Following up on our earlier post about Lincoln’s cryptic tweet (showing eight seconds of pavement and two seconds of half a chrome wheel), internet sleuth Chris Doane Automotive has unearthed some photos which seem to show a redesigned 2019 MKX.
Except this time around, Lincoln is – praise the pharaohs – deploying a real name. What did it select? Nautilus.
In the photos, we see an MKX-sized Nautilus wearing Lincoln’s new corporate face, featuring the horizontal mesh grille we’ve seen on the Continental, MKZ, and Navigator. A couple of chrome spears underneath each headlight help to break up the expanse of front fascia directly south of the bejeweled spectacles.
Along the flanks, Lincoln shoppers will find a styling flourish extending ahead of the front doors, similar to what’s found on the Continental. The model’s nameplate appears here, which I think is a great bit of automotive theatre. Let’s hope this detail continues on other Lincolns.
The side windows in the front doors seem to have a line of trim, evoking memories of the powered vent windows available in Lincolns of yore. Alas, I am confident it is a fixed pane of glass. Nevertheless, one can dream. I’m just glad they stuck a real (and interesting) name on the thing.
A close look at its rump reveals “2.7T” badging, telling us that the Nautilus will be powered by a version of the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine currently found in the Edge Sport and uplevel MKX. In the 2018 MKX, this engine makes 335 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. It’s a good mill, one which should put the Nautilus on par with its competition in terms of get-up-and-go.
Quickly searching the internet, we also found a YouTube video of dubious provenance displaying what seems to be several press photos of the Nautilus in a slideshow-style film. Most of them are the same as the ones shown by Chris Doane Automotive, with an important addition: a shot of the interior. A screencap of the video is shown below.
Yesterday’s tweet promised some sort of news on today’s date: 11/28. Lincoln’s press conference at the L.A. Auto Show is scheduled for tomorrow, the 29th. It’s possible Lincoln will show the Nautilus at some sort of off-site media event this evening in a bid to grab some social media play, followed by a bigger reveal alongside the MKC tomorrow.
[Images: Chris Doane Automotive]
Now I’m thinking of Captain Nemo.
“Your dead sleep quietly, at least, Captain, out of reach of sharks” “Yes, sir, of sharks and men.” – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Hey, come on, naming a premium vehicle after a doomed submarine is a brilliant idea. I hear they’ll be following through on this new nomenclature with the upcoming Lincoln Titanic and Lincoln Hindenburg.
You DO realize that the first U.S. atomic submarine (which was NOT doomed) was named Nautilus?
Like PrincipalDan, my very first thought hearing the word Nautilus is James Mason going down with the ship…
It’s not for a doomed submarine, GE used to have a dishwasher called Nautilus. You probably have one if you live in an apartment.
Lincoln Atlantis.
Lincoln Bermuda Triangle.
Maybe Daimler will follow up with the Mercedes-Benz Bismarck.
Seriously, though, It’s nice to have real names back on cars. And evocative ones with some romance attached to them, at that.
“It’s nice to have real names back on cars. And evocative ones with some romance attached to them”
That I agree with. Even a questionable name is much better than another meaningless alphanumeric mishmosh…
Or Daimler will follow up with the Mercedes-Benz Hindenburg.
I’m with you on names instead of this alphanumeric gibberish.
It could have been named after the Italian tanker MV Nautilus, which was torpedoed in 1942. Or, more appropiately, the sea mollusc dating back to the Cretaceous period, which makes it even older than most Lincoln customers.
Alright alright alright! I actually really liked the MKX, and didn’t even mind the split-grill design. That said, I think that the new style grill looks much better on larger vehicles (though it almost looks too big on the MKZ).
An expected restyle to fit the new corporate look. A name change hardly warrants much excitement. If Lincoln is renaming vehicles during the mid cycle refresh, why no new name for the MKC?
Doesn’t the estate and/or successor/purchasers of the company created by Arthur Jones still have the Nautilus name registered/patented?
The exercise machine?
Yes, Jones who was a serial entrepreneur, was a smart business person and was one of the 400 richest people in the USA when he passed away.
Actually got a chance to meet him when I was one of the first Canadians trained on the correct way to use his equipment.
Believe that he registered the name as his gyms and machines all used the Nautilus name. His company was named Nautilus Inc and it still exists under that name, now also owning Bowflex, Universal and Schwinn. It is listed on the NYSE.
Just not sure if you can register a name that has been in uses for so long, (coined by Jules Verne?) but then ‘celebrities’ have been attempting to register catch phrases and words for decades.
I suppose if this car gives you a real workout, the workout machine company could sue…
Multiple companies can use the same name.
