Ay Dios Mio! 2011 Lincoln Mark LT spotted south of the border

The Lincoln Mark LT never really worked out according to plan. The thinking was that trucks and SUVs were so hot, all you had to do was rebadge 'em and then roll around in all the easy money. And while that worked wonders for Cadillac via the Las Vegas-a-riffic Escalade EXT, Lincolns with beds just never got any play. In fairness to the LT, the stage for failure was set by the Blackwood, a truck only intended to appeal to polo players (the bed was carpeted). The LT, on the other hand, was essentially a fully-dressed F-150 with Lincoln badges. Lincoln Mark LT production stopped in late 2008 and no one cared. Except, apparently, Mexicans.

Despite all that, last March brought us some spy shots of a 2011 Lincoln Mark LT running around the Detroit metro area. Huh? Well here's the thing: These trucks are headed down south -- way down south. Turns out that the Lincoln brand still has a certain cachet in Mexico, and our neighbors to the south see no problem in shelling out a little extra for the honor of the badge. Don't laugh, there are plenty Americans who routinely shell out around $50,000 for the same truck with a Ford badge (the Lincoln Mark LT is essentially the Ford F-150 Platinum).

Anyhow, here's a pre-production 2011 Lincoln Mark LT running wild somewhere in Mexico. We thought maybe we'd be able to tell from the license plate, but that's definitely a 2002-2007 Distrito Federal plate. Frankly, this truck could be anywhere. But seeing as how most of us don't know our Aguascalientes from our Hidalgo, what's it matter where? The larger point is that in a few years time if someone asks you to bring them the head of Alfredo Garcia Jr. and you want to do so in high style, has Lincoln got the lux-truck for you.

[Source: Auto Cosmos]