The rest of the blogosphere is breathlessly heralding the return of the Lincoln Continental. They’re two years behind the curve.
The Lincoln Continental concept might be coming, but the next Lincoln large sedan will be the production Continental. Unfortunately, it won’t be like the JFK-era sedan, but rather a front-drive CD platform car with Ecoboost V6s and some design language that mirrors the Chevrolet Impala. Why? Because it’s made for Chinese customers who want to be driven in comfort, not for Americans who like to drive. The next Continental is even carrying the codename “Project GOBI” within Lincoln, and internal documents seen by TTAC emphasize “rear seat comfort and amenities” as a key feature of the car.
But there’s still a ray of sunshine for Lincoln fans. There’s going to be a real RWD Lincoln on the way. But it’s a crossover.
So basically, the new Lincoln Continental will be…the 1988-1994 Continental. Arguably the WORST CONTINENTAL EVER.
Yay.
At least it looked better than the ’95. By that I mean both of them complemented their respective Town Car perfectly, but I prefer the 90-97 TC and its Contipart to the bulbous TC/Conti duo.
It really is the 1988 Continental though. CD platform is Fusion, right?
So it’s a modified basic Ford sedan with no V8 option and front wheel drive. Throw in air suspension and bingo, there you go.
NoGoYo, The Transit Connect and the Focus ride on the same platform. Does that make them the same car?
No. Platform sharing can result in drastically different vehicles.
This isn’t Transit Connect vs Focus. This is…well, basically Fusion vs MKZ. Just as the 1988 Continental was Continental vs Taurus and before that, Continental vs Mk VII/Thunderbird/Cougar.
The problem with those Continentals was the wheelbase, which was too short for the car they put on top, making it look boaty. And, the fact that they put cheapo Taurus door handles on there.
The later 98-02 Conti actually had a decent looking interior, with that bar of (real, I think) light wood going across, and the console shifter. I’d be interested in seeing what it FEELS like in there. If it actually feels nice.
http://webspace.webring.com/people/im/m1957toronto/01lincoln_int.jpg
Right. The newest mid-sized models, like the Fusion and Edge, are on the CD4 platform. What this basically means is that the Volvo-derived D3/D4 platform will be phased out and the upcoming full-sized Ford cars will essentially be long-wheelbase versions of their mid-sized brethren…which is the exact way that every other automaker is doing it.
Which gets old fast, IMO.
I think people are unfairly hard on that generation Continental. It was a pretty decent effort on Ford’s part to create something modern. Did it have some problems? Sure, but it the ride was very good when the suspension worked. The seats were nice. You sank into them. I think it’s biggest problem was the Acura Legend and Lexus ES. The air suspension really wasn’t much less reliable than what Mercedes used many years later.
I have a really different recollection than you.
The chassis wasn’t rigid, the interior materials were not that great, and the ride was mediocre.
It wasn’t a terrible car, but it wasn’t luxurious in remotely the way plush riding Lincoln Continentals should be, and used to be.
What a Lincoln should look like:
http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Lincoln/2002-Lincoln-Continetal-DV-10-RMM-01.jpg
What a Cadillac should look like:
http://www.kchauto.com/2016-cadillac-elmiraj-release-date-price/2016-cadillac-elmiraj-price/
Build them bank vault solid, pUt a snarling V8 under the hood, and give them the plushest ride available.
Until then, both marques can politely STFU.
Yeah. I really cannot disagree with that.
Are the Chinese so blind in design aesthetics that they would not be interested in a rebuilt – reborn – re-powered 1956 Continental? Probably sell a few stateside as well. Otherwise, fuggedaboudit.
The Chinese from what I can tell seem to have excellent automotive tastes.
Seriously, is “Project GOBI” going to be called Continental? I’ll take any win I can from the brand.
I’m bored.
Me too.
Lincoln boring?… Yeah make it me three *sigh*
No more My Kool Letter?
I agree with the Chinese market. A Continental should be about comfort, not sport. There is no-point trying to out-BMW BMW.
Americans who like to drive will just do what they’re already doing and buy BMWs.
Not just the Chinese, but a lot of Americans. Lincoln is about comfort, not performance. Lincoln buyers don’t want RWD. They want FWD, or preferably AWD.
