Two, three, four maybe even five corporate visions ago, the LS sports sedan played a significant role in Ford Motor Company's plans for its Lincoln division.
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| 2006 Lincoln LS (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
As I recall, the plan then was to turn the venerable brand into something like Detroit's version of a European autobahn cruiser, with similar skills but for less money. This seemed -- and indeed still seems -- to make sense for a Detroit-based car company.But that idea didn't work and now the LS doesn't fit in with the current corporate vision for Lincoln (which I want to say is whatever vehicles they can morph off of the Mazda6 platform), and it is getting old and so it's going to join that vast collection of ex-models.At the end of the 2006 model year, which is about a year from now, the LS will be no more. But something similar will likely come along to replace it in about two years, probably based on a front-wheel-drive Volvo platform, which proves Lincoln won't just be a collection of supercharged Mazdas.I don't mean to make fun of platform sharing in general, since there are lots of solid examples of how a smart company can take one good model and turn it into another good car under another name.The LS is an excellent example of that, since it shares a significant amount of superstructure with the Jaguar S-Type, which caused no end of harrumphing at the time from automotive anglophiles.
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| 2006 Lincoln LS (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
Lincoln used the S-Type to good affect, since the LS was and still is an entertaining and spirited largish sedan. Which is why we're here, ready to drop a word in the ear of someone looking for a bargain in this segment.For 2006, it seems that Ford has gone with a simplified lineup for the LS, which means the V-6 has been dumped and only a V-8 Sport model remains.This is a very good thing, since the car was never really that interesting without the 3.9-litre V-8, which produces 280 hp at 6,000 rpm and 286 lb-ft of torque at 4,000. Those are modest enough numbers in the ever-hurrying industry stampede to deliver more grunt, but they do a good job of moving the four-door sedan along.It helps that the five-speed automatic transmission has a SelectShift feature that allows the driver to pick the precise gear for that exact moment. This can make any kind of performance moments more fun.
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| 2006 Lincoln LS (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
What's hard to find out unless you take the car on a handling course is that it's a very well honed machine, with a weight distribution that's nearly 50-50, the talent to go where you point it, and little tendency to roll under duress thanks to a sports-tuned suspension. Genuine car enthusiasts created the Lincoln LS, and that shows when it's pressed. This is where the car's Jaguar heritage shows up.The car's Lincoln side shows up in more quotidian situations, such as a long highway cruise or a Saturday on errand patrol. Here, the brand's long-admired reputation for comfort and convenience steps forward to play a key role.Inside, the LS looks pretty much like you'd expect a Lincoln to, with a fairly think layer of luxury spread across the entire cabin, with prominent prestige highlights.