By Robert Farago
June 3, 2008 -
Our man Berkowitz phoned it in from the Lincoln MKS ride 'n drive. During our brief de-brief, I asked Justin to write tomorrow's review from a woman's perspective. (Readers annoyed by reverse sexism or bad grammar– "the car handled pretty good"– are advised not to click on that link.) No sale. Anyway, Justin reports that the cetacean-snouted sedan is, in reality, a good looking piece of kit. "The too-small tail lights look great," Berk opined. "Almost British." The suspension also earns the pistonhead's plaudits: "It's soft and relaxed yet controlled and… uh… quiet." Props also fall upon the first application of Ford's new 3.7-liter V6, a 270-horse torque-tastic mill. BUT "the six speed transmission ruins it. It never met a higher gear it didn't like. And straight away too." Justin's full review tomorrow.
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June 3rd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
From everything I’ve seen about this car it’s just not a very enthralling or game-changing product for Lincoln. It will keep the Lincoln faithful and retirement crowd in the brand but I doubt it will attract anyone else.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
So you guys have made sure he can actually SAY how it drove this time, right?
What I want to know is this: Is this in fact the Lincoln version of the next gen Mazda 6/Fusion? It sure looks that way to me, if you compare the curves to the new Mazda 6 photos I’ve seen.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
rodster, this is a larger full-size platform. Think Taurus.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I don’t think the Lincoln Taurus will do much of anything for Lincoln. The first year may be ok sales wise…but my guess is that it will fall after the car is not “new” anymore. And if the gas mileage from Jalopnik is any indication, this car is dead in the gate.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I’m looking forward to abusing one as soon as it shows up at Avis Rental @ JFK in a few weeks.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
The center console is full of cheap plastic. It’s a deal breaker for a luxury car, I would think.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
This is why Hyundai launching the Genesis could be a big deal. At least people are talking about Hyundai, who really cares about this car?
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Who really cares? How about the 8600 people who have already pre-ordered the car! Lincoln will build about 36,000 of these for 2009, so to have almost 1/4 of the production pre-sold is pretty impressive. And these cars ain’t cheap - up to $48k.
BTW, the image of the Lincoln brand is changing out in the real world. I just signed out an MKX to a 20 year old who wants to trade in his Mustang GT. His mom bought a Navigator from us, so yes he has the money. The new Lincolns are drawing customers who are in their 40s and 50s, the old time 70 year old Town Car buyers don’t “get” these new cars.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Tsk, tsk, RF, cutting into their review. I thought it was a bit corny, not overwhelmingly so, but then I saw the comments where they picked on you and I was like “ahhhh, so that’s why he didn’t like it!” :P
Ditto what dwford said. I’ve seen different demographics driving Lincolns. Then again, I’m from Pittsburgh, so the Rust Belt isn’t exactly a typical slice of American demographics.
This car just has to pad out the lineup and add a bit of volume to the Lincoln lineup. If Mercury will be axed Lincoln will have to pick up the slack. If this can position itself to replace the Town Car and fill the LS void, then the brand will set itself up well for the future.
Losing the Town Car is tough…I’m 21, I’ve driven both it and the new Lexus LS, and I’d rather have the former for style alone. Sure, the Lexus was heaps better on the inside, but that Town Car had an ATTITUDE, man. It had presence. I hope the MKS kept a bit of the swagger.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Licoln needs a real flagship, not a fwd v6 Lexiniticura wannabe. Other than the grill the car doesn’t look bad but it still looks alot like the Taurus (and will probably look even more so when the next Taurus comes out). I don’t see this being a hit but 36K units seems like a modest sales goal. The greater loss is what it doesn’t do for Lincoln. Another grill design, another different direction for the brand, Lincoln is lost and still far from finding its way.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Since when do different grill designs mean no direction? There was a time when the “family grill” didn’t exist, you know…
June 4th, 2008 at 11:50 am
It’s hard to get banned from posting on Jolopnik, yet here I am, banned for speaking ill of the dead. So I love any slam against them. Oh, I propose a Megan-on-Megan smackdown.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Why does Ford put such “smallish” gauges (tach, speedometer and particularly the small gauges above them like the fuel gauge) on this vehicle? They seem more appropriate to a small cheap subcompact.
One also has to consider the buyers of the product. As people age their eyesight isn’t as good as younger people. If most of the buyers are over 40, the design of the gauges isn’t appropriate to most of your buyers. The crowded numbering on the speedometer doesn’t look that great either.