Think of this as the calm before the storm for Lincoln.

While the changes for Ford's luxury line are modest for 2004, don't think that implies nothing much is on the way. At least two new products that I've seen are on the way for the brand, and they will be highly competitive style-wise with what you'll find from premium brands around the world. And that's just for starters.

There is at least one other new car coming from Lincoln which I've not seen, that will be quite reminiscent of the elegant Lincolns from the early sixties, as well as featuring a heavy dose of the popular Continental show car of a couple years back.

But for now, things are pretty quiet. The 2004 Navigator, which was the target of a major redo last year, gets some equipment, color and feature changes. The DVD-based navigation system, for instance, gets some improvements that include voice activation. There also is an Ultimate equipment group which adds high intensity discharge headlamps, a power moonroof, heated and cooled driver and passenger seats, and power fold, flat third-row seat, among other things.

The LS, Lincoln's Euro flavored high performance sport sedan can now be had with a Sirius Satellite radio, and a new LSE model, an appearance package that features monochromatic paint and aluminum wheels, along with fog lamps, and chrome-plated wheels, grille, rocker panels and license plate surround, will be available later in the year.

Meanwhile, the Town Car offers new colors and trim features, and an optional Sirius satellite radio.

The Aviator, a mid-sized luxury sports utility model, gets new exterior and interior colors, an upgraded DVD-based voice activated navigation system, and a standard tire pressure monitoring system.