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It looks like a savvy photographer has posted some photos on Autohome of the Lincoln Continental undisguised before its “secret” reveal tomorrow.
Check back tomorrow for details!
56 Comments on “NAIAS 2016: 2017 Lincoln Continental – This Looks To Be It...”
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Looks like a 300 had a thing going with a Volvo.
Bingo. I’ve been trying to figure out a good description and I think this is it. I’d maybe toss a little Jaguar into that as well.
I appreciate it, but I’m having a hard time understanding how this design language stands out from the crowd. Dare I say it, it’s bland enough to make most Audi sedans look “unique”.
The concept was slab sided, but not blocky. As you point out, this thing is very blocky like a 300.
This and the concept have almost no styling differences, except in the rocker panels. Have a more careful look. The production-car white vs. show-car blue is playing tricks on you.
Very much. The squared-off grille and the headlamp shape scream Volvo S80 to me.
Car makers sure know how to destroy the beauty of their concept cars.
Looks a lot better with more pixels!
Those handles are really cool.
Those headlamps look a lot more like the concept than I figured would be legal.
Saw one on the highway yesterday for a brief second going the other way, it looked pretty good to me.
I quite like it. Almost conservative to a fault, ie. the pillars, the flat sides, lack of ‘flame surfacing’.
The details arent there which is a good thing. I like those large sedans to be nondescript. There a bit of old Quattroporte in the grille and the ugly signature chrome applique on the full length tailight.
Looks like a glorified Taurus to me. That’s OK, I liked the Taurus.
Gotta lose those 20″ wheels in favor of some 17″, however.
Those look like at least 22s.
The need for ultra low profile tires on modern cars has jumped the shark.
Given what we’ve been exposed to lately, not bad.
-Needs to be about a foot longer in the rear door.
-The “fat” styling has got to got.
-Needs giant wheel delete.
Wish list:
Transverse V8 with an improved water pump design
or
Mustang based
and
suicide doors
and
Continental hump
and
some chrome… not 70s gaudy but 90s level chrome
You must be talking about buying a Hyundai Genesis or S-class!
I think you meant longitudinal V8, but I’ll give that a pass. Otherwise, I think you’re spot on.
Given the design constraints Ford chose (CD4), a transverse V8 is theoretically possible though highly improbable especially given Ford’s whole “turbo is kewl” stance.
It’s also improbable because the 3.0TT is Lincoln only and they’ll want it to be in as many products as possible.
Congratulations Lincoln, you built a 2005 Holden commodore.
Which was pretty much perfection, so kudos to FoMoCo.
@Ron.B.
Correction, late model Ford Falcon
(sarcasm on) That can’t be it! There’s too much greenhouse for a current design! (sarcasm off)
Thank god it looks like it has a decent sheetmetal to window ratio.
Don’t buy stock in Michelin or Goodyear. Carmakers are hellbent on putting them out of business.
I’m waiting for a solid rubber tread that’s just pressed onto the wheel. No need for pneumatic tires. Think about how much more low profile we could go.
This looks like what a modern Lexus should look like. As a Lincoln…meh.
Why is that man in the yellow shirt taking a leak in every picture he’s in? Why is that white car photoshopped at the bottom of every picture? Why? Why?
The white car is physically on stage with the other images on a projector screen behind it.
The front end went from being D- to being a straight C. Not good looking, but at least it’s no longer ugly. As per PrincipalDan, at least it has a half decent greenhouse.
Looks beautiful. If it “works” half as smoothly as a Lexus, it does deserve to sell by the truckload.
Needs smaller rims and more sidewall, though. When the heck is the rapper rim fad going to end???
OMG your not kidding. These idiotic 19 and 20″ rubber band useless tires need to go like now!!!!
First person to say that this isn’t a CONTINENTAL because it isn’t rear-wheel drive and doesn’t have suicide doors and doesn’t ride a bespoke platform and doesn’t have a removable bubble top so you can get your brains blow out all over Dealey Plaza can leave the room.
Maybe once and for all everyone will stop huffing the Kennedy/Matrix/Entourage/InspectorGadget ether and realize that THIS is the Continental we’re going have and not only be satisfied with it but be thankfui Lincoln gave enough of a s**t to make it.
