A Beautiful Mind (or minds) at Lincoln created a wonderfully schizophrenic truck in this the 2002 Lincoln Blackwood. Half of its personality is crew cab, the other half is luxury SUV. The crew cab portion has plenty of muscles: a 5.4-liter, 32-valve V8, with 300 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 355 foot-pounds of torque at 2,750 rpm; and a built-in Class III/IV towing hitch capacity of 8,700 pounds. An engine management system supplies torque and traction during slippery conditions.

The interior personality, adorned with large black leather bucket seats accented with dark Wenge wood, is pure luxury SUV with all the bells and whistles: friendly navigation system (optional), obstacle-detecting reverse sensors, power adjustable gas and brake pedals, two-driver-memory power seats, additional audio and climate controls on the steering wheel, a Securilock passive anti-theft system, a power-operated tonneau cover (very cool), dutch door-opening tailgate, and ventilated seats that either heat or cool.

We noticed that the torque-y V8 requires a feather-footed approach. The handling is quite stable due to an independent short- and long-arm front suspension and variable-rate shock absorber damping. Heavy loads or trailors are assisted by a load-leveling rear suspension. The beefy 18-inch all-season tires are couple with standard four-wheel disc brakes with ABS. The Blackwood with its dual personality has jumped right to the front of a new catagory: premium lux pickup trucks.

- Editor

• Blackwood Unveiled
• 2002 Lincoln Blackwood Will Debut With Ultrasonic Reverse Sensing System
• Compar-a-graph--See how it stacks up

Please go to thefor necessary media tools.