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Another year passes and another Lincoln sprouts a baleen-feeder snout. Because familial consistency is more important than allowing innocent retinas to go unseared.
45 Comments on “What’s Wrong With This Picture: MKX Gets Cetaceous Edition...”
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At least it looks better than the MKT, although that’s probably just damning it with faint praise.
Exactly what I was thinking, it is better, but still not great.
I really do appreciate familial consistency (see Audi and Mazda) but the baleen grille was fresh and exciting four years ago on the MKS concept (which was then mercilessly watered-down.) Now it’s just played-out. It’s a double-edged sword; I like how all the Lincolns share a face, but it’s a shame that face manages to be both polarizing and stale.
Frustratingly, the model this grille may look best (or most frightening) on is the Navigator, but they can hardly make it uglier than it already is!
Buy one for all the new gizmos, then promptly run it into a pole so you can put the 2010 front clip on it. Not the end of the world.
Oh what a thrill, a grille for krill !
Brings to mind an idea … instead of using those insipidly interchangable MK-based names, they could start naming the product line after whales …
Actually, the more I look at it, the more it looks like a chinese rip-off of the BMW twin kidney grille.
And what is with all the lip-gloss around the grimacing lower air intake?
Last time they got it right was in the late ’30s Zephyr and early ’40s Continental. Bad dentistry since.
What’s wrong this picture is it’s actually a production model!! What a complete disaster period let alone as the newest Lincoln model. Ford really needs to get rid of J. Mays. If it were possible they managed to top the disaster that was the Five Hundred several years ago by a considerable margin. This will be a complete flop.
Ford has come out with MANY models that are much worse than the Five Hundred…
2010 Fusion
2010 Focus
2008 Focus
Flex
F-150
Super Doodie
MKFusion
Edge
And while not ugly, the Taurus/MKS are equally as bland as the Five Hundred.
And I think Peaty Hornbury is responsible for the horrid Lincoln split wing grille. Thank God he is gone. The split wing is almost as bad as the Gillette special Ford plastered on everything for the past couple of years. Thank God they had enough sense to get away from it.
I don’t find it bad looking at all. This isn’t some sexy sports car it’s a CUV. Have you seen the Murano or the Endeavor? With that said, I liked the old egg-crate grill better. Interior is a step in the right direction.
It’s not bad at all, certainly better than the same on the MK, uh, T? It’s T, isn’t it? Oh, heck, let’s call it MKFlex for clarity’s sake.
The current one is interesting, too, but always looked a little strange and contrived.
You’re going to love this….When I first looked at it, without my glasses, I thought it was a Pontiac Torrent!!!
Don’t know if anyone’s mentioned before, but the baleen grille with the Lincoln badge centered in the middle looks oddly similar to a shaven flying vagina.
More like a Brazilian. Same idea though.
@cdotson – ROFLMAO!!
The grill doesn’t bother me… it’s Lincoln’ s love affair with chrome rims that bothers me. Chrome is not classy, it’s tacky.
That design almost has a “bird beak” quality to it. The Lincoln snout probably looks better on the MKX than on any other Lincoln but I still prefer the old schnoz.
Mays had little or nothing to do with this vehicle. This is Peter Hornbury’s baby.
J Mays is the boss of all Ford design worldwide, so even if he didn’t personally draw a single line he’s accountable, just as Chris Bangle gets blamed for Adrian van Hooydonk’s idiocy over at BMW. Besides, Peter Horbury was just responsible for “Ford”, not Lincoln.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
at least the brakelights are now full LED rather than the old LED light tubes for just taillights
I like it…and it’s far superior to the new Cadillac SRX in the looks department (although that isn’t saying much).
It’s not that bad. What’s worse is the name. I keep on having trouble remembering which is which between the MKS, MKT, MKX, and MKZ.
Hey, at least you remember all four of the acronyms.
My father calls this the Lincoln Edge. The naming scheme is a MKFailure.
It really is a shame to see what Ford has done to the Lincoln brand. The once prestigious brand that turned out unique, quality, luxurious, and interesting vehicles has been turned into a tarted up trim level on a lowly Ford.
And now…we have to deal with this scab that is the new face of Lincoln. It’s a terribly ugly grille that they are plastering on everything…and it just doesn’t work. It looks terrible.
And with this Lincoln Edge refresh…Ford got rid of the SINGLE decent design element Ford had in the last 8 years…the light bar across the back. That was a much stronger, identifiable styling cue than the stupid baleen grille.
I think it’s time to get somebody competent at the helm of Ford.