BMW (and others) tapped a segment of the luxury market. There are other segments of the luxury market. Lincoln shouldn’t be shunned for not focusing on the segment the automotive press is obsessed about.
Same argument could be made for all those mid-sized family sedans roaming the streets. They don’t sell because they’re performance oriented.
#1 Heated/cooled/massage LEATHER seats in front and back with power headrests and thigh supports.
#2 Panoramic sunroof
#3 More front and rear legspace than the MKS
#4 I am willing to settle for a FWD/AWD platform like the MKS has, but…
#5 MUST HAVE V8 ENGINE with OPTIONAL TWIN TURBO V8 ENGINE.
#6 heated armrests
#8 heated/cooled cupholders
#9 autonomous driving and parking (LOL – as if that’ll ever happen)
#10… more panache
Could Lincoln ever manage to build a better car than the W222?
You know, my husband has a W221, and while driving it back from the store the other day, I thought, “Lincoln should still make a Town Car, and it should feel like this.” It’s not really sporty, but neither is it wallow-y. There’s ample power all the time, very comfortable seats that don’t feel like a La-Z-Boy, and a composed ride that smothers all the road imperfections. Although I’ve never driven one, I imagine that the W222 does it even better. But for all the goodness that comes with a Mercedes, if Lincoln made my husband’s car without that stupid COMAND system, they’d have a customer in me.
Well, no wonder they called it Project GOBI.
The Gobi Bear is an endangered species living, not unnaturally, in the Gobi desert. Of course the Gobi is full of old dinosaur bones as well, and on a recent expedition filmed for BBC 2 with James May, a joint Sino-British team scouring the windswept landscape for old Velociraptor teeth found a dead 1979 Continental hidden behind a large sand dune.
The hood was open, the engine oil-filler cap missing and the hubs perched precariously on small rocks. A faded note was found in the glovebox – “I took the Cartier clock – didn’t think anyone would mind” signed by Murilee M.
The astounded scientists contacted Lincoln about the find, but not being big on geography, they had to go on Google Maps and found out, hey! the Gobi is in China. This was a sign to the people in design and marketing – a China-Mongolia connection for their new long wheelbase automobile.
And so project GOBI was born, the resurrection of a way of life begun, suitably modernized of course with a tranverse V6 borrowed from Ford.
“And we’re helping out National Geographic with a grant to preserve the Gobi Bear as well! It is the perfect scenario!”
Hamil the camel sniffed at the news. “I’ve been traversing the Gobi for 12 years carrying fine silk threads and counterfeit semiconductors made up north in villages for the Hong Kong market. These dino-poop-finding people are just amateurs. You should see the 1908 Zust from the New York – Paris automobile race. It’s just 35 miles up the trail! You never hear of Zust Autos AG these days, now do you?”
Laughed out loud reading the Find in the desert and loved the clock part well done Sir.( or madame )
You win today. Yes, all of it, it’s all yours. Sadly no-one else will know because today seems to be Clarkson day (shakes head)
I had a 98 Continental about 8-9 years ago and I liked it. My friends made fun of me for driving an ‘old person car’ and for the pearl paint. I however miss that car sometimes.
Ain’t nothing wrong with pearl paint.
I’m guessing the AX4N transmission blew up, unless you sold it beforehand.
Aside from that, that generation of Continental is a pretty nice car.
I had two separate pearl white cars before I was finished with college. Pearl white is brilliant.
Basically its being designed with the Chinese market in mind first, American market second. The emphasis on rear seat comfort caught my attention. Lincoln might just sell the car in China, like how Buick only sales the Park Avenue there.
Soooo about that crossover link:
“TTAC‘s sources inside the Blue Oval (the same ones who scuttled rumors of a revived Ford GT)”
Would this be the same “scuttled” Ford GT that turned up unexpected earlier this year?
If it looks good, has strong performance and good looks/quality in and out it being FWD won’t matter. RWD can’t fix a wack chassis and at the limit dynamics are irrelevant in a land barge. Just give it suicide doors and 22s
My father, who thinks that if you rev a car’s engine, you will break it, chose a Lexus GS over an ES because, “It feels better when I drive it.” People who aren’t car people still often like RWD cars more than FWD cars because they can be made to have better dynamics at all speeds.