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It looks like a next-generation London Taxi. Paint it black and you’re there.
To answer your question, yes, it would seem so.
No no no! This is exactly what Lincoln SHOULDN’T be doing! They don’t need a small car, nor do they need to copy that grille directly onto it just because it looked good on the MKS!
Good lord, what are they smoking in Ford product planning?
What they need is an MKZ that is just slightly better than, and cheaper than, the ES350. What they do not need is a Focus or Fiesta with a beak. Why is it that domestic and German planners go off on these flights of fancy, ignoring their core brand?
I’ll bet GM will have a Corsa rebadged as a Buick, just to compete.
I would say yes but since when has Lincoln had a plot to lose? The refreshed MKZ will mark the first time in years any two Lincolns shared styling elements.
It’s a slightly more rounded Renault Avantime – while interesting, note that the Avantime only stayed in production for 3 years due to poor sales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Avantime
Its a Renault Vel Satis! This design didn’t even work in France…
Wow, I’m a kid(22), and even that thing looks too crazy for me.
Stop the madness!
The last Lincolns worth owning are the ’79’s, in my opinion.
oh and the ’97 and ’98 Mark VIII’s. Thats it.
It’s nice to see that Lincoln’s upmarket aspirations include competing with Kia and Scion.
Product Meeting
Continental suicide doors – check
Big ugly new grill – check
Built around Tata Nano, must be a Lincoln
Brian E-I was just going to say that that’s not a Lincoln, that’s a Scion. Kia works as well, now that you mention it.
Is that related, in some way, to the Volvo C30?
That thing is hideous from all angles. I don’t see how it appeals to Lincoln buyers in any way.
I kinda like it. Extend the roofline to remove that odd, protruding bumper and it is nice. Looks like a Honda Civic from the B pillar forward.
From the side, it looks like what you’d get if BMW decided to give Rolls a version of the MINI. Just slap a Spirit of Ecstasy on the hood…
What’s up with this green color anyway. Did the worlds supply of paint and ink in all the other colors run out? I suppose this is all that’s left and no one can afford to reorder. I know – it’s the eco green thing.
With 3-across seating in both rows, it’s Lincoln’s answer to the Fiat Multipla. Stick a large trunk on the back, and it’s a practical but homely sedan.
Complete Renault rip off.
Something so seemingly discordant with expectations of the brand is indeed worrisome.
Maybe the Lincoln product planners should do some research into the marques brand equity and positioning…and work forward from there.
Taking inspiration from Renaults pictured in 3 year-old French fashion magazines is not the way to go, Lincoln.
Pretty crazy…I bet there are several Lincoln execs being called into “the office” to explain what the heck they were thinking to spend money on this concept. Maybe Ford should do a version of the Nissan Cube, but a Lincoln version? With Lincoln “twin comfort lounge seats”–like the Cube’s bench seat? Are Ford and Lincoln product planners so prescient they can forecast a trend like this? Looks like a loser to me.
There’s nothing wrong with designers going off on flights of fancy. The germ of most great ideas probably starts as a result of such brainstorming. However, I’m sure only a small percentage of them survive and that most deservedly end up in the recycle bin.
This one should never have made it past the first sketch. The fact that it made it as far as publicly released photos is the fault of planners, not designers.
Do I detect the latest incarnation of the vinyl roof?
Oh boy, it’s another hearse-like product from Lincoln for tiny people. Well, eventually the baby boomers will start to die in big numbers, so we might as well be prepared.
It has been down hill for Lincoln since the early 60s. The tonka toy above is not the answer to any question other than: “why bother?” Which in Lincoln’s case is: “No reason to. We’ll just quit now.”
I was wondering what Ford could possibly do with this thing (besides the completely wrong answer of making it a Lincoln) and then it hit me, this would be a great Mercury! This project likely started as a Mercury, urban upscale (or “metrocool” as I once saw on an internal Mercury marketing spec) is supposed to be what passes for brand DNA, and this it it. The Concept C confirms what we all already know, Mercury is well and truly dead.
If the idea was to develop yet another car that I wouldn’t be caught dead in, then they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
That’s certainly a nice Toyota.
Relax. It’s just a concept car. They didn’t lose the plot with the Batmobile, and this is an obvious stretch of the boundaries with no production intent.
So, a few years ago gas-guzzling trucks and SUV’s were the hot, gotta-have thing (fad) in the automotive world so every carmaker had to have one in their lineup, regardless of what it did to brand equity.
Now, small, fuel efficient compacts are the hot, gotta-have thing in the automotive world so every automaker has to have one in their lineup, regardless of what it does to brand equity.
It’s good to know FordMoCo’s learning from their mistakes.
I’ll be a rebel – I like it! The grill could use some work though.
I get a kick out of all the concern for Lincoln’s brand equity. Lincolns are almost non existent where I live and the only Lincolns worth remembering were from the 60s. They may as well re-invent themselves now.
It looks considerably bigger than a compact to me.
Umm..
