Obviously, it's Em Kay Tee, which sounds more like a rapper than a Lincoln. Or, for that matter, a car name. Speaking to TTAC reporter Sajeev Mehta, Ford designer Peter Horbury dismissed any doubts about Lincoln's alphanumeric nomenclature: "They are all different cars." Different from what? Their Ford counterparts? Different how? More bling? Anyway, the Lincoln MKT concept is yet another vehicle built on Ford's increasingly ubiquitous D3 platform. According to el grande queso Mark Fields, the Eco-Boost V6 underhood gives the MKT 20 percent better fuel economy (relative to what he didn't say). It's a four passenger concept car with quad buckets! Or… a seven seat passenger vehicle! But one thing's for sure: the rear styling goes back to 1930s classicism. Or 1980s confusion a la Cadillac Seville and Lincoln Continental. As for the front, Horbury says the Paul Weller-esque grill "adorning" the MKX and Navigator is dead. And the MKT's sides are made of recycled plastic. How green is that?
[Reported by Sajeev Mehta]
I’ll be in the market for one as soon as I need to drive on a road covered with ball bearings.
Lincoln’s naming convention has to change, and I mean now.
Oddly enough, they probably have a model in development called the NOW, but they’d force people to refer to it as the Enn Oh Double You.
MKInsertLetterHere – Pronounced “Forgettable.”
I like the back of this beast—but I am more a fan of the MKX 1963 Conti type grill. Look forward to seeing the concept when I travel to Detroit on Sat.
As for the Field’s comment “the Eco-Boost V6 underhood gives the MKT 20 percent better fuel economy (relative to what he didn’t say)”—-not surprised Mr. Lite-Weight cannot seem to complete a thought.
So what _is_ the real deal on this Twin-Force-Eco-Boost-Mellencamp (or whatever it is called now ) engine?
Sounds great on paper . . . .
After 20+ years in the Army, when I hear “MKT,” I think “mobile kitchen trailer.”
I wonder if anyone still has any rights to the name “Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad” or MKT?
gronald :
January 14th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
So what _is_ the real deal on this Twin-Force-Eco-Boost-Mellencamp (or whatever it is called now ) engine?
They’re direct-injection + turbo engines. Nothing more. Ford says a DI+turbo V6 can give the same power at 20% more fuel efficiency than a V8.
Ii think we should get a pool going as to see who files for Chapter 11 first, GM, Ford, or Chrysler.
My $5 is on Ford. With the mild refresh of the F-150, this amazingly ugly Lincoln MKT, and the Ford xB…I mean…Flex. Their ONLY saving grace is that they have powerful engines.
Does the concept have suicide doors? if not, it needs them.
FWIW, Taurus X FWD is EPA 16/24, combined 19. 20% better than that is EPA 19/29, combined 23, respectable for a 200″ long vehicle.
Well, the 3.5T will have 350 hp or so with similar torque, so it would be 20% more efficient than an equivalent NA V8 producing that much power. My guess is that the 3.5 EcoBoost will have similar mileage to the current Taurus X except with 100 extra ponies and a 100 extra lb-ft of torque towing it along.
I don’t get why everyone is harping on Lincoln for their naming when every freaking company has it. I’m pretty sure it’s just because it’s Lincoln. There are rumors that the Continental brand may return though, if only in a trim form.
FWIW, the MKS and MKT ride on a heavily modified D3. They share basically nothing with their Ford counterparts. The platform, however, will be passed down to the Taurus for its next gen. It goes far beyond a little bling as even the exterior shows.
RobertSD: Kinda with you on the Lincoln naming thing—everyone else does it so why harp on Lincoln. That said, I think part of the reason is that there is heritage in names like the Continental that could help differentiate from the other alphabet soup names. I can see that point—but Ford / Lincoln drove those names into the ground so that I am afraid they have no equity and just reinforce bad images of old fogey cars. Better now to brand the car a “Lincoln” and manage that properly–than tying to rehab a damaged name.
p71_CrownVic: Remember—How one perceives the looks of a vehicle are in the eye of the beholder. Per your comments—I am gald the looks of the MKT and Ford Flex cousin elicited a visceral response—-Ford needs more of this as they have been making bland vehicles that offend no one…I’m heading to Detroit this weekend—I’ll look at both in the flesh to form my opinion. Last, you are correct that if the new eco-boost engines deliver on the promise—it will be a big step forward for Ford.
umterp: Kinda with you on the Lincoln naming thing—everyone else does it so why harp on Lincoln.
Because Lexus, Infiniti, etc aren’t American brands that used to have names like Continental, Grand Prix, Fairlane, etc.
Making a copycat cars on foreign chassis with stupid names isn’t what makes (or made) American cars and our manufacturing prowess so formidable.
But I wish the MKT the best of luck. After all, it promises to not be badge engineered Ford Flex and it will have a torquey turbo mill.
The styling of the MKT sucks worse than the name. Lincoln could use less blandness but they could do so without resorting to this sad marriage of old Lincoln styling cues and early 2000’s slab sidedness. Also the eco-boost is not going to be more fuel efficient in real world use than its non-turbo counterpart which already provides worse fuel economy than some V8’s.
