Now that Lincoln’s got a new chief designer and a standalone design studio, what can we expect from the new look of Lincoln? Automotive News [sub] reports
Love it or hate it, Lincoln’s waterfall grille is on the way out, according to sources familiar with plans for the updated MKS sedan and MKT crossover coming next spring.
One source said the MKS and MKT grille will be “completely different” from the current grille, which has been controversial. He said the new grille is “not as pronounced” as the waterfall and “more elegant.”
So, other than the death of the “waterfall” (aka “baleen,” aka “the Hannibal Lecter”) grille, what can we expect from the updated MKT and MKS? Not much in terms of interior or exterior design, it seems. Instead, Lincoln will focus on steering, braking and suspension systems to differentiate its products from Fords. I know, maybe they can use the tagline “Drive One”…
I hated it at first, but I’ve actually grown to like the baleen whale. Honestly! And now they’re going to change it (probably for something more conventional and ‘uniform’)? Bah!
I loved it from the very moment I first saw it. Big! Bold! Brash! “IN YOUR FACE” kind of a thing. So I got one (MKS). Now they can change it all they want. It’ll never make the statement mine makes.
You know what? Don’t change it, stick with it. For better or for worse, Cadillac has stood beside with and refined A&S over the past decade to the point where they actually have some collateral.
Lincoln’s waffling on names, models, design and marketing is a big part of the problem. Baleen (sorry, “waterfall”) might not make it into the annals of design history, but at least you can pick the cars out of a crowd. Changing it would mean, what, the fourth or fifth visual style in a decade? Along with three major product planning shifts and a two wholesale nameplate changes, it’s too much flopping about.
I know every designer wants to make his/her mark, but unless you’re really sure of the new design language, and even more certain of the products that will wear it—and Ford hasn’t a good track record, here—then this exercise is at best a distraction.
psarhjinian…you are spot on.
Maybe they just are a little sensitive to the so called auto professionals and feel the need to dance according to the tune these idiots play.
Why can’t anybody trust themselves and follow through with a concept!?
Sure, the MKT DID take it a little to far, but the back was JUST as much an issue as the front.
Maybe more so for myself. I can handle the expression up front, but that hearse rear end was gloomy.
And I love the look of my MKS front. I would like to sharpen it up a little, but not discard the entire look.
To me, I much more prefer this to the Dodge, Audi Big Mouth Bass look.
Or the Alice Cooper eye liner that everybody seems to be copying from Audi!!!
Grow some balls, Lincoln!!!
I do like the effort they are giving it, however, with more specialized Lincoln engineering and design.
Agreed, psarhjinian.
I too have come to like the waterfall grille – I hated it at first but it’s really grown on me – then again I appreciate its history, having appeared on the first Continental. Like the ’94 Dodge Ram, you may love it or hate it but there’s no ignoring it.
It’s an excellent point that Lincoln’s design language (and Ford’s in general) has gone to and fro for years…as far as I’m concerned they also could’ve stuck with the grills that looked like a nod to the ’61 Continental…but stick with something. Develop the current language, explore its possibilities and give Lincoln a chance at finding an audience.
Both Lincoln and Cadillac are paying people to take their current products home. Good for Lincoln if they’re not in denial about the relationship between styling and sales. Hopefully someone at Acura is willing to admit that letting stylists run amok was a mistake.
Acura’s problem isn’t style.
No, seriously.
Acura’s problem was killing the RSX (which pretty much killed the stream of new buyers into Acura’s showrooms), being completely uncompetitive with BMW when it comes to lease rates, and being outgunned by Infiniti in terms of performance.
That they’re (kind of) ugly is forgiveable. That they’re expensive, of dubious value, and without a “gateway drug” car is the real problem
I disagree. I liked the RSX, but it isn’t a coincidence that all the cars it used to beat in comparison tests are as discontinued as it is. I know plenty of people who had or still have TSXs and TLs from the previous generation, and not a one of them had an Integra or RSX previously. I knew a few people who had Integras and RSXs too, and they were all aspirational of European cars. Some of them missed their Acuras once the realities of Audi ownership hit them, but so far none so much that they want a goofy looking new TL. Meanwhile, just about every 2004-2007 TSX and TL buyer I know traded in a German car.
