One of the best things happening at poor old Ford these days is the step-by-step replacement of their exceptionally unfortunate alpha-numeric naming experiement. I still have a few functioning brain cells left (or at least hope so), but for some reason Lincoln’s approach left me repeatedly unable to make any sense of it, and I often just gave up. Which works easily enough for me, as Lincoln might as well not exist here in Eugene.
But relief is on the way, and Lincoln dealers were recently shown some future product, including a replacement for the compact CUV…..MKC (did I get that right?), to arrive as a 2021 model and to be named Corsair. Lincoln made reference to the name Corsair as a “pirate ship” and “WW II fighter”, but assiduously left out any reference to the Ford Motor Company’s previous use of that name on one of its products. You know what I’m referring to…
The Edsel Corsair, of course! It was the lower trim level of the senior Edsel line, comparable to the Pontiac Star Chief or so. Meaning, it had the big Mercury body and 124″ wheelbase unlike the junior Edsels, which shared a Ford body. Brendan Saur’s full CC on the 1958 Edsel is here.
I’m assuming it’s pretty safe to say that buyers of a 2021 Corsair will not remember its namesake from the far distant past. And even if it was used on Ford’s biggest failure ever, it’s a good name, and I’m glad to see it coming back. And you don’t have to be an aviator to drive it.
95+ % of car buyers couldn’t even name Edsel’s trim lines. Or, even know that it wasn’t just some Ford model. And many under 50 don’t remember the brand.
Only car ‘geeks’ and hobbyists are going to make a big deal of this new name.
And even then, much like Ranger, Corsair is such a good name that it’s hardly sullied by a 3-year stint with a failed marque. Pacer, OTOH, went directly into the realm of kitsch, and Citation will possibly never be redeemed.
I don’t think the Corsair even made it beyond 1959. I think all 60 Edsels were Rangers.
Additionally on the other way around Zephyr bounced from Lincoln, down to Mercury, and back to Lincoln before ultimately getting alphanumerized into the MKz. Also Lincoln’s Capri was eventually recycled onto the Mercury Capri
The Zephur name was also used on British Fords in the 1950s and 1960s.
I believe the MKZ is still titled as MKZ/Zephyr.
And my MKS was titled MKS/Conti, like they were getting ready to call it the Continental, then did an about face.
I always thought “Citation” was an awful name for a car – in the context of driving, a citation is a traffic violation ticket, and who wants to think of that? I’m surprised it got used *twice*.
On the other hand, there are some names like “Vega” and “Cimarron” that are perfectly good names for a car but nonetheless will never ever be used again.
Sort of like how they retire names of particularly destructive hurricanes.
I believe that Citation is also another word for an award of some kind. And the verb form, cite, while not all that common, means to award.
Many military awards are termed citations.
But so are traffic tickets. Guess which one people will think of first?
Pacer had some help (or not) from AMC.
Now that I think about it, how did AMC end up with Pacer anyway? Or did FoMoCo not copyright protect it?
I guess Ford forgotted to copyright it.
Chrysler Australia also used the Pacer name for a muscled version of the Aussie Valiant who can have the Hemi 6-pack to go against the Holden Monaro and Ford Falcon GT and GTHO but was overshadowed by the arrival of the Aussie Charger.
I recall reading somewhere that the US auto manufacturers maintained a system where names could be reserved, but only for a limited time unless they were used. This prevented a name from being locked up forever but also allowed certain ones to be protected if used. I do not know if that system is still in force.
The big concern today is the use of a name by a non-automotive company.
The Ford Fusion was originally supposed to be named the Ford Futura, but Pep Boys had the rights to the name. It was selling tires under the Futura brand.
Meanwhile, both Bentley and Lincoln sell a car called Continental. Technically, the Bentley is “Continental GT” (coupe) or “Continental GTC” (convertible), but still. Lincoln owned the name first, but Bentley has used it continuously, I think.