At least Ford didn’t spend $4 billion on Lincoln, only to wind up where it is now. GM blew that much on Cadillac, and at the end of the day, it has one decent car (the CTS) that is hardly the best in its class, and a bunch of rebadged Chevrolets. That new XTS will undoubtedly be the best Epsilon-platform car that one can buy, but that’s about it..
And what about Cadillac Equnox? Looks like they used a chisel and a hammer to made that horrible body. All started after they discontinued Opel Omega I mean Caterra and come up with CTS. That new Caterra wagon looks even worst.
I happen to love it. It’s overwrought on the MKT and best here on the X. Interior looks great. Lincoln will get this right over the next model cycle and will differentiate them more and more. Hate the naming system though.
I actually like it, as well. I’m also sick to death of the criticism of Lincoln’s corporate grill.
My retinas are literally seared. I am typing by feel and memory only.
…. where is that damned submit comment button
Paint it red and it would look like a Baboon’s ars. Chrome plated Baboon buttocks.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LbccUVbSRd8/Rcebzn6hf5I/AAAAAAAAAVU/Dldl3YUvii0/s1600-h/baboonbutt_strangezoo1com.jpg
P.S. I’ve seen a bunch of shiny alloy Edge wheel rims corroding around the clamp on wheel weights here in salty Michigan. Looks horrible. Hopefully the Lincoln wheels are tougher and they don’t go with clamp on weights.
maybe they’ll try an elephant snout next time. Elwood Engel must be turning over in his grave. (Paul, pls correct me if I have hte wrong designer, I’m thinking of the ’61)
Yes the 61 Lincoln was Elwood Engel’s design.
I like it better then original MKX. And on this particular model grill doesn’t look out of place. Overall design looks lot better then Crapullac CRX or is it SRX?
How come everyone is complaining of Lincoln names? What about Cadillac? CTS, STS, SRX, XLR, XTS (couldn’t remember all of them, had to look it up). At least in Lincoln’s name you have to memorise only one letter, instead of alphabet soup of Cadillac. But I agree that a simple name would be easier to recall.
It shouldn’t be ” What’s wrong with this picture?”
It should be “What’s wrong with me?”
I LIKE the stying of the ’10 Lincolns.
I liked the 60’s Continental grill homage on the earlier MKXs. The new look does nothing for me.
Car looks pretty darned nice to me…what’s the problem?
The problem is with people who have nothing better to do than gripe about something. I’m with you – I like it, too.
I think the split wing grill looks good on the MKX, though I liked the previous egg-crate version as well.
The interior of the 2011 model is absolutely gorgeous however, with lots of slick LCD displays, touch sensitive controls, and better sculpting of the real wood trim. Add the new higher quality Lincoln leather and you have the best interior amongst the luxury FWD CUV segment. Combine the technology and interior quality with the new class leading 305hp V6 and also best in class (for a non-hybrid) 18/25 mpg fuel economy, and Lincoln has a real winner here.
These new Lincolns look familiar…
Lincoln MKS
Pontiac Bonneville
_______________
Lincoln MKT
Pontiac G6 GXP
In as much as they both have two part grills separated by a center piece, past that I don’t really see any resemblance.
The final generation Pontiac Bonneville wasn’t bad looking car, nor were the last Grand Prix models. Once Pontiac’s design staff got over their love for glued on body cladding, the cars looked pretty decent, even sporty, if a bit boring.
Well, my favorite thing about the MKZ and MKS is that the exterior styling reminds me of Pontiac’s.
In fact, the MKS reminds me so much of the Bonneville, I’ve wondered what it would take to do a full Jalopnik-style “Pontiac MKS” conversion. I’m thinking that all I’d need are some Pontiac arrowheads, a red MKS badge, grill mesh to replace the waterfall slats, and a custom “3700 Series IV” engine cover.
This is what GM has reduced me to.
Add me to the list of people who find this design actually…fairly appealing. The chrome is overdone, but the new Lincoln signature front end is far more distinctive than the generic, egg-crate schozz of the previous MKX. And if we are going to complain about companies putting the same signature front end on all of their vehicles–well, then let’s call out BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, and of course Acura for doing the exact same thing.
This kind of branding is getting more widespread and more prominent. As safety regs, passenger packaging, aerodynamics, and shared platforms make the overall vehicle shapes more similar, overall, extreme (and unified) front-end styling is a way for brands to stand apart from each other, and to tie their individual vehicles together. Not such a bad thing, from my POV. Recall what cars looked like a couple decades ago when design was at its absolute blandest?
Agreed. Better (in the sense that there actually IS brand identity), but not perfect. I take much more offense with the gigantic drooping ass of the MKT than the family nose.