It may not be the Continental you wished for, but rather the Continental we deserve.
Doot da doot da doot Inspector Gadget, Doot da doot da doot, dooooot dooooot.
oh and
“but rather the Continental we deserve”
I think this thing is gonna be pretty decent so I’ll reserve judgement, but we deserve the best. We don’t get it because a good bit of the time priorities are asinine, budgets are misallocated, or leadership is lacking.
“It may not be the Continental you wished for, but rather the Continental we deserve.”
Speak for yourself. I’ve done nothing to deserve another Ford product in my driveway ever again.
Incidentally, Ford has gone to great lengths to develop Lincoln’s current comedic brand language and this new car looks more likely to have been made by half a dozen other manufacturers instead. Brilliant.
Aren’t you the first person to mention these things?
I’ve actually defended the current Lincoln lineup as being good for what it is.
@Flybrain – +1. If I was told that I was going to spin a roulette wheel where black was a random vehicle from the current Lincoln lineup and red was a random vehicle from the current Cadillac lineup, I’d be keeping my fingers crossed for a Lincoln.
I would agree on many fronts. I’ll put it this way – if I were granted a car for free, Cadillac all the way.
If I bought at market price a used car with my own money? Buick or Lincoln.
In any case, I think everyone’s congnative dissonance lies in really believing Lincoln was so far seperated from Ford. Everyone has a problem with Lincolns sharing Ford platforms. When HAVEN’T they?
The problem is, if anyone knows how hard it is to sell a top-of-the-line luxury car based on a mid-market sedan, it’s Lincoln. Acura also tried this with the RLX and has bombed badly.
Granted, this is a FAR more desirable car than the old MKS (or the RLX), but I’ll be interested to see how it does. My guess is that it’ll sell better than the MKS on looks alone, and the fact that Lincoln has become far more respectable as a luxury marque than it was when the MKS came out. But will it be a defining product for the brand like the CTS was for Cadillac? I suspect not.
@Freedmike – the problem isn’t in selling a luxury version of a mid market sedan. Lexus has been doing that very successfully with a variety of models, but specifically the bread and butter RX and ES models based on the Camry. The difference is Lexus has built up enough brand equity and value (and has a reputation for top notch customer service) that people will buy a vehicle from them just because it’s a Lexus. Building value in the brand and in the ownership experience is what Lincoln needs.
I disagree. Sharing a platform with a family sedan is fine with a $35-$40,000 car like the ES, but the Continental is a top of the line luxury sedan that will sell for upwards of $60,000. Everything Lexus sells in that price range has practically zero mechanical relationship with anything you could buy at a Toyota store.
Every premium luxury sedan in the $60,000 range that’s based on a family sedan has failed in the marketplace. Examples: Cadillac XTS, Acura RLX, and the outgoing Lincoln MKS. You can even add the old Cadillac DTS to that list. People who can afford to be in this market are VERY discriminating.
I think the Continental will definitely outsell the old MKS on looks alone, and it’ll nuke whatever’s left of the XTS’ market, but will it be a game changer for Lincoln? I don’t think so.
It works in SUVs. The GX is based on the 4Runner and starts at $50k. An RX Hybrid starts at $52k. The LX is based on the Land Cruiser and starts at nearly $90k. Not Toyota/Lexus, but the Escalade starts at $72k.
You can option a non Hybrid ES up to close to $50k so it’s not cheap.
Higher-end Lexus passenger cars do share platforms with Toyota brand cars, but those Toyotas aren’t sold in the US.
Cadillac, Acura, Lincoln, etc. have issues that have little or nothing to do with platforms. The domestics failed to address the inroads made by the Germans, while Acura followed in Saab’s footsteps by failing to create a trio of sedans that would provide a branding ladder that the consumer could climb. Luxury cars require status, and status requires tiers — a good/better/best, small/medium/large approach facilitates that message.
In any case, a platform is a fairly broad concept. A platform can be used as a basis to create highly differentiated vehicles if the OEM designs them with that in mind.
