100 Years of Lincoln: What's up their sleeve?

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Keef

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As of a few days ago, the Lincoln brand has existed for 100 years. And they're still relevant, somehow. The brand has been fairly quiet lately which I think is part of their image - quiet luxury for quiet people. That said, their current all-SUV lineup is quite pretty, and the Aviator in particular is surprisingly powerful. In the mid-2010s, Ford invested a huge amount of money into Lincoln to completely revitalize their branding and vehicles and the results are compelling and desirable, but that was long before the wave of electrification raced quickly through the industry. As recently as last year, Lincoln debuted a new sedan for the Chinese market, bringing the classic Zephyr nameplate back from the dead. It looks nice, but we know that Ford is no longer interested in sedans for the North American market.

So what the heck are they up to with this new media campaign?



I saw it all over Instagram before anywhere else. Check their most recent posts to see how they clearly teasing something based around their 100th anniversary.



A new EV car? A full EV lineup? Dunno. Lincoln and Ford didn't bother teasing an entire fleet of prototypes like Cadillac and GM did. I think that Zephyr concept was definitely meant to be an EV although after checking some sources it appears that it wasn't actually marketed as an EV, more like as a hybrid. One thing I do know is that the lightbar being teased in these new Lincoln ads is very similar to the Zephyr concept, and the time is right for a luxury EV from Lincoln. Cadillac is already well on their way to producing their first, and even Chrysler has debuted an awkwardly proportioned but attractive and nearly production-ready example. I appreciate both Chrysler and Lincoln's efforts to keep their cars looking like cars, with the appropriate splash of American art deco styling, compared to Cadillac's alien space ship approach.

I guess we'll find out what they're planning soon enough.
 
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I can’t think of a less interesting car company than Lincoln, it’s probably a new electric cross over.
 
Lincoln is American royalty! They'd actually be my first choice in several segments, particularly the Continental, Navigator, and Aviator. They're still doing lazy luxury while everybody else is trying to be sporty and annoying.
 
It's going to be a generally nice, but mediocre half-CUV half-car EV in the same vein as the upcoming Chrysler Airflow. I'll bet my life on it.
 
North American release for the 2022 Zephyr maybe? Or an electrified Navigator?
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I'm a former Lincoln owner. I drove a '64 Continental across the country back in the '80s. I still have a soft spot for the brand even though I'm disappointed they've gone all-SUV. Then again, that's all people want any more, so I can't fault them for it. I'd love it if the Chinese-market Zephyr made it back home.
 
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Populuxe
I'm a former Lincoln owner. I drove a '64 Continental across the country back in the '80s. I still have a soft spot for the brand even though I'm disappointed they've gone all-SUV. Then again, that's all people want any more, so I can't fault them for it. I'd love it if the Chinese-market Zephyr made it back home.
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I personally think Lincoln should continue to drive itself upmarket. Literally stop playing games with Cadillac and Lexus and aim even higher. Mercedes, Jaguar...Bentley. Aviators already draw so much attention on the road because they look amazing but I think Navigators should be making people think twice about getting a European luxury car, and they should bring back a Continental that is bigger and better than what they brought back before. Make it a genuinely large barge on the scale of the Flying Spur and Ghost. Offer very expensive custom options or coachbuilding on the Navigator. Make them lavishly art-deco and American.
 
Lincoln is getting ready to reveal something dank on 4/20 and I've got a guess at the name of this new strain: Stankin Lancoln.

 
Considering they make nothing but SUVs now, I'm kind of surprised they haven't used Lincoln Town Truck.
 
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Populuxe
Considering they make nothing but SUVs now, I'm kind of surprised they haven't used Lincoln Town Truck.
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I feel like the luxury truck thing is a non-starter. You can have a truck that's luxurious but it can't be a luxury truck. A King Ranch edition F250 is probably more luxurious than the old Lincoln Blackwood, but the face it wears is "contractor's truck" not "tuxedo truck". The raison d'etre for the pickup truck is utility, and if you mess with that you undermine the thing's reason for existing. People don't like things that don't have a reason to exist.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
@Keef

Your relentless optimism from the Lincoln brand is as laudable as it is confounding.
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I find the European luxury brands offensive both from an image and business standpoint. Their reputations are completely unfounded and their prices are criminal - they exist on image alone, mocking the shallowness of consumerist Americans obsessed with impressing others. Furthermore, as the automotive industry quickly evolves, all the vaunted German brands appear to have completely lost their way, virtually unrecognizable from the classic eras that we car and racing fans love so much.

