Spying: Lincoln Continental Transitions From Concept to Production

Sure, it is an decent enough ride functioning wise, and others will be happy to see it come on the market.  The design just does not appeal to me.  It looks too busy from the wheels, to the lights, and I do not like the large grill.

Merge two of those 3.0L V6 blocks to create a V12 for this beast!

Naw a smarter bet for Lincoln would be a VOLT like Power train that would rock the Germans World with V12 power equivalence.

Ugh... the prototype in camo belies its 2005 Ford Five Hundred roots.  Very close to sticking a fork in Lincoln if that holds true.  This car needed no less than a RWD chassis to return the brand to relevance.

Ugh... the prototype in camo belies its 2005 Ford Five Hundred roots.  Very close to sticking a fork in Lincoln if that holds true.  This car needed no less than a RWD chassis to return the brand to relevance.

I think they are getting rid of the old D3 platform and building this an the '16 Taurus on a variation of the Fusion platform...

MkZ so much nicer.....this is a dud

Where is this?

http://preview.netcarshow.com/Lincoln-MKR_Concept-2007-hd.jpg

^ MKR concept was the pinnacle of a Lincoln design/package/image, IMO, in the brand's entire history. That car, built as it was, would have been a giant killer.

Merge two of those 3.0L V6 blocks to create a V12 for this beast!

A transversely mounted V12 would certainly be an interesting feat!

Yup! That!

The car in an AWD configuration with the V12.

As stunning as that concept was, it had a 3.8L pushrod motor in it just to package an engine and have it roll.

But this Conti is so much more stunning.

And that stunning face.....soooo much nicer than MKR toothed concept.

The tinting glass roof by button, is just off the charts wickedly 'gotta have.'

One wonders why they didn't just use the 2.7EB... it's not like anyone would have known the 0.3 liters were missing

One wonders why they didn't just use the 2.7EB... it's not like anyone would have known the 0.3 liters were missing

Maybe a 3.0 is replacing the 2.7.  Wondering why the didn't use the existing 3.5 that Lincoln uses today..

3.0L is the new Lincoln exclusive variant of the nano.  400 plus hp and packages small, unlike the D35, which will be RWD application only in next upgrade.

As stunning as that concept was, it had a 3.8L pushrod motor in it just to package an engine and have it roll.

 

But this Conti is so much more stunning.

 

 

 

And that stunning face.....soooo much nicer than MKR toothed concept.

The tinting glass roof by button, is just off the charts wickedly 'gotta have.'

No, that other concept smokes this one without even trying.  They definitely picked the wrong concept to bring to market.

^

I don't see a big market for a large luxury coupe.  

Especially one that is buck toothed.

Are they replacing the MKS with the Continental?  or is the Continental supposed to be a $60,000 car above the MKS?  Which would make it more of a K900 or Equus competitor, or what is the expected price point?

The approved Continental is trying to hard to look like a Jaguar but with edge. I actually do like the MKR a bit more but not much more. both are cool concepts but not what I would want in production.

I like both.  I hope the Continental keeps its name and most of its look. 

Continental just bores me the more I look at it.  At first glance when it was revealed I thought it was okay, but nothing that really grabbed my attention, either.  As I keep seeing more and more pictures of it I find it hard to see anything that makes it other than another plain, uninspiring sedan design.  That MKR just looks like it actually has some style and panache, and yes a better looking front-end, no buck-tooth problems there.  I'm not buying a luxury anything anytime soon on what I make, but if I were in the market for a luxury vehicle the MKR would at least catch my attention, where the Continental just wouldn't even register.

I like both.  I hope the Continental keeps its name and most of its look. 

Name is set in stone.  Also set in stone, is that the 400hp AWD will be standard.  That is perfect.  I could care less how quickly this thing cuts an apex, as that is not what luxury cars do,  although with that hardware riding on large wheels....I doubt it will be leaning into it either.

The looks, from what little I have seen internally, appear very close to concept.  

I only wish they would tone down the chrome a bit, as that retro look might get a bit old in time.

For those who like the looks it will be fine-it'll do good business in China, which is its primary focus. But the underpinnings scream "Buick fighter." I'll wait for the new RWD platform before I get excited.

The ATS and CTS don't appear to be getting anyone very excited, based on sales, so perhaps RWD is not the solution.

Something tells me an $80K CT6 near identical clone of the CTS will not do much either.

So, perhaps Lincoln will have more luck with their approach.

I'm not sure how dragging Cadillac into the discussion accomplished anything. Lincoln competes with Buick, not Cadillac. That became immediately obvious when MT said the Escalade was better than a Range Rover, and Consumer Reports gushed over the Navigator's practicality.

That said, I'm glad you brought up the sales thing. I'll grant that the ATS and CTS could be doing better in that regard. However, in the case of both Cadillac and Lincoln the bigger picture must be considered. Cadillac sales are actually about par when you consider sales by platform (the old CTS stood alone, while both the all-new ATS and CTS both use Alpha) while the current Lincoln sedan sales darling uses Fusion bits (and based on Fusion sales drops versus MKZ gains, cannibalizes Fusion sales to boot-the Lincoln is up 3,000 units while the Ford is down 10,000. Oops). The Alpha platform is a fantastic bit of engineering that regularly pits the boots to Bimmers and Benzes. The Fusion platform is... a Fusion platform. And finally, that sweet Alpha platform is about to sell in the six figures thanks to the additional sales the Camaro will bring. In other words, trickle-down engineering is about to give GM some fantastic cars. Ford is about to give us... well, nicer Fusions