2000 Lincoln LS.
The LS was in many ways a first for a modern Lincoln. It was no secret that it shared a platform with the Jaguar S-Type (and later, the 2002 Thunderbird). It was a small (for a Lincoln), five-passenger rear-wheel drive sedan that could be had with (gasp!) a five-speed manual with the base V6.
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The LS offered wonderful handling, thanks in part to its nearly equal 50/50 weight distribution. Perhaps one of the car’s biggest downfalls was a lack of storage space: The CD changer filled most of the glove box, map pockets were small and the center console wasn’t much bigger than a coin tray. Nevertheless, the LS was an entirely new way to experience a Lincoln, and first-year sales exceeded 51,000.
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For reasons that might never be known, Lincoln didn’t seem very interested in the LS, and did little to keep it fresh. It slowly faded away after the 2006 model year, followed into history by the Wixom, MI plant where it had been built.
Eventually its slot was filled by the Zephyr, later named the MKZ. While not a bad car, it simply couldn’t replicate the wonderful driving experience of the LS.
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This 2000 LS V8, in Parchment Gold, was recently traded in at my friendly local Ford dealership. It’s a lovely, one-owner car with every option available that year, and just 82,000 miles on the clock. While it’s not perfect, it still called out to me. Now don’t hate on it too much; if my PT Cruiser sells this week, this LS will be mine!
Good luck on selling the PT Cruiser. This Lincoln will be a nice change.
From what I’ve read, Ford abandoned the LS because it couldn’t be sold at a high enough price point to justify the premium bits underneath (which shows how far the Lincoln name had fallen by that point). Hence, the neglect and eventual death. Now Lincolns are basically tarted-up Fords.
Interesting that Lincoln beat Cadillac to the punch with a unit-body, rear-wheel-drive sedan that boasted good handling and a sporty demeanor, but quickly abandoned the effort. Cadillac brought out the CTS and stuck with it. I didn’t like the first Cadillac CTS at all, but would consider the much-improved (and much better-looking) second-generation version.
I had a 2003 Lincoln LS, and now have a 2009 PT Cruiser, what a weird reverse coincidence. I LOVED the LS, it drove like a dream(and I just had the “lowly” V6 with Auto), the interior was comfortable and well put together….when i got it a relative asked when I had bought a new Diamante, ugh. That is I think the real reason the car flopped- it was elegant but in a bland sort of way. I eventually traded it in on a Aviator- which most laypeople did not think of as a fancy Explorer, but as a Navigator. I ended up going for a PT Cruiser because when I needed more sensible transportation and smaller car payments the Chrysler had a dash of style/charm and thanks to lousy depreciation was a good buy on the used market for a relatively new low mile car. But I still miss my LS.
A nice car, but small for a Lincoln. Too much like the Taurus or the little Jaguar. I never thought the little Ford based Jag was a real Jaguar.
My perfect Lincoln would be a 69 or 70 Mark III. Next would be the rest of the 70’s decade. “Those were Lincolns.”
The LS is a nice car, all in all.
The LS and S-Type shared a platform. The Mondeo and X-Type shared a platform. The S-Type was the midsizer and a looker too.
I do agree with your sentiment however, maybe they need to close Lincoln and start over with a brand called Continental. Could seem more “modern” and “chic”. Maybe Bentley has the name though…
You’ve hit on the biggest problem Lincoln has: The potential customers (at least the ones who go on blogs) are still demanding the big, outdated, gas-hogging, over-blinged barges. And those who have moved with the times regarding luxury cars have four or five other choices already available.
Sorry man, the Mark III is yesterday, obsolete, history. As are the big Eldorado, DeVille, Crown Imperial, etc. Deal with it. They ain’t coming back.
My ultimate Lincoln is also the ’68-’71 Mark III. Beautiful beyond belief. My first ride ever was in my parents ’71 Ivy Moondust Mark III with black vinyl top.
The LS always intrigued me. But as an older used car, it suffers from uniqueness. By that, I mean that it is not loaded with the same parts found in lots of other FoMoCo cars so that a) parts are cheap and plentiful and b) everyone understands how they work and how to fix them. The LS puts me off for the same reason that the 60s Toronado did or the early Tempest – they are just different from everything else. This is the reason that I would prefer a Town Car if I were to buy something with a star at the end of the hood.
But for the right person, different can be good. And from everything I ever read, these are a delight to drive. I have always wondered what one would be like with a 5.0 out of a Mustang GT. Even with the stock V8, this could be a very enjoyable ride.
It is a pity that Ford would not stick with the concept and invest in the car. But during the PAG days at Ford, all of the investment was going into Range Rover, Volvo and Jag. Lincoln was the bargain-basement-barely-luxury car for awhile. This treatment did great harm to the brand, and I hope that Lincoln can come out of it.
There are a handful of guys that stuffed the blower from the T-Bird SC under the hood of these and really upped the fun factor.