I almost universally prefer the underdog. I'm interested in treating myself, not treating others. I have no desire to impress anyone. I don't like attention. I make decisions that are less common, even if they're occasionally less good as well. And I appreciate the idea of taking risks to improve one's position, whether it be an individual or a sports team or even a company.

I like and would consider brands like Lexus, Genesis, and Lincoln before I'd sell my soul to snobby German profit generators, but I prefer Lincoln because I have faith in the American way of doing things. Embracing heritage plays a big role in that. Speaking of heritage, I didn't even bother mentioning Cadillac because unlike Lincoln they sold out long ago with the specific goal of following the German brands step by step, a misguided mission that continues to be unsuccessful and, frankly, unAmerican.

Edit: Yes I realize that my post from March 17 seems to contradict everything I just said but it doesn't, I promise. Lincoln should move upmarket but not to compete with anybody. Lincoln shouldn't be like Mercedes, Jaguar or Bentley, they should offer a uniquely American product at that level. Aviators gather so much attention specifically because nobody believed it could be that good. And of course customization would result in Lincolns being less like anything else.
 
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The Lincoln Star concept debuted with a super clean and modern design and an EV drivetrain. It’s got interesting patterns and textures and a classically beautiful shape. Almost a boat tail the way it slopes rearward, similar to the current Aviator and classic luxury cars like Rolls Royce and Bentley. I question the “Lincolnness” of it - I was hoping for more Art Deco and beast decoration - but it’s nice and elegant.

 
The proportions are good and the surfacing is nicely restrained, but it leaves me wanting. The front end looks pretty unresolved and the interior is pretty much what everyone else is doing right now, a little uninspired. I liked where FoMoCo was going with the last gen Ford Taurus interior even though it looks dated now in terms of infotainment and materials - it has a very American feel to me. I would love to see a contemporary take on that dual-binnacle, raked surface with deeply inset gauges, it was a cool look.

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The aviator has an excellent interior. The Navigator is a bit too garish for me.
 
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The Lincoln Model L100 concept is vision for the "future of personal mobility". It's a fully autonomous high luxury cruiser, like something out of a futuristic Great Gatsby. And it's very pretty, as a Lincoln should be.





Similarly to Cadillac's latest EV sedan, the Model L100 lays the groundwork for a very large and very luxurious Lincoln sedan, with a simple and sleek design that has just a dash of classic American art-deco style. I personally wish the look was a little gaudier and more vintage but Lincoln seems set on this language having shown two concepts with a lot of commonality. Hopefully the next Continental is a truly massive and impressive EV that can can challenge cars like the Lucid Air and Merc EQS, if not higher up the ladder.

It's excellent. Lincoln is excellent. Also I'd like to thank everyone for not caring about this car so I could get home from a miserable work trip and update this thread.
 
Second generation Lincoln Nautilus midsize CUV unveiled and man, it is ugly. Is Lincoln just trying to shoot itself in the foot at this point?

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but, wait...:odd:
Keef
The Lincoln Star concept debuted with a super clean and modern design and an EV drivetrain. It’s got interesting patterns and textures and a classically beautiful shape. Almost a boat tail the way it slopes rearward, similar to the current Aviator and classic luxury cars like Rolls Royce and Bentley. I question the “Lincolnness” of it - I was hoping for more Art Deco and beast decoration - but it’s nice and elegant.

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They, seriously, couldn't just do this?
 
GranTurNismo
Second generation Lincoln Nautilus midsize CUV unveiled and man, it is ugly. Is Lincoln just trying to shoot itself in the foot at this point?

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First of all, that’s for the Chinese market. Products for the Chinese market are usually quite a bit different than others. They also tend to favor more affordable trims with smaller wheels and fatter tires.

The white isn’t helping. No cars look good in white. I personally think the lines and shapes are fine - they’re evolving toward the light at styles on their recent concept cars.

