Ten years after the Lincoln Navigator established the whole SUV bling thing, the one-time rappers' delight has been eclipsed by the Cadillac Escalade. Unfortunately for both Lincoln and Cadillac, the novelty of a high-ridin' luxo-truck seems to be eroding in an era of $4-per-gallon gasoline and a rising chorus of environmental angst. So it might not matter that the current Navigator is far better than its trend-setting predecessor. If you can get past the great chrome fence of a grille (not an easy task, perhaps), the styling is much more sheer and refined - squint, and you can see the influence of the early ‘60s Continentals. That's particularly true of the interior, but the neither the gauges nor the myriad silver buttons are easy to read. In the engine room, the Escalade has it all over the Navigator, which is saddled with Ford's perennially underachieving 5.4-liter V-8, but one wonders whether neck-snapping acceleration is really important in a 6000-pound SUV. Lincoln has the edge in the power toys department. Its power-folding third-row seat makes its cargo area far easier to use and its power-deploying running boards clean up the exterior look. Given those advantages, it's surprising that Ford went to the trouble of giving the Navigator a power-tilt steering column but omitted the telescope function (perhaps the adjustable pedals are supposed to compensate). No big SUV is fun to drive, but there are far worse places to spend time than in this McMansion on wheels.