Guyincognito: “Also the eco-boost is not going to be more fuel efficient in real world use than its non-turbo counterpart which already provides worse fuel economy than some V8’s.”
Say what ? Please elaborate on add some substance to this statement—really interested as to why you think this way.
Sajeev—your point is taken as stated in my post—and per other conversations we have had—I don’t disagree with where you are coming from. From your exposure at the show—can you add context to guyincognito’s comment on the eco-boost ?
I can’t keep all the MKs straight.
Awful naming there, Lincoln.
RobertSD :
January 14th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I don’t get why everyone is harping on Lincoln for their naming when every freaking company has it.
Here is why: BMW names their models using a 3-number code, where each element has a meaning. Lower number series indicating a smaller body. Bigger number = bigger body. Or, X- and M- prefixes for specific niches. And the last two digits convey displacement. Logical.
Infiniti: Alphabetic model designations (in order!) (G, M, Q (sedans) and EX, FX, QX (SUVs) with the 2-digit suffix communicating engine displacement. Simple. Smart.
Lincoln: All models start with the SAME TWO LETTERS (MKx) and conclude with a largely arbitrary third letter (X, S, Z, R, T … WTF?) No logic, no meaning, no definable sequence. It is just plain dumb.
That grill ruins the whole thing for me. It’s the silhouette of a whale’s tail.
I have to agree with some of you here. The Lincoln naming strategy makes no sense. How does one keep them all straight? I’m usually really good at keeping all of this stuff in order and remembering what’s what, but I can barely keep up with these. It’s the same mistake they made when all of the Ford model names began with “F” and all of the Mercury names began with “M” only it’s even worse here.
It almost makes the vehicles forgettable in a way-you can’t remember which one is being talked about when a model name is mentioned. Likewise, when you have a specific model in mind, you can’t remember it’s name. Sad, really, because some of the new stuff coming from Lincoln looks really good to me and deserves to be recognized by a distinctive name.
“Hey, what do you think about that new Lincoln?”
“Which one?”
“You know, the MK…um…that all new sedan.”
“Oh, the MKZ?”
“Yeah, that one…no wait, that’s not it…”
“The MKX?”
“No, no…well, maybe…wait…no, not that one.”
And on and on it goes.
“Eco-boosting” hasn’t shown to increase fuel economny in other vehicles such as in the BMW 328i vs 335i 18/28 mpg vs 17/26 mpg.
265 hp 3.5L v6 in Taurus X gets 16/24 (15/22 in AWD trim) mpg, 380 hp 4.6L V8 in Lexus LS (roughly comparable weight and size) 16/24 mpg.
Also Chrysler’s 340 HP 5.7 L V8 isn’t far off with 15/23 in rwd trim or 15/22 in AWD trim.
And the V8 that does do better, in Fords own stable, mated to the new version of the platform this ill concieved vehicle rides on, the 2008 Volvo S80 V8 with 311 hp 325ft/lb torque and 15/23 mpg in awd trim.
Samir Syed:
That grill ruins the whole thing for me. It’s the silhouette of a whale’s tail.
Agreed, the MKX grille would have worked better, a 21st century reinvention of the Continental from the 1960’s.
@starlightmica: Ditto—-Ditto—Ditto on the grill thing.
I honestly could not tell you which lincoln is which if you just told me the three letter badge they assigned it.
umterp85: yeah, I know you get it. And part of why I asked about the MKX vs. MKT grille to Mr. Horbury was from our discussions.
Its nice to see that many of us agree that the MKX’s JFK schnoz is the way to go. Horbury also mentioned the grille change made the Lincoln star sit on paint, and not get overrun in the chrome.
Maybe I should have suggested that getting “lost in chrome” is one of the reasons why you’d buy a Lincoln over any imported vehicle.
spider: how about this? The Mark LT name was just plain dumb. Now we have Dumb and Dumber. :)
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umterp85:From your exposure at the show—can you add context to guyincognito’s comment on the eco-boost?
Well, I think he’s right. This fits the “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” category. Unless we are turbo-ing a four banger in a small car with an aerodynamic body, you can’t say “Eco-Boost” and mean it. This is a boondoggle that goes disturbingly well with the green-washing of the NAIAS press conferences.
Just another “me too” naming convention from Lincoln. And its worse than the InTech system of the mid 1990s. The 32v V8 and 4R70W powertrain in the 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII was stellar for its time, it didn’t need a name. Then Cadillac came out with the “Northstar System” and InTech was born.
HEMI and Northstar aside, Marketing-savvy names for powertrains are usually duds. Just slap a 5.0 badge on everything and call it a day. (joking)
Sajeev: I know what you mean—I had a Mustang 5.0LX notchback—that said power to me without some fancy name.
Also–thanks for asking the question of Ford people on the direction of the Lincoln grill—I was very interested as you know and totally disagree with their whale-fin direction. The MKX is selling well—hmmm—ya think it may be due to the front and back treatments that say “Lincoln” ? The nicer interior and other upgrades were nice vs. the Edge—-but the 60’s Conti fron end is what sealed the dealfor me. As you say—it is a shame they are running away from things that shouted to the Lincoln glory days—Chrome is one of them !