Nautilus Club: Restyled, Renamed Lincoln to Bow in L.A.
by
Matthew Guy
Published: November 28th, 2017
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Following up on our earlier post about Lincoln’s cryptic tweet (showing eight seconds of pavement and two seconds of half a chrome wheel), internet sleuth Chris Doane Automotive has unearthed some photos which seem to show a redesigned 2019 MKX.Except this time around, Lincoln is – praise the pharaohs – deploying a real name. What did it select? Nautilus.
Along the flanks, Lincoln shoppers will find a styling flourish extending ahead of the front doors, similar to what’s found on the Continental. The model’s nameplate appears here, which I think is a great bit of automotive theatre. Let’s hope this detail continues on other Lincolns.The side windows in the front doors seem to have a line of trim, evoking memories of the powered vent windows available in Lincolns of yore. Alas, I am confident it is a fixed pane of glass. Nevertheless, one can dream. I’m just glad they stuck a real (and interesting) name on the thing.
A close look at its rump reveals “2.7T” badging, telling us that the Nautilus will be powered by a version of the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine currently found in the Edge Sport and uplevel MKX. In the 2018 MKX, this engine makes 335 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. It’s a good mill, one which should put the Nautilus on par with its competition in terms of get-up-and-go.Quickly searching the internet, we also found a YouTube video of dubious provenance displaying what seems to be several press photos of the Nautilus in a slideshow-style film. Most of them are the same as the ones shown by Chris Doane Automotive, with an important addition: a shot of the interior. A screencap of the video is shown below.
Yesterday’s tweet promised some sort of news on today’s date: 11/28. Lincoln’s press conference at the L.A. Auto Show is scheduled for tomorrow, the 29th. It’s possible Lincoln will show the Nautilus at some sort of off-site media event this evening in a bid to grab some social media play, followed by a bigger reveal alongside the MKC tomorrow.[Images: Chris Doane Automotive]
Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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Lincoln is back! Great products and finally real names to go along with them. Let the German brands keep those silly alpha numeric names.
I like names over alphabet soup as much as the next guy, but when I think of "Nautilus" I think of the octopus in a shell pumping away in the depths.