They just have to be in different industries so there is no customer confusion between the two (eg nobody is going to confuse or link their Delta faucet to Delta Air Lines). It would be very hard for Nautilus the athletic equipment company to argue that is being harmed and it’s name infringed by Lincoln using the Nautilus name for a passenger vehicle.
I don’t know; check with the US Navy. They got away with using it.
Checked there are over 40 registered users of the word Nautilus with the United States Patent and Trademark Office .
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4806%3A17tilh.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl%7E%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=nautilus&p_tagrepl%7E%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query
“Here’s your name back, conveniently attached to this torpedo.”
Next up….the all new Enterprise seven seater.
Great! Now when are the Zephyr (MKZ) and Aviator (MKC) names coming back to end this MkMadness?
MKT replacement = Aviator
Step one: change alphanumeric name
Step two: MASSIVE SALES SUCCESS
Right?
We’ll see.
(Don’t bet the house, folks…)
No, if it was anything from Japan or Germany, it’d be fantastic.
B&B Advice format:
Step one: change the name to a real name, dump the split grille.
Step one is done? On to step two: ANYTHING BUT THAT NAME and I liked the old one better.
If it was Aviator, it’d be a big problem BECAUSE ITS A CAR, NOT A PLANE! If it was Zephyr, it sucks because ITS JUST AN OLD FAIRMONT. If it was Capri, its awful because ITS A FRUITY LITTLE AUSSIE CONVERTIBLE THAT SUUUUCKED. If it was Town Car, its a betrayal because THE PANTHER WAS MAGNIFICENT AND PERFECT AND FAULTLESS AND YOU TARNISH ITS NAME WHEN YOU APPLY IT ELSEWHERE.
Face it, Lincoln can’t win. Their products can be competent, well styled, perfectly named and priced right, but they’ll still SUCK according to the B&B because the only vehicle the American companies build or have ever, ever built that’s sorta maybe almost kinda not awful would be their trucks, which are ONLY purchased by Neanderthal men with tiny appendages.
“Alright, alright, alright” can’t we all just praise Lincoln for going back to real names?
Maybe Lincoln can’t win, but because of this snobbery, savvy shoppers who let someone else take the depreciation hit get great deals. Is my MKZ as good as a 5-Series? No. But it is a pretty satisfying car to own and drive. That I got it for the price of a mid-level Camry as a CPO car is a pretty good place to be.
Lincoln can’t win because it’s been on the verge of extinction for years. Ford almost kills it, then it gets a reprieve, then some names nobody understands, then a new ugly grill, then a new less ugly grill, then some real names. Meanwhile the Germans and even the Japanese have been offering a larger assortment of more competent vehicles.
Car and driver has an amusing anecdote about a husband and wife arguing about what Lincoln they have – a mkz or mKc! Apparently this is one of the reasons for the new nomenclature.
Once Lincoln gets its marketing issues sorted out, the bigger challenge will be building great vehicles. You can argue that they are competent vehicles now, but nothing says best in class or even a unique selling proposition….Trying to build a better Buick may be their last great hope….
You are probably right, but even those of us who own Lincolns get confused by the silly similarity of the MK(whatever) naming convention.
There’s no real logic in naming a huge sedan an Impala, but ever since the Germans divorced their naming from actual displacement, there’s no logic there either.
Is that a red interior I see? The Seventies are back baby!
Might as well call the MKC the Cuttlefish while you’re at it.
Uh, why?
Its a Lincoln. You gotta find something snarky to say about it, even if you have to reach and reach and then hit up Google and then pretend your joke is just above people’s level who read it and think “what?”.
To be fair, they could get themselves a rebadged Miata and call it a Lincoln Squid. Make it all square-styled like a Conti put through a hot drying cycle and I’d have one in Ink Black.
Not a bad idea but I would call it Mantas.
That sounds so much more appealing than a Miata rebadged as a Fiat.
Didn’t GM sell an Opel Manta in Germany back in Cold War days?
@stuki, GM sold the Opel Manta in the US and probably used the name in Germany too.
Lincoln is getting all the respect it deserves as the #8 luxury car brand in the U.S.
HigherIQ, he’s probably referring to the fact that the Nautilus is a cephalopod along with cuttlefish (and octopuses and squids).
Looks like my Edge from the back and inside. Not a bad thing but doesnt look like the platform has been massively changed from the 2015-present version
sales will skyrocket on the name. smart move, along with Continental.
Product is great as well.
Next up, the F350 Kardashian.
Has to be a dually………..
Lincoln is back! Great products and finally real names to go along with them. Let the German brands keep those silly alpha numeric names.
I like names over alphabet soup as much as the next guy, but when I think of “Nautilus” I think of the octopus in a shell pumping away in the depths.