PCH, I disagree again – platform DOES make a difference. Drive a $60,000 Cadillac XTS and a $60,000 Mercedes E-class and it won’t take long to notice how much better the Mercedes is to drive. Same holds true of the Lincoln MKS.
And the difference is that the Mercedes has a dedicated RWD platform built to the needs of a car in that price range, and the Cadillac and Lincoln are based on the same bones as $30,000 Chevy and Ford family sedans. You can only disguise that so much with the XTS’ styling and a nice interior.
Worth noting that the Cadillacs on the RWD platform don’t suffer from this particular problem…now they need to fix the engines.
@Pch101, I’d have to agree with FreedMike here. Platform isn’t the *only* issue with Cadillac/Acura/Lincoln, but it’s definitely a large factor in making these car feel how they feel.
You mention high-end Lexus platform sharing with Toyota brand models, but these are also 60K+ USD Toyotas, not an Avalon equivalent economy cars. There just isn’t the “economy car” image back home like they do over here, so everything from 9K USD Pixis to 100K+ Century are sold under Toyota badge.
“9K USD Pixis to 100K+ Century are sold under Toyota badge.”
I will say one difference in the JDM is how the varying cars are sold at different Toyota “stores.” It’s essentially the equivalent in the US to buying a Honda vs. Acura or Chevy vs. Buick. I’m sure the Japanese people (who are incredibly status conscious) are aware of which store it originated from.
A Ford Falcon?
Needs waftable V8.
Needs rear wheel drive w/ AWD as option.
Needs impeccable exterior & interior materials quality AND build quality (real wood, real metal, real aluminum, real leather of highest grain/grade).
Needs PLUSH RIDE that laughs and ridicules potholes & road imperfections.
Needs to be as quiet as a library inside no matter the road surface or speed.
Needs to feel as if it was made of a stainless steel bank vault at all times.
Needs to be reliable and have 2nd to none customer service at point of sale and all times thereafter.
Until it hits these marks, sorry, Lincoln, because you had your chance and wide open door to exploit Cadillac’s incredible short-sightedness, stupidity and imbecilic management, and you missed.
Not one Lincoln made meets any of these qualifications unless you count the Navigator with the RWD based statement.
The TTV6 this will have is more waftable than most V8s.
In the 3/4 view, I’m getting a lot of 2006 Azera from the rear end. The tail lamps have also lost ALL coolness in the translation from concept to reality. The rear seems more blocky than it was, as well.
Wheels too big.
It’s definitely blockier, both front and rear. The concept had more of a rounded profile, which is why it reminded me of some of the VW Group barges.
I don’t know, it looks about identical to me, but the concept had that thick chrome trim piece that wrapped around the bottom of the body, which disguised the height. Without that the car looks a bit taller and blockier, but far as I can tell, the shape is just about exactly the same.
It looks good to me either way.
Looks classy if a bit dull. Did we ever find out what platform it’s on? That doesn’t look like a Taurus platform. Could it be longitudinal and RWD based (I’m sure it will be AWD optional if not standard). I’m guessing we’re looking at probably the 2.0/2.7/3.5 EB engine lineup?
It’s a stretched version of the transverse CD4 platform used for the Fusion and the Edge, etc.
The only engine option they’ve detailed so far is a new 3.0TT V6 ecoboost that is supposedly Lincoln-exclusive (~400 HP). I wouldn’t be shocked if they add a base model with the 2.3T or so.
That’s correct. Also, the new Chinese-market Taurus is on that same stretched CD4 architecture, so consider it a direct luxury counterpart to that car.
That’s one interesting looking XC90/300 you have there Lincoln and not even remotely as nice as the concept. This would be dullness with a capital “D” if it was a next generation Taurus. But a Lincoln!
I wish Ford would bring the Lincoln brand to the UK.
Since they sold Jaguar the blue oval doesn’t have a standalone premium/luxury brand here. Marketed well this could do well. Certainly better than their Vignale branded Mondeos which have been a flop so far (because nobody is paying $10k extra for a Chrome’ed Ford).
I thought the prototype was really nice- this is the morning after car.