I think it is the uniqueness of it that calls out to me. It was the same way with my old Mystique. It was just enough out of the norm to give me great satisfaction behind the wheel, but finding a mechanic wasn’t hard.
And these are delightful to drive! During the test drive, I had to cross a busy highway, and I had to floor it, it was all I hoped for and then some!
Good to see nobody is ragging on the LS! I’m a Lincoln fan, formerly owned a 71 Mark III and a 96 Mark VIII. It’s still a good looking sedan……and looking less like a Diamante every year LOL.
It WAS the Jaguar X-Type underneath. But due to Jack Nasser’s logic the Lincoln was sort of a lesser-Jag. He and his PAG organization were what hurt Lincoln. I think he intended to phase Lincoln out with Jag/Aston/Volvo. Stupid considering all the successes Lincoln had up to 2000. Now it’s time to make up for lost time, give ’em 5 years.
Actually, it was the S-Type, the X was based on the Contour/Mondeo I believe.
Yeah the Xtype was a Mondeo this thing looks bigger than that but its only a Lincoln ie a gussied up Ford.
Huh? The X-Type was a “gussied up” Ford Mondeo. The Lincoln LS wasn’t gussied up from any mainstream Ford platform……LS, Jaguar S-Type &Thunderbird shared platforms……not gussied up (is there any way to take that phrase OUT of our language!?). If you mean the Thunderbird it was equally expensive.
Platform sharing is very different than badge engineering. “Badge Engineered”: Nova/Ventura II, G Marquis/Crown Vic, Breeze/Stratus, etc.
Very very few cars don’t share a platform/engines.
Yep, slip of the fingers on the keyboard!!
All over car message boards this is asked about the LS.
Two main reasons:
1. Import intenders were never going to buy any car from Lincoln-Mercury
2. Loyal Lincoln buyers looked as the LS as ‘too small’. They wanted a new Mark IX or RWD Continental.
Generally that’s true. But it was just a bit ahead of it’s time. Now a Sporty RWD Lincoln would be spot on.
I begin to think of the same thing: ahead of its time. If Lincoln had launched it at the same time as the Cadillac CTS arrival, maybe things could had been different? Lincoln could had launched a new Mark IX coupe derived from the LS platform.
Also, another factor who didn’t helped thing, Ford, didn’t updated the LS a lot over the years compared to the big Navigator (and others SUVs)
Almost all of these seem to have been sold in that awful metallic gold colour. Has anyone ever seen a 5 speed?
One. 4 listed on Autotrader.com currently.
My boyfriend’s ex-boyfriend (talk about a tongue twister!) drove an LS-E V8 with a 5 speed manual shoved in it. He was a professional mechanic and always had something wacky to drive, usually purchased off a customer when said customer didn’t/couldn’t pay for a repair. Last I saw him, he had sold the frankenstein LS-E and picked an unrestored Rambler wagon as a daily driver.
Wow. Wondered what was wrong with the LS. A old Rambler for a DD? I guess their virtue was mechanical simplicity – which may appeal to a mechanic.
I don’t think anything was wrong with it, but he did mention that the parts were absurdly priced, even through his suppliers. Somebody bought it off of him for a boatload of money, because it was a fully functioning, factory quality manual trans swap into a V8 LS. They were never available from the factory with a V8 and stick shift, as far as I know.
I like these almost as much as the first-gen Infiniti M56, another rwd bomber that didn’t last long. Go for it, Richard!
I was really impressed by these when they debuted, but, man, that interior would barely pass muster in a Fusion today. Amazing how far Detroit interiors have come in a decade.
It’s a shame that Ford gave up on this car. It had potential. At the same time, the costs of keeping the LS competitive probably wouldn’t be worth it. The sales of Cadillac’s attempt serious revival really aren’t any better than the rebadged Fords that Lincoln has devolved into. If Ford was serious about the luxury market, they should have kept Jaguar/Land Rover and let Lincoln die with Mercury.
Oddly enough, the circa 2000-ness of it is part of the appeal to me. There is no MyFord Touch thingy to cause me to have to take my eyes off the road. Sure, it’s got a few buttons on the dash and steering wheel, but they are extremely easy to learn and do all I would ever want them to do.
The CTS’s love or hate it styling is what made it stand out when first launched, whereas Lincoln played it safe with this car, the RWD sedan combo, which should have been a hit for Lincoln, considering it even had a V8 option that the CTS never had, and the LS faded into the background and vanished, where the CTS has not only branched out into a 3 car line up with serious high performance variants and it will be soon launching its 3rd generation CTS.
Richard you gotta grab that one!
I took a look at one of these when they were new. The driver’s compartment feels cramped; this was the beginning of the intrusive-console trend that has taken over auto interior design. I kept banging my right elbow on the console.
Since then I’ve driven my dad’s 2003 T-Bird and it was quite a kick. It’s not particularly roomy inside but in T-Bird form it’s purely a fun car, so that’s somehow OK.