I strongly disagree. The 2004-2008 Acura TL sold very well in North Texas as a more attractive, more powerful Accord. I bet Acura would be in better shape if they had kept the old model. Bolt a turbocharger on the underpowered but nimble old TSX and it could contribute to sales volume too.
Acura’s problem was killing the RSX
If Acura is going to be a luxury brand, then the RSX only gets in the way of that branding message.
Re: the RSX, their mistake was to not sell it branded as a Honda. Getting rid of it entirely was a baby/ bathwater sort of error.
Re: Acura generally, the products need to be stepped up so that they actually seem like near-luxury or luxury cars. At this point, the passenger cars just appear to be expensive Hondas, rather than luxury cars in their own right, which makes it difficult for them to compete in segments with many challengers.
….I’ll bet the good folks at Lincoln Marketing hope that “Hannibal Lecter” grill-styling image dies a quick death.
So which would you prefer???
The Lincoln grill OR that big stupid (not trying to push you, now…) dumb BIG MOUTH BASS look of Dodge and Audi?
Or the Alice Cooper eye liner. Very, very feminine to me and street walker like.
I would be embarrassed to have this look on my car.
Why are they allowed this pass and not the Lincoln look?
Is it the Macho thing that gives it that pass?
Is there really a male image pass going on here? I mean, the angry kick butt slanted headlight look that seems to be all the rage these days is, to me, awful!
Yes, that is it…I think it is a male thing.
It would be nice if William Clay Ford, Sr. would remind the powers at Ford of how well the 1961 Lincoln Continental worked out, both from a styling and build quality standpoint.
I was thinking along the same line. These current Lincolns are maybe 6th grade quality design–a bit better than most family cars, but definitely totally forgettable. Those early to mid ’60s Lincolns were gorgeous.
Yet they were still hammered by Cadillac in sales. Something we (deliberately?) tend to forget, now.
True, Cadillac outsold them, but Lincoln sales grew during this period…and the division made money.
The 61 Continental grew Lincoln’s slice of the market, and offered something that sent even Cadillac back to the drawing board. That cannot be discounted.
The 1961 Lincoln Continental came in only two bodystyles, and in one basic trim level.
Cadillac’s best seller during these years was the two-door hardtop. Lincoln didn’t offer one until the 1966 model year.
There was also no “cheaper” Lincoln to compete with the less expensive Cadillacs. The Continental competed against the Fleetwood sedans.
Considering the limited body styles and lack of a less expensive model, the suicide-door Lincolns sold rather well.
Bill Ford Sr. is a friggin idiot. Why do you think he played around (and destroyed) the Detoit Lions, while his brother and company rebuilt Ford? He needed something to keep him busy because nobody would let him make any real decisions in the family business.
He ran the short lived Continental division in the mid 1950s. It made one car, the Mark II. A fabulous car but at $10,000 Ford lost $1,000 on every one they made. After that, I don’t think they ever really entrusted WCF with much responsibility at FoMoCo.
To be fair, though, GM lost more money on each ’57 Eldorado Brougham.
WCF has a hard time firing people. That explains the Detroit Lions. He kept Russ Thomas around for way too long and sided with Thomas in a power struggle with Joe Schmidt, mostly because he was loyal to Thomas for helping him get sober.
I don’t know if he’s an idiot – nor care – but he does have three things going for him that could advance the cause of Lincoln:
1. First-hand memory of the 1961-1969 Continental era (although this has been attributed to McNamara).
2. A son who is well-placed in the company.
3. A nice chunk of Class B shares in Ford Motor Company.
I always found it amusing that Ford pretended after the Continental Division’s demise that a separate division still existed nonetheless, not only with the Mark III/IV/V line of 1958-60 but even when the Mark series was reintroduced in 1968. The Mark III/IV/V of 1968-79 was never badged or otherwise referred to as a Lincoln, only as a Continental.
That’s interesting because when I think ‘Lincoln’ the image that always come to mind for me is a ’66 or ’67 Continental.
The MKX (was it called that, then?) sort of tried a riff on that look. Of course, Ford, being Ford, seems to change branding more often than undergarments, so that was chucked.