Also, some names in overseas markets couldn’t be use elsewhere since another company own the name. Hence why the 1960-61 “full-size” Dodge Dart was sold as Dodge Phoenix in Australia.
http://oldcarbrochures.org/index.php/Australia-2/Chrysler/Imports-1/1960-Dodge-Phoenix-Folder
You’re right. “Ranger” was used later by Ford for pickup trucks (as an F-Series trim level in the ’70s and for compact pickups in the ’80s and beyond), as were “Citation” by Chevy and “Pacer” by AMC, with no associations that I can recall of having been the other Edsel trim lines. So I think “Corsair” will be fine, and not even likely to be confused with “Corvair”.
Chevrolet, not Edsel, ruined the “Citation” name for years to come.
Even the under-50s (under-60s really) who don’t remember the Edsel firsthand must have heard numerous mentions of things being called Edsels to have some idea of what it was, and to know it’s not something good.
Man, that’s one ugly car! 😉 😉 I hope it goes over 10,000 % better than its namesake.
There were two more recent uses by Ford of the “Corsair” name.
Ford UK had a Corsair in the mid to late ’60s. It was a not bad looking mid-size (for UK) car. It had a “bullet” looking nose – sort of like the prior ’61/’63 T-Birds. I remember this Corsair and have a die cast model of one.
And there was also an Australian Ford Corsair in later years – about which I know nothing.
Here you go:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/australian-brands/curbside-classic-1989-92-ford-corsairnissan-pintara-a-lame-duck-bluebird/
When I wrote it, I forgot about the Edsel trim level entirely and just referenced the very handsome British Ford.
Here’s the Ford UK Corsair – in a relatively uncommon two-door style.
Ford of Britian’s Corsair was basically a slightly stretched (wheelbase and overall length) and reclad Mk.I Cortina, effectively a cut-price replacement of the short-lived Classic sitting between the Cortina range and the bigger Mk.III/IV Zephyr/Zodiacs. It was the first car to use the new V4 as used in the 1965 Transit in 1700 and later 2000cc formats, the latter in the 1966 2000E (sort of a Brougham Corasir).
Here’s a model of the latter I did a while back:
That’s what I think of when I hear the name Corsair.
The name was also used by Ford Australia in the late 80s for a rebadged Nissan sedan.
Of which the less said, the better.
Well now we can all relax because Ford has finally recycled the last of the Edsel model names. Ranger and Pacer have been given a second chance (one more successfully than the other) and so has Citation. But the poor Corsair languished in the Unwanted Names file (at least in the US).
I think that more people will confuse it with the similarly named Chevrolet (Ralph Nader’s favorite) than with an Edsel model. Just wait for the “Unsafe At Any Speed” jokes to start once the car is introduced.
I think they are missing out on some great -ator names to go with Navigator and Aviator. Ones like Ruminator, Masticator and Operator all come to mind.
“Well now we can all relax because Ford has finally recycled the last of the Edsel model names.”
Nope. Still waiting for the new Roundup wagon – but I think Monsanto owns that name now 🙂
I can see the advertising now: “You don’t need a new car, you need a new family! So test drive the new Roundup wagon!” 🙂
There was also an Edsel Bermuda wagon.
Paul Shaffer’s song works, too:
Bermuda!
It’s a cuckoo kind of place,
A nutty, nutty kind of space.
Bermuda!
“I think they are missing out on some great -ator names to go with Navigator and Aviator.” Top of the line super premium Lincoln Prevaricator. Could be the next Lincoln presidential limousine. 😉
Instigator, anyone? 😉
Alligator?
Obfuscator
-Ator names? With Lincoln it could be Masturb…
Oh, never mind.
the LaCrosse and Pajero were close enough from what I understand
With Lincoln it could be Masturb…,. Maybe Masturbaviator?
Being a homebrewer, I always associate the “-ator” suffix with the Doppelbock style beers.
