2006 Lincoln Town Car Signature Limited 25th Annviersary on 2040-cars

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Lincoln drops MKX base price to $38,995

Lincoln is giving the 2016 MKX a major improvement in style and tech, and is introducing the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 as an option for the luxury crossover. While all of those changes are significant, the cost might be just as enticing to get customers checking out the new generation. The base price for 2016 falls to $38,995, after an $895 destination charge on all models, compared to $39,795 for the 2015. At this time, there are three trim levels listed on Lincoln's site, but a Black Label version is supposed to come along later to add a bit more opulence. Above the base Premiere trim, the Select model starts at $42,285, and adds features like LED running lights, folding and heated mirrors, leather seats, and a power hatch. Spending $46,050 brings buyers to the Reserve trim with upgrades including a panoramic sunroof, 20-inch wheels, navigation, adaptive headlights, and heated seats. There are a huge number of individual options available, including full LED headlights and a safety suite of tech. Opting for the 2.7-liter EcoBoost pushes the price of any trim up an extra $2,000, and checking the box for all-wheel drive brings with it an added $2,495. As ever, you can spec one out yourself on the official configurator here.

2015 Lincoln Navigator gets lots of updates, still not all-new [w/video]

If there's one brand that could really use some fresh, all-new product, it's Lincoln. The MKC crossover is on the way and looks promising, but the just-revealed 2015 model year update of its fullsize Navigator would appear to stop somewhere short of being "all-new." This, despite replacing a product that's been on the market since 2007. Oh sure, there's a brash new face, complete with the company's love or hate split-wing grille, and the revised rear-end treatment does look better to our eyes (if overly familiar). But in the era of the bold new all-aluminum Ford F-150, the Navigator is still based on the outgoing model's all-steel bones, so it's more of an extensive mid-cycle refresh than a completely new piece.
Unlike the F-150, there's no aluminum suit on this black-tie bruiser
That's a shame, really, because the class the Navigator is playing in features a host of really modern, stylish, luxurious crossovers and sport utilities like the Cadillac Escalade, Land Rover Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class and more. Unlike the F-150, there's no aluminum suit on this black-tie bruiser, but that's not to say it isn't bringing some new tech to the table in 2015. Under the hood, for example, is Ford's well-received 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6, putting out "at least" 370 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. That's a solid engine, and should be a whole lot more spunky and efficient than the archaic 5.4-liter Triton V8 currently being employed in the outgoing model.

Lincoln recycling tree fibers into new MKX armrest

Want to hug a tree, or at least a really small part of one. Then set your arm down on one of those armrests in the 2014 Lincoln MKX crossover. The US automaker is working with Weyerhaeuser and Johnson Controls on a tree-based, cellulose-reinforced polypropylene material used in the component that connects the armrest to the floor console, Wards Auto says. With properties similar to plastic, the tree-based material replaces fiberglass and is about six percent lighter. No big deal for now, but if the material starts getting used for things like battery trays and interior storage covers, that loss in weight may eventually start adding up enough to boost fuel economy a bit, providing a green double bonus. Lincoln parent Ford, which isn't saying how much more (or less?) it costs to use the new material, established its Biomaterials and Plastics Research team in 2001. In 2007, the company began using soy-based foam in car seats used for models such as the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Mustang and has since broadened biomaterials use to components like floormats and cupholder inserts. Ford also used recycled plastic bottles from the 2012 North America International Auto Show for seats in the Focus Electric.