Again: pick a strategy and stick to it. You don’t see Audi, BMW or Mercedes switching gears every eight months. Part of the reason no one knows, or cares, what Lincoln is is that that Ford doesn’t seem to know or care either.
Indeed … the baleen grille of today is horrendous, but that doesn’t mean you need to throw it out completely. Tone it down, give it some style, and you can still build on the identity. Evolution helps build brand identity.
Ford probably remember the poor sales of that heap the styling may have been an improvement on previous disasters but the idea is to SELL cars
Unless Ford makes Lincoln an international luxury brand, I just don’t see how it will be economically feasible for them to create North American only luxury cars. All the big players are sold throughout the world, not just in one market. Only the new MKX CUV looks good to me with this grille, the rest of them are not proportioned correctly, with the MKT version downright hideous to behold.
Lincoln means zero outside the US and the badges MKTurd MKShit MKxcrement sound like the sort of sludge Mcdonalds churn out there is no hint of luxury anywhere in this brand dso building more Mc Cars isnt going to work
The Lincoln LS looked nice with a compact version of the waterfall grill.
Agreed. That is one of the best implementations they had. It is also one of the best looking cars they made in a long time. And the two letter name is easy on the tongue and ears.
No doubt the new grille will be heavily chromed if not exactly “waterfall.” The market served by Lincoln, Buick and Chrysler demands it. But it’s hard to imagine growing legions of people believing that they are getting a “premium” product with these brands. My prediction is that Lincoln gets this one last lineup update and then it’s finished by 2020. The designs are hoary, the names are hoary.
What Ford should do is phase out Lincoln altogether, but make a new “Continental Town Car” based on a stretched Taurus with a new roofline, a proper 70s/80s-style grille, a subtle Continental styled trunk deck and vertical rear taillights. Sell strictly to the “black car” market and special order retail. Expect 30K sales. Cater to what Lincoln has done best for 30 years and leave it at that or do nothing.
This is a compelling idea, especially if Ford wants to keep the “black car” trade. I’ve seen photos and descriptions of the version of the MKT intended for the black-car market, and I can’t see it replacing the Town Car; that sort of passenger (and driver) wants a sedan.
The question is whether the current Taurus could be made over into a Continental Town Car quickly enough to retain the clientele. The Taurus is difficult to see out of and feels cramped relative to the previous Five Hundred-bodied Taurus. Any Town Car successor would have to feel really roomy inside, but lengthening without adding a few inches of width (which presumably would be rather costly to engineer) would result in the equivalent of the K-car-based Imperials and New Yorkers of the early 1990s.
A secondary issue is to what extent such a car should adopt retro styling. I think the trunk lid should avoid the Mark-series “spare tire hump” – that would be retro squared, as the look was already retro in the Mark cars of 1968-98.
With such low projected volume, stretching the Taurus and restyling the front and rear might be the most economical way to get results. But you make a good point about the real and perceived interior roominess of the Taurus. Perhaps a business case could be made for a new Continental Town Car using the D4 platform with all new styling instead of just stretching the Taurus. I think the rear spare tire hump styling cue could be done in a modern way, but I don’t think it’s crucial. The grill, overall length, vertical taillamps and formal roofline are most important. No matter what happens, the Germans are already intruding on the “black car” market. I recently witnessed a meeting of over a dozen chauffeurs and their black Audi A8s in the cell phone parking lot at LAX. Time is not standing still for Ford.
Who cares. Lincoln = Expensive Ford with garish styling. Make the styling less offensive and it’s still too expensive.
Small children across the country will be grateful….the Alien Teeth Lincoln grille caused nightmares everywhere, I am sure. Especially in the offices of Lincoln dealers….
I guess this is good news . . . the baleen whale look never appealed to me.
But the fundamental problem with Lincoln is that it is a badge-engineered Ford . . . and everyone knows it.
That’s the problem that has to be solved. At least the Cadillac — in most models, is not a badge-engineered Chevrolet.
The classic Continentals of the early 1960s were not — and did not look like — badge engineered versions of any of the cars FoMoCo made at the time.
