It’s finally happened. I guess, at least according to society, I have entered what’s known as my “Golden Years.” That is supposed to be a good thing, apparently. To me, however, it simply means I’m closer to death than I used to be, and every birthday now feels less like a celebration and more like another lap completed in a race where the checkered flag is frankly a bit ominous.
The glass is half empty. Worse, nobody’s coming by with a refill.
My wife keeps trying to sell me on the positives. Retirement accounts. Lower blood pressure. “Slowing down to smell the roses.” All perfectly sensible things, I suppose. But I spent most of my life liking loud engines, questionable decisions, and vehicles that made absolutely no practical sense whatsoever. Slowing down feels unnatural. Like asking a Labrador not to chase tennis balls.
Still, age does force certain realities upon you. I no longer need a family bus to ferry around screaming children armed with sticky fingers and enough snack crumbs to feed wildlife through winter. Those days are over.
But there’s another problem.
At this age, climbing into a low-slung sports coupe now requires the flexibility of a yoga instructor and the recovery time of a Formula 1 driver after Monaco. You don’t simply get out anymore. You unfold yourself from the car like lawn furniture someone packed incorrectly.
And besides, most of the surviving sports cars now come with some sort of electrified wizardry under the hood. Hybrid systems. Battery packs. Regenerative braking. Soon we’ll probably power automobiles using kale smoothies and positive affirmations.
Which is why the 2026 Lincoln Navigator arrived at precisely the right moment in my life.
Ford sent me a four-wheel-drive Black Label model for a week, and unlike the last Navigator I drove back in 2022, this one hit differently. Perhaps because Lincoln clearly understands something modern carmakers often forget: not everybody wants their luxury SUV to feel like a rolling Silicon Valley experiment.
Sometimes you just want a massive luxury battleship with a proper engine.
And the Navigator delivers exactly that.
Under the hood sits a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 making 440 horsepower, connected to a standard all-wheel-drive system. No hybrid nonsense. No electric motor quietly interfering like an overenthusiastic middle manager. Just power. Smooth, immediate, deeply satisfying power.
Plant your foot and this thing moves with alarming urgency for something roughly the size of a suburban townhouse. It doesn’t accelerate so much as it gathers momentum with the unstoppable confidence of an Amtrak train.
And somehow Lincoln has managed to make this enormous machine feel serene while doing it.
The new fifth-generation Navigator debuted last year, and the updates are substantial. It’s larger in every meaningful direction, giving it even more interior room than before. Frankly, calling the cabin “spacious” feels inadequate. Spacious is a hotel room. The Navigator feels more like a luxury airport lounge that happens to travel at highway speeds.
The first thing you notice climbing inside is the giant 48-inch panoramic display stretched across the dashboard. Forty-eight inches. That’s not an infotainment screen anymore; that’s a Best Buy television section mounted directly in front of your face.
Thankfully, Lincoln resisted the urge to make the cabin feel cold and futuristic. Despite all the technology, there’s still warmth here. Real comfort. Real luxury. The Black Label trim wraps everything in rich leather, wood accents, and enough massaging seat functions to make you question why your own living room furniture has been slacking off all these years.
The front seats alone are absurdly adjustable. Thirty ways. Thirty. At this point I’m fairly certain you could configure them to replicate your favorite recliner from 1997.
The second row is equally indulgent, especially with the optional massaging captain’s chairs. And then something remarkable happens when you climb into the third row.
You discover actual adult-sized space.
Not “third-row SUV space,” where your knees end up somewhere near your ears while you contemplate your life choices. Genuine room. Enough legroom, in fact, that Lincoln claims the third row offers even more stretch-out space than the second. For once, the people sentenced to the back aren’t being punished for arriving late.
Cargo room is similarly vast. Fold the seats down and the Navigator becomes less an SUV and more a luxury cargo terminal capable of hauling furniture, luggage, golf clubs, and probably a medium-sized livestock animal if you were so inclined.
There are thoughtful touches everywhere too. Heated third-row seats. Up to 14 USB-C ports. A 5G Wi-Fi hotspot. Lincoln’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system. Even the new split tailgate is clever, with the upper section lifting normally while the lower half folds down like a pickup tailgate, perfect for tailgating or sitting there contemplating how expensive eggs have become.
Now, it isn’t perfect.
The sheer size can make parking garages feel like navigating an aircraft carrier through a drainage pipe. And the oddly shaped steering wheel remains a strange design decision that feels as though someone in Dearborn lost a bet.
But these complaints fade quickly once you settle into the experience.
Because the Navigator understands something many luxury SUVs no longer do. Luxury isn’t always about chasing the future at full speed. Sometimes luxury means comfort, silence, effortless power, and enough room to carry both your luggage and your accumulated disappointments.
And at this stage in life, oddly enough, that sounds absolutely perfect.
The 2026 Lincoln Navigator 4X4 Black Label
MSRP: $118,995
MSRP (as tested): $126,235
Engine: 3.5L Twin-turbo direct-injected DOHC 24-valve 60-degree V-6, 440 horsepower @ 5,400 rpm, 510 lb.-ft torque @ 3,300 rpm
Transmission: 10-speed shiftable automatic
Fuel Mileage (EPA) 15 city, 22 highway, 17 combined
Fuel Mileage (as tested mixed conditions): 20 mpg
Base Curb Weight: 5,936 lbs.
Exterior Dimensions
Length: 210 in.
Overall width without mirrors: 80 in.
Height: 78 in.
Wheelbase: 122.5 in.
Ground clearance: 9.6 in.
Interior Dimensions
Front head room: 38.3 in.
Front leg room: 43.5 in.
Front shoulder room: 65.2 in.
Front hip room: 61.9 in.
Second row head room: 37.9 in.
Second row leg room: 42 in.
Second row shoulder room: 65.1 in.
Second row hip room: 61.7in.
Third row head room: 37.4 in.
Third row leg room: 43.5 in.
Third row shoulder room: 64.2 in.
Third row hip room: 51.4in.
Cargo capacity, all seats in place : 36.1 cu.ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 121.6 cu.ft.
Maximum towing capacity: 8,700 lbs.
Warranty
4-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper
6-year/70,000-mile powertrain
5-year/unlimited-mile corrosion coverage
5-year/60,000-mile safety restraint system
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.