The American debut will probably look quite a bit different with better wheels, wider tires, better metallic colors, etc.
 
Keef
First of all, that’s for the Chinese market. Products for the Chinese market are usually quite a bit different than others. They also tend to favor more affordable trims with smaller wheels and fatter tires.

The white isn’t helping. No cars look good in white. I personally think the lines and shapes are fine - they’re evolving toward the light at styles on their recent concept cars.

The American debut will probably look quite a bit different with better wheels, wider tires, better metallic colors, etc.
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Though, there's nothing that seems to suggest the second-gen Nautilus is China-only or that the design will be different here. I have a feeling that will be the same Nautilus offered here shortly, just that it was revealed in China first. I do agree that better lighting, colors, and trim will help, but regardless I'm really not a fan of the front fascia.
 
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GranTurNismo
Second generation Lincoln Nautilus midsize CUV unveiled and man, it is ugly. Is Lincoln just trying to shoot itself in the foot at this point?

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Related, long overdue, and taken from this thread on the Chinese 2022 Lincoln Zephyr. The car was finally revealed over a year ago and basically looks just like the concept. Somehow this slipped through the cracks but then again the Chinese car market is extremely foreign to the US media, literally and figuratively.

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Based on Lincoln's wait to debut anything in the US I'm hoping their design language changes a bit from these Chinese cars. Obviously @GranTurNismo was underwhelmed by the Chinese Nautilus and I can see why. It doesn't really follow Lincoln's latest Star and Model L100 concepts at all, but to be fair these designs were also finalized at least a year before those concepts debuted. They occupy a weird middle ground and it isn't great.

I assume Lincoln is waiting to skip this step entirely and go straight to the Star and L100 design language for their next North American models which presumably will be full EV.
 
Keef
Related, long overdue, and taken from this thread on the Chinese 2022 Lincoln Zephyr. The car was finally revealed over a year ago and basically looks just like the concept. Somehow this slipped through the cracks but then again the Chinese car market is extremely foreign to the US media, literally and figuratively.

View attachment 1224370
View attachment 1224369
View attachment 1224368

Based on Lincoln's wait to debut anything in the US I'm hoping their design language changes a bit from these Chinese cars. Obviously @GranTurNismo was underwhelmed by the Chinese Nautilus and I can see why. It doesn't really follow Lincoln's latest Star and Model L100 concepts at all, but to be fair these designs were also finalized at least a year before those concepts debuted. They occupy a weird middle ground and it isn't great.

I assume Lincoln is waiting to skip this step entirely and go straight to the Star and L100 design language for their next North American models which presumably will be full EV.
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The biggest criticism I really have of Lincoln's design language is that it doesn't even have a distinctive design language. Not far off from same line of criticism that is platitudinously applied to other Chinese brands, that key styling elements are just copied and pasted from mainstream brands. For example, I think most would agree that the Zephyr isn't a bad looking car, but it's clear as ever that it's design is amalgamated from other cars in the segment, especially the Audi A7. Also, I think it's time for Lincoln to finally do away with it's rear light bar design its had on CUVs for the last (almost) 10 years. It's just kind of stale at this point, especially since more and more manufacturers are incorporating similar designs:

2019 lincoln nautilus black label rear
 
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Keef
Related, long overdue, and taken from this thread on the Chinese 2022 Lincoln Zephyr. The car was finally revealed over a year ago and basically looks just like the concept. Somehow this slipped through the cracks but then again the Chinese car market is extremely foreign to the US media, literally and figuratively.

View attachment 1224370
View attachment 1224369
View attachment 1224368

Based on Lincoln's wait to debut anything in the US I'm hoping their design language changes a bit from these Chinese cars. Obviously @GranTurNismo was underwhelmed by the Chinese Nautilus and I can see why. It doesn't really follow Lincoln's latest Star and Model L100 concepts at all, but to be fair these designs were also finalized at least a year before those concepts debuted. They occupy a weird middle ground and it isn't great.

I assume Lincoln is waiting to skip this step entirely and go straight to the Star and L100 design language for their next North American models which presumably will be full EV.
Click to expand...
9.5/10. Not as perfect as the G90, but not far off.
 

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