But thanks to John Smith's driving vision and some of the most talented people at work at GM, Cadillac today is a vibrant, tough-as-nails competitor in the luxury market and a shining example of what GM could do if they put their minds to it. The new CTS is not just a sensational Cadillac, it's another one of GM's "no apologies offered, no excuses needed" new cars, one that even has rivals from BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz looking over their shoulders muttering under their breath something like "Uh-oh, these guys finally do get it, don't they?"

And the lessons learned turning Cadillac around are the reason GM is back on its game. In short, there would be no Buick Enclave or Chevy Malibu or Saturn Aura, etc., without the soul searching and ball-busting that went into turning Cadillac around.

But Lincoln? Uh, not so much.

While GM was toiling away and doing the heavy-lifting on Cadillac, Ford was hopelessly nowhere with Lincoln. Sure, there were signs of life when the LS was present and accounted for, but Ford's legendary warring fiefdoms and bankrupt "culture" worked overtime to make sure that Lincoln was underserved and forever lost in Dearborn's legendary bureaucratic wilderness. It didn't help, of course, that Ford "marketers" (and I use that term derisively) ripped the heart out of any legitimate positive initiative that was brewed for Lincoln, giving new meaning to the term "inept" at every turn.

As a matter of fact, Lincoln marketers became charter members (along with Mercedes-Benz) of my "No Auto Industry Executives Have Done Less With More" Club, a disgraced group of auto industry hacks who squandered every opportunity to do the Right Thing when it came to reviving and reinvigorating their brands.

Here's the deal about Lincoln, Mr. Farley. You're where GM was with Cadillac oh, about six years ago. No, you're not Lost in Landau Land, but you're still lost with a capital "L." The new MKS? A tolerable effort, to be sure, but is it a game-changing Lincoln? Oh, hell no. The double-winged grille is nice and everything, but where's the rest of the car? How are the back and profile of the new MKS any different from any number of cars out there? I'll answer that one for you - they aren't. Ford is moving at a snail's pace in turning around Lincoln, and it isn't pretty. I haven't seen anything good enough to be a called a "Lincoln" yet. That means there's no drop dead, oh my God, that's a Lincoln! on the street yet.