I have zero problem with the waterfall grill. I HATED the grill on the first MKX. I just saw the new one in Dark Blue. Looked great. MKT? Not so much. Why did they need to chop off the roof line? Lincoln needs their own product line. Like Caddilac. Or maybe share Australian Ford cars like Buick uses Opel.
I always liked the waterfall grille because it was different and unlike anything else. But it is time for a change. I’ve grown tired of the Chevrolet split bowtie grille on everything it makes.
I think the names are worse than the grille. I’m a car nut and I can never remember which one is which. And Acura has the same issue. Meaningless interchangeable alphanumeric names need to die.
“I think the names are worse than the grille. I’m a car nut and I can never remember which one is which. And Acura has the same issue. Meaningless interchangeable alphanumeric names need to die.”
+1 This whole MK-whatever has been completely overused by Lincoln. Give the models real names…..
Thing is, in this case they’re not meaningless. They actually mean something. Mark Sedan, Mark Zephor, Mark Crossover and Mark Touring. So your point is invalid.
“Thing is, in this case they’re not meaningless. They actually mean something. Mark Sedan, Mark Zephor, Mark Crossover and Mark Touring. So your point is invalid.”
Yeah well maybe you and five other people know this. My point is why does every Lincoln have to be a Mark whatever?
To increase the panache change the moniker of Waterfall Grille to Golden Shower Curtain
This pretty much describes (one of) the problems of domestic auto makers, inconsistency in design and engineering. If you want to build something that “means ” something, you can’t go careening all over the place with ideas, that does not build recognition among customers. First Lincoln throws all kinds of names on the wall to see what sticks. What stuck to the wall first apparently fell down after a while. No problemo, this time we throw letters on the wall, maybe some of them will stick. Same thing with grilles now, our great idea from a few years back does not seem so great today, or maybe someone just came up with a better idea? This is really 101 of “building an image” – you gotta make some choices, and you gotta stick with them. Look at Cadillac, they’ve been spending many years building awareness of their cars with their angular look. Some people prabably hate it, but you can’t be everything to everybody. Look at MB and BMW. While their designs have been met with many critical voices, they have stuck with some basic and recognizable clues, particularly the grilles. There isn’t a soul who can’t recognize the face of a Bimmer or Benz when they see one – recognition, anyone?
I actually like the design of the “waterfall” grille, but they’re all oversized. Especially on the MKT. It’s about 2 sizes too large. Just scale em down and i think they’d be fine, but those MK-whatever names have to go.
When I read this article I thought that I had wandered onto http://www.metacars.com by mistake. I wish someone would keep that site updated.
….to get some mileage out of the “Hannibal Lecter” wisecrack, they could always offer a “Sir Anthony Hopkins Limited Edition”, complete with butter-soft Chianti leather seating and (optional) straitjacket……..turn a negative into a positive.
The current grill is, to me, interesting on some of the line, not so much others. But it ain’t no waterfall. When I imagine a waterfall grill, I’m thinking of 70’s-80’s Oldsmobile. Those were quite easy on the eyes, and even made The Omega and Starfire look better than their siblings.
However, The GRILL on the Navigator reminds me some of the mid-70’s (pre-74) Continentals. Love it or hate it, that grill makes a statement.
“Love it or hate it, Lincoln’s waterfall grille is on the way out,”
Praise the Lord.
I find it fascinating that a niche product, which is what the Lincoln has become, has generated so much comment here.
Why bother with a grille? Make it a bottom breather with no grille. It works for Porsche!
Why is everyone so married to grills these days? Just because MB & BMW do it doesn’t mean that everyone has to. I think Pontiac destroyed itself with their grill and Dodge may be doing the same.
Lincoln needs better CARS, not grills, and some real names would help too, MKX, MKT, WTF???????
I, for one, welcome our new egg-crate grilled overlords!
Before we all say “hooray, the baleen grille is dead!” I think we have to see what they came up to replace it instead. WHo knows, they could be bringing back the lemon-sucking Edsel grille, which would be worse. Or the classic parthenon grille as in the 1970s Lincolns. Or yet another Audi-like grille. At least the baleen grille is distinctive.
I can’t believe that they are not going to focus on interior quality, seeing as though it is a Lincoln weak spot. The MKS’ interior has too much hard plastic in it to be a true luxury car.