Return of the Continental

I actually like this car. I am not in the target market, nor will I buy, but I'm happy they are making it again.

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/03/30/lincoln-continental-concept-new-york-official-photos-videos/

What do you guys think?

Looks huge and very Aston Martin-y.

I'm all for it, if it's rwd with parts derived from Mustang GT bits. Then they can resurrect the Mark.

Shut up and take my money!

We have a dark blue 1970 Continental..

This would look great sitting next to it in the garage.

Considering what the ecoboost V6 in the GT is putting out, I'd wait and see just what they're planning.

I love the interior. The touring luggage, liquor cabinet and recliner probably won't make it to production though. Shame.

I'd rock that all day (If I had the bread). I like the new nose look too, IMO, the current Lincoln face is ruining some of the otherwise prettiest cars on the road today.

RWD would be cool, but I suspect it will be AWD, and built on a modified existing FoMoCo platform.

It's about time. IMHO, Lincoln suffers from the same issue that Mercury had: too much overlap with other Ford offerings. Let's face it, current Ford offerings are pretty damn good, so there's little reason to spend the extra coin for a Lincoln, so they need to not just be a little bit more luxurious - they need to be a lot more.

Horrid wheels, overly fussy styling on the headlights and a chromed Kia grille.The overall shape is nice, but too much street bling in the detailing.

They fooled me (actually my wife) once. They will never fool me again.

They still make Lincoln? Hmmm...learn something new every day. Took my kids to the auto show yesterday and they breezed right past Lincoln.

To me, it looks like every other car in that segment, with Lincoln headlights and tail lights...and ridiculous wheels. It's not a bad look (except the wheels), just not very distinctive.

That nose bugs me. Not because it resembles something else- but it's a WHOLE NEW concept of the Lincoln nose. How many times do they plan on changing that? The most recent design was supposed to remember Lincoln in it's glory years, so we change it again.

Guys- it's not the nose that's the problem. It's the whole car idea. As in nobody has an idea what Lincoln is supposed to be. Churning helps nothing.

As for the engine- based on it's size, it's a version of the brand new 2.7/2.9 engine for the trucks- which means the base engine will be very healthy.

Chassis wise, a good guess would make it a Mustang derivative, so it's actually a Lincoln LS base chassis. Which is a good thing. (it also means that a 5.0l V8 would fit, but I have no idea about that).

The_Jed wrote: Looks huge and very Aston Martin-y. Then they can resurrect the Mark.

Yes please.

Awesome. I really like it.

I think I'd like to see it in person. Those close up photos don't seem to do a big car like that justice.

In reply to alfadriver:

Serious question, not joking or poking fun at all. Does anyone at FoMoCo really know what Lincoln should be?

As someone else already noted, the Ford product lineup is pretty darn good right now, so Lincolns that just look like blinged out Fords don't have that much appeal.

Maybe I'll start a new thread later today, and will let the GRM hivemind decide what Lincoln's future direction should be. I have some real ideas, I'm not promising they're good, but they're real.

"Signature full-width tail lamps feature advanced light-through-chrome technology."

I like this. Anyone know how it's done?

DeadSkunk wrote: Horrid wheels, overly fussy styling on the headlights and a chromed Kia grille.The overall shape is nice, but too much street bling in the detailing.

I agree about the wheels, but the rest of your comment is on crack. Kia grille? Not even close.

I love that 3/4 view and C pillar shape.

This car is American luxury all over. It's not another stupid wannabe euro sedan, which we don't need more of. And I love the blue interior. About time we got something other than black, grey or tan.

And while the bling is a bit show car extravagant, it needs to be a non-Euro interior, too:

I like it, but that's irrelevant.

Not only because I don't have the dough to buy that, but mostly because no one will be able to buy that. Lincoln hasn't produced a relevant car in my lifetime (I'm 34). With Acura, they are at the absolute bottom of luxury car brands. Until they have a clue about what they want to do with Lincoln, they will remain pointless.

I think the odds that something interesting will come out of this show car are about 1000 to 1.

In reply to fanfoy:

You are probably right, but I said the same thing about Cadillac about a decade ago.

If "Head up their rear" GM can turn Cadillac around completely in just a few years, I would hope that "Has a Clue" FoMoCo could do the same or better with Lincoln.

I'm very very happy you all seem to like this.

My job in design involves planning for and coordinating show cars. While I am not in any way a designer, I have been involved with this project for over a year now and have been involved in the build. I wish you could see how the lights work, the rear seats recline etc. in person, it's truly amazing. The color is simply gorgeous too when you see it in the flesh. There is a very very subtle metal flake in there which you don't notice until up close under good lighting, but it really helps the color pop.

Trust me, we know what Lincoln is and should be. Kumar Galhotra is the head of Lincoln and David Woodhouse is head of Lincoln Design. While David is a Brit, he's a true car guy and has spent many years living in the US before going back to the UK for a while, he's been back in the US of about 18 months now since he took over Lincoln Design.

fanfoy wrote: Lincoln hasn't produced a relevant car in my lifetime (I'm 34). With Acura, they are at the absolute bottom of luxury car brands.

Not built a relevant car? Then how are these flying off the lots?

I'm I the only one who first saw the pictures of the front seats and said "Ohhh, they brought back velour..." (Velour in Zapp Brannigan's voice) Only to realize it's 'just' leather.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I'm very very happy you all seem to like this. My job in design involves planning for and coordinating show cars. While I am not in any way a designer, I have been involved with this project for over a year now and have been involved in the build. I wish you could see how the lights work, the rear seats recline etc. in person, it's truly amazing. The color is simply gorgeous too when you see it in the flesh. There is a very very subtle metal flake in there which you don't notice until up close under good lighting, but it really helps the color pop. Trust me, we know what Lincoln is and should be. Kumar Galhotra is the head of Lincoln and David Woodhouse is head of Lincoln Design. While David is a Brit, he's a true car guy and has spent many years living in the US before going back to the UK for a while, he's been back in the US of about 18 months now since he took over Lincoln Design.

Looks like you guys took the color from Barry Wolk's '56 Continental that you had in there for a while.

I've also heard fom Barry that the concept is VERY close to the production car.

I don't get the hate. It has a distinctive american shape I see a hint of Chrysler 300 in the looong roof that works better than said Chrysler. Unlike the Chrysler, it is lower and wider, giving it a "hug the road" look that begs to be taken on a long car trip.

Even the engine is not a bad choice. The ecotech puts out a lot of smooth power and gets decent mileage. It is also lighter and smaller than the V8, leaving more room for interior space and crumple zones.

Yes, it has a lot of show car bling and the rims are not inspiring.. but it is a show car.

I do like the blue interior.

And this... that's just majestic.