“Subtle” isn’t often the first adjective you’d think of when describing luxury SUVs. Even plain full-size SUVs are gargantuan in stature and attention-demanding by nature, so luxury SUVs are often a double scoop of in-your-face wealth: the new money ostentation of a G-Wagon, the aggressive styling and throaty growl of a Land Rover, the flash and flair of an Escalade, the super-sized supercar look of a Urus.
However, much like stealth wealth — essentially the act of showing your means through more coded references and choices instead of ostentation and flash — there’s one luxury SUV that opts for a more subtle interpretation of those cultural codes. It’s the Navigator from Lincoln, especially the top-of-the-line Black Label model. The Navigator, which was first produced for the 1998 model year, is enjoying its 25th anniversary in 2023, and, apart from the chauffeur-favorite Town Car, is Lincoln’s best-known vehicle, one that was named NAIAS Truck of the Year in 2018 and also currently has an electric iteration in some stage of development (it was originally teased in 2021). However, it’s never been done quite like the Black Label.
The Navigator Black Label is chock-full of premium features, but they’re for the driver and passengers to experience and enjoy. It doesn’t shout its wealth from the rooftops, instead it immerses its riders in it. It’s not hard to imagine the Roy family from Succession being carted around in a Navigator Black Label as they head from meeting to meeting, and Hypebeast spent a weekend taking the Navigator Black Label from New York City to Newport, RI, for the Newport Jazz Festival, a three-and-a-half-hour drive made up of highways, bridges and winding country roads alike. Here’s what we thought.
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Exterior
The Navigator has always been big and boxy, and the Black Label is no exception to that rule. Its overall platform is shared with the Ford Expedition, but unlike the Expedition’s overall rugged look, the Navigator goes for smooth and classy. It may be called “Black Label,” but the color Hypebeast took out was dubbed “Chroma Caviar,” an elegant dark grey that was set off by pops of chrome on the bumper, grille, logos and trim, and accented beautifully by the high-gloss ‘22 black rims. Speaking of the logos, they’re present but not overpowering, with a Lincoln star logo on the front grile, plus a handful of Navigator details on the front doors and the trunk. Wealthy-but-stealthy, it serves up the Navigator’s very best part — its interior — in largely understated fashion.
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Nicholas Llanton/Hypebeast
Interior
Where the exterior practices refinement and restraint, there’s a lot going on with the interior in the best way possible, and that’s not because it’s almost the size of a studio apartment — likely bigger, actually, if you live in NYC. When the key fob is close to the car or you unlock the doors, a welcoming step-up automatically folds down to help you climb into the cabin. Inside, it’s resplendent in premium perforated leather with accents provided by both real and artificial wood trim plus small hits of suede.
The Navigator seats seven comfortably, with a fold-down third row for even more storage space and a giant panoramic sunroof that bathes all three rows in natural light. Black Label iterations ensure that the middle row’s duo of seats have the same “captain’s chair” feel and features as the driver and front passenger do, meaning missing out on calling shotgun doesn’t mean you have to feel like you’re sitting at the kids’ table on Thanksgiving. There’s a large touchscreen in the front as well as one in the back to provide zone-specific climate control (no need to ask the driver to crank the AC up any more no matter how far back you’re sitting), and all four “captain’s chair” seats were equipped with multiple massage functions, which the passengers loved but this driver couldn’t partake in too heavily as he needed to watch the road. There’s plenty of storage space around the center consoles as well, and they car’s myriad of features are all easily controllable and adjustable once you get the hang of the touchscreen commands — there is a slight learning curve due to the sheer volume of customizable aspects. Long story short, it feels like a home away from home, a respite from the outside no matter how chaotic the roads might be.
Engine and Handling
The Lincoln Navigator was designed for luxury cruises, not high-end track performance, so it’s not a speed-and-handling competitor to other super-sized SUV models like the BMW X7. Its 440hp twin-turbocharged V6 does have enough giddyup to get moving quickly, however: though we never had a proper chance to put the pedal to the metal (a byproduct of driving on the ever-snarled I-95) in the instances we had to accelerate quickly to merge on the highway or pass an erratic driver (we’re looking at you, Connecticut), the Navigator roared to the task.
Handling-wise, the Navigator performed adequately for such a large vehicle, and the multiple drive modes provided responsive handling in heavy rain and on bumpy, unpaved passageways. Its most impressive feature was the hands-free driving setup, which, once enabled, would quickly detect even winding highway lanes and navigate (no pun intended) them admirably, even chastising the driver with a loud beep if they glanced away from the road briefly. It should be worth noting that this system would occasionally inaccurately sense that the driver’s hands weren’t on the wheel and shut off, and didn’t work particularly well in heavy rain either. The only direct performance knock, besides the occasional auto-driving slip-ups is that the miles-per-gallon was decidedly subpar: even with conservative driving that was mostly on highways, we averaged just above 17 MPG.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a high-end, smooth, relaxed ride that’s loaded with comfort features and presented in tasteful, minimalistic fashion, the Lincoln Navigator Black Label is an excellent choice. Smooth and elevated, it removes much of the stress from a commute, even if it’s a three-and-a-half-hour road trip drive. Even when all seven seats are taken up, there’s plenty of room to go around too. Low fuel economy is the only real knock on what’s our new favorite stealth wealth SUV.