Well, as of right now (Wednesday night), it’s not looking too good, as the lady that was interested in my little Chrysler has not come through. I had put a small refundable deposit on the LS on Monday with the stipulation that I would buy IF the Chrysler was sold by Wednesday. So…We shall see tomorrow.
Nevertheless…What A Car!!!
Well, Rich, what’s the verdict?
I hope you get it, as I would like to see a more detailed write-up on it.
I forgot to add to my comment below that these cars did have their fans and the sales guy who was driving was really impressed with the get-up-and-go the car had. He liked it. If I were a FoMoCo fan, I would REALLY like it. I was impressed to say the least.
Yesterday a.m. on the way to work, I unleashed the 300 horses on my 2012 Impala and that impressed me too………..zoom!
In 2004, I rode in one of these on a business trip. The car was very tight on the inside and I was in the back seat – even tighter! The styling didn’t do anything to set itself apart from its competition, no matter how much power it had or how nice the driving dynamics were.
My rental to Perrysville, OH wasn’t much better – a Mitsubishi Endeavor! As I had recently come off all my eye surgeries that spring, I wasn’t about to offer to be the driver of our group to dinner!
Somehow, seeing this car – as nice as it is, can’t hold the Chrysler T&C/Chris*Craft’s water from yesterday! What a contrast…
2000MY – wow, what a L-O-N-G time ago!
One of my wife’s cousins ran a Lincoln Mercury dealership when these came out. Being in the market for a new car we went to test drive one. During the test drive the steering wouldn’t return to center without forcing it to do so. After carefully driving it back to the parking lot told him thanks, but, no thanks and left. Since we really liked the car we went to another dealership and drove a different one. Same thing. I think there was a recall on this later, IIRC. Needless to say, we bought something else.
This is one of the finest looking 4 door sedan of the new millennium, or of any recent decade. Perfect proportions, taut, aggressive and muscular but refined and tasteful – very purposeful look.
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Well, the lady never came through on the Chrysler. I went back down to the Dean’s (Dean Arbour Ford), and they offered me $2000 for the Chrysler, and offered to take a few hundred off the LS. I am going to plug the numbers into the computer in the morning when I get to work (I work for a Credit Union) and see if they will work for me.
Granted, it would not be much, but I already have a loan on the Escape, so I have to decide if I want to just plain commit to having another car loan.
Nevertheless…What A Car!!!
You are in love. Be careful!
Nice, and for a change it’s one kind of desirable American car that is available in New Zealand in factory right-hand-drive form! They weren’t sold here new, but quite a few have popped up in our sea of ex-JDM used imports. There was one for sale up the road from my sister’s house last week, was nice to see.
These were in a RHD versions? If they were destined for the JDM, I’d think their primary customer base were yakuza (Japanese mafia), who are known for buying big imported luxo sedans, such as Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Mercs.
Yes, factory RHD V8. Dashboard looks identical to the USA LHD one – next time I visit my sister I’ll try get some photos of the one near her. And I agree about them being aimed at yakuza! Although I have several JDM Ford brochures from the 80s on, and Ford Japan has sold LHD Fords/Lincolns new in Japan since at least 1980. LHD cars were very cool in Japan through the 80s/90s (possibly still are), so I never really understood why Ford went to the bother of the RHD Lincoln LS. But it means we now get them, so that’s all that matters!
And probably equally-unknown is that Cadillac has made RHD Sevilles for Japan since the 1992 model came out – I don’t know if the RHD ones were made that early, but they were definitely available in RHD in the 92-97 shape, and again in the 98-2004 model. As with the LS, we’ve received plenty of RHD ex-JDM Sevilles over the years.
Cadillas also made a number of factory RHD CTS sedans in 2009/10. They were destined for Cadillac’s launch onto the world market, but when that went pear-shaped, all of them came to New Zealand and were sold here new by my local large GM dealer. Here’s the CTS dash:
Hi NZ Skyliner, I need parts for my RHD Lincoln LS and in Oz no one wants to help me. Do you know any dealers that might be able to help. regards Dave.
You can get me at dp357@live.com.au.
Well guys, as much as it hurt….I decided against it.
Hi everyone, well I can confirm what NZ Skyliner says, they did make them in RHD and they are great. I know because I have one. My only problem is spare parts, I need some suspension/steering parts and no one can tell me if the US parts will fit, certainly recently when I purchased some plugs and filters from the US for mine they didn’t fit; I cant afford to have the same problem with suspension parts costing hundreds of dollars.
My understanding of why Ford/Lincoln produced them in RHD format was that the US government had made arrangements with the Japanese government for them to allow at least 1000 Lincolns and 1000 Caddy’s into Japan in return for some trade agreements. From there I believe the cars were exported around the world to RHD markets to serve as embassy staff cars.
If anyone can put me in touch with someone that could help re parts unique to the RHD LSs I’d be very happy. Regards Dave.
PS>> Sorry no picture for now as I am overseas until January.