I like it.
Not as a Lincoln, so yes, they’ve lost the plot, but I like it.
@ Richard Chen: Except that the Multipla was as useful as it was wacky…
Stretch this car out, give it a very long nose and something of a real trunk, drop a V8 in and you have a Town Car.
The blackwood was a loss of plot if anything was for Lincoln. The Lincoln demographic is in their dotage and having an entire brand dedicated to four barely disguised Fords wearing suits isn’t going to cut it. A small premium car is not an impossibility. Look at the Mini. Prestige is not simply bland badge engineering and massive chassis.
Simply the worst new-car design I have ever had the displeasure of looking at. You would have saved yourself a lot of expense making this concept if you’d just shown the car to one person on the street.
“ Has Lincoln Lost the Plot? (Concept C) ”
Easy one, YES.
To be fair they lost their relevance at least 30 years ago.
Does it really matter? Once you put the Lincoln badge on something, does anyone want it?
I wonder if you could take an obscure, non-imported to the US luxury car worth 100k plus, but which most people would not recognize. Divide a bunch of middle aged folks into two groups, and tell each group a different story. One group hears it’s a Lincoln, and the other is told the truth. The Lincoln version will supposedly cost 60k though.
I bet the group that hears the truth will be more likely to say the car is worth the price.
Ford should simply end Lincoln and Mercury as brands, and instead make them models. You could have an upscale Taurus called a Mercury 2.0 (or whatever) and Towncar called the Lincoln TC. Then, be done with it for now.
Lincoln is copying Renault now?
I know, I know! Tom Cruise is making Minority Report 2 and asked Ford/Lincoln instead of Honda to design their vision of the future!
This isn’t real is it? Metal/plastic/recycled coconut fibres haven’t been sacrificed as of yet to bring this to the roads of the world.
WOW! Lincoln’s answer to the PT Cruiser.
This is just Ford’s way of telegraphing some of the technologies coming to the new Focus. Ford’s press release says this car weighs 2750lbs, and has a 1.6L Ecoboost putting out 180hp and getting 43mpg. Sound like numbers we’d expect out of the 2011 Focus? If the 1.6L Ecoboost can get 43mpg and 180hp/180lbs, then expect smaller Focus engines to get even better mileage. 1.2L Ecoboost with 140hp and 46mpg? Wouldn’t that be nice in a Focus sized car? Or how about the 1.6 in a Fusion getting 40mpg.
Obviously it will be a while if ever for Lincoln to actually sell small cars like this. Maybe the styling is a preview of Mercury’s small car coming in 2011, or the styling of the BEV.
No, Lincoln hasn’t lost anything. They made a freaking CONCEPT car to toy with new ideas big whoop. This still isn’t as bad as other concepts. A small premium car that can comfortably seat six? Holy shit that’s AWFUL. I mean no one on Earth has ever made a good premium small car right?
I love how the domestics are so screwed, if they do what they’ve done they’re crappy dinosaurs that can’t adapt. If they adapt they’ve gone batshit and lost touch with their roots. I ask what the hell are they supposed to do?
“This is just Ford’s way of telegraphing some of the technologies coming to the new Focus. Ford’s press release says this car weighs 2750lbs, and has a 1.6L Ecoboost putting out 180hp and getting 43mpg. Sound like numbers we’d expect out of the 2011 Focus?”
…Then why didn’t they just bring this concept out as a Ford, instead of a Lincoln?
psarhjinian :
I’ll bet GM will have a Corsa rebadged as a Buick, just to compete.
The Buick Sail was made from 2001 to 2005, and it was just a rebadged ’94 Corsa sedan or station wagon.
http://www.histomobile.com/dvd_histomobile/histomo/612/8718.asp
The still sell it in China, but with Chevy badges.
Looks to me like the following exchange might have taken place prior to this vehicle’s existence…
Ford exec: “We gotta find a way to keep the Flex plant running now that we’ve botched the launch. How can we make more of ’em?”
Designer: “We can add a trunkish area and a Mark VIII taillamp strip or a Continental kit and call it a Lincoln!”
Ford exec: “Skip the Continental kit; anybody who remembers those is dead, but good idea!”
Did Lincoln lose the plot? I can only imagine a derisive Clarkson replying “They hadn’t one to lose!”
Actually, i think it shows promise, at least they are thinking out of the box. I thinkin cars it might be nice to redo some of the rockin cars of the 40’s.
I also saw a slab sided continental redo a few years ago – it was GREAT. I hope they make that one instead of this tho.
I like this a lot. And I grew up riding in Lincolns. Nothing wrong with a premium brand attempting to join the 21st Century. The world is changing. A premium hatchback with style will make more and more sense as time goes by. The only thing wrong with the “C” is it’s too far ahead of its time. For now. Read more: http://www.examiner.com/x-6882-Classic-Autos-Examiner~y2009m10d21-Lincolns-radical-Concept-C-Can-classic-style-and-prestige-work-as-a-hatchback