Millions of American drivers use a pickup truck on the job site or farm every day. But many many more drive a truck they don’t need. Seventy five percent of trucks tow something less than twice a year (so one or zero times). Seventy percent of trucks go off-road less than twice a year. Sixty five percent of trucks haul something in their bed less than twice a year. Most pickup trucks in the U.S. aren’t a necessity, they’re a luxury.

Sine 2009, the Ford F-150 Platinum–with its tailgate-wide chrome trim and leather interior–has been a very popular luxury vehicle. Now, competitors are trying to outdo it with even more opulent truck trims. Examples include the Ram 1500 Tungsten and Toyota Tundra Capstone. But before all that, Ford experimented with saying the quiet part out loud. It slapped a Lincoln badge on an F-150. First as the Lincoln Blackwood and later as the Mark LT. A true luxury truck. And there was something refreshingly honest about it.

The short-lived Lincoln Blackwood truck

Ford Motor Company first tried a Lincoln-badged F-150 in 2002. The Blackwood was a concept truck first that got rave reviews. It got its name from its black, simulated wood grain bed box. To match the look, it was only available in black paint. Ford built the Blackwood based on its 10th-generation F-150 for the 2002 model year. But it flopped and Ford Motor Company stopped production after just 3,383 units.

The Lincoln Mark LT truck never really died

The automaker took another swing at the luxury truck market with its 2004 Mark LT. This truck offered buyers multiple paint options. It only came configured with four doors and a 300 horsepower V8. But buyers could opt for AWD and/or a towing package.

In Mexico, the Mark LT it was a very popular vehcile. In fact, it was often the best-selling Lincoln model in Mexico. Ford redesigned the Mark LT and continued selling it in Mexico until 2014.

In the U.S., the new Lincoln truck outsold its main competitor: the Cadillac Escalade EXT. But it didn’t do much else. Ford Motor Company hoped to sell 13,000 Mark LTs annually. But in its first year it only sold 10,274.

Ford finally realized that U.S. pickup buyers didn’t want the quiet part said out loud. U.S. buyers who want a truly luxurious truck also want it to have an F-150 badge.

Why? Who knows. We’ve established that the minority of trucks get used as work trucks. But it seems U.S. drivers want them to at least look like work trucks on the outside. So for the 2009 model year, Ford Motor Company cancelled the Lincoln Mark LT and immediately replaced it with the first Ford F-150 Platinum. The rest, as they say, is history.