Lincoln MKT is a Mistake, On All Sorts of Levels

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

I mean, Holy Jesus, look at the thing! This could be the one example of a concept car whose drama shouldn't make it to production. Automobile Mag has Brenda Priddy's spy shots of the camo prototype, whose see-through bra reveals that the model's most hideous aspect– the cetacean snout– will be offending eyeballs everywhere. Well, not everywhere; the three-row Flex-based luxury CUV is bound to be a sales disaster. Once again, the "Reach Higher" brand has reached deeper into Ford's parts bin to devise a low-cost (for them) alternative to a "real" Lincoln. What is a "real Lincoln" you ask? Whatever it is, it's not an alphanumerically-named vehicle with about as much suave sophistication as Hooters' Bikini Contest 2008– only with a lot less aesthetic appeal. And does this MKT step all over the MKX? Yes. And does Lincoln sell six vehicles? Yes. And did I, a professional automotive journalist, have to visit the Lincoln website to make sure I remembered them all and got the nomenclature correct? Yes.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Mxfive4 Mxfive4 on Aug 19, 2008

    I was going to write that I didn't think this was that bad... then I went to Lincoln site and looked at more pics. It's hideous. Still there is a market for ugly and expensive, in fact Chris Bangle has made a living off of it. The true head-scratching comes when you think, Ford needs a low-consumption, high-volume product. This is a high-consumption, low-volume product. Wrong car, wrong time, too bad they can't trade it to GM. I'm sure it would have made a great Aztek 2.0

  • Phil Phil on Aug 20, 2008

    Why so serious? The front countenance reminds me of the Joker in the new Batman movie.

  • GS650G GS650G on Aug 20, 2008

    A car called the Flex, the problem starts there for me. Flex what?

  • Sajeev Mehta Sajeev Mehta on Aug 20, 2008
    guyincognito : Mullaly has the business acumen, there is no doubt, but the on thing he doesn’t have is a sense for what makes a great car. In fact, nobody at Ford does. Mark Fields and Jay Mays are supposed to be those guys, which is why they should be fired right now. Yup, nobody has the stones to admit that the D3 platform is a lost cause. Its too big for a fake-truck, FWD based and too boring. Maybe EcoBoost will help, but this application is still a nose heavy station wagon with a Lincoln badge. Since I'm one of the resident history buffs: Lee Iacocca took the 1980s Mark VI and tried a wagon version based on the Crown Vic (it was already based on the Panther coupe and sedan chassis)...it was much, much uglier than the MKT.
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