Just about ALL of them have that kind of name. It’s supposed to be in honor of the first one (or most famous one), Paulaner Salvator, which ironically is not pronounced “Eight-Or”….
https://sites.google.com/site/librarypubomaha/news/whydodopplebocknamesendin-ator
But then, drinking and driving should NOT be promoted. Kudos Lincoln.
Car and Driver already tried that joke when the Acura Integra was launched, predicting that Acura’s next model name would be Masturba. Though I kinda like Prevarica. And I guess Mitsubishi also removed the final “te” with the Delica van.
An autonomous SUV will certainly called the Lincoln Terminator.
Powered by Ford’s Terminator Cobra engine of course.
Bloviator.
Why do they bother disguising the styling when it will be nearly indistinguishable from other cars anyway?
I’d buy something named Convair perhaps.
Not a bad name, and a definite improvement over “MKC.” There was the Edsel version, of course, but those of us who played with regular-wheel Matchbox models remember the model of the British Ford Corsair (which featured a plastic roof rack and boat).
The Automotive News article announcing the name change also contained this:
“Dealers were shown the Corsair, along with the next-generation Ford Escape, Explorer, Mach 1 battery-electric crossover, a small off-road SUV and a Lincoln Continental sedan with suicide doors late last month at a meeting in Orlando, according to those in the room.” (emphasis added)
If Ford is phasing out all sedans, why would it spend a considerable sum of money to convert the Continental to a suicide-door format? That is not an inexpensive revision. Automotive News is generally a reliable source of information.
Supposedly, Ford is closing out all the Ford sedans. Lincoln will at least keep the Continental, and possibly the MKZ, or whatever they name it (and they could do a lot worse than going back to Zephyr).
Are those Lincolns sustainable without Ford platform mates to share costs?
the platforms will still be global.
My guess is they’ll retire the Continental by having it go out with a bang. They’re selling less than 1,000 per month now, which is probably unsustainable. And its also built at the Flat Rock plant, which only has room for two lines, and one of them is the Mustang.
Changing the door configuration is not cheap. I can’t see Ford spending all of that money on a model that is about to be discontinued.
Good point. I imagine they’re going to charge quite a bit for the suicide doors. Whether or not they make money from it is another story.
They wouldn’t change the current Continental to suicide doors; that’s financially…suicidal. This was a presentation of long-range product plans. Undoubtedly this suicide door Continental would replace the current one, if it gets green-lighted.
A more likely scenario. The new Continental seems to be a good first attempt at reviving the sedans of the brand, and while Ford is killing Ford sedans in the North American market, they did not say that they are killing Lincoln sedans. It still seems that luxury sedans make a good business model, and they need to keep similar models to the other luxury brands available. Since it will go for a higher price, with probable better margins, it will probably work in smaller numbers. A new Continental with suicide doors, probably on the current Taurus platform (or who knows, maybe a new platform altogether) would be a great shot in the arm for Lincoln.
Yeah, I don’t think a Continental with suicide doors is even possible on the CD4 platform, although I could be wrong.
Its entirely possible the CD6 platform will be used for the next generation Lincoln, which would mean it could be built at Chicago, and it would probably be RWD too. Ford has already announced its plans to build an electric vehicle at its Flat Rock plant, which currently builds the Mustang and the Continental, so whatever ends up happening will result in a change in its assembly location.
The Continental shown was the rumored 80th Anniversary Continental edition, rumored to be limited to 250 units, all Black Label with every option/feature and then some new ones as well. It will have a wb stretch and features the iconic Continental “suicide” doors. Its supposed to be out within a year and obviously will have major body changes to accommodate the new doors. I’m thinking if its truly a limited edition then would be mostly built by an outside supplier (like the Ford GT). Its rumored to retail for $100,000+!
Luckily I think any lingering stigma towards Edsel for even those more aware of the history know the brand name more than than the model trims. Only us on the fringes would be able to break down the model range, year range and lingering remnants of the brand(Comet, the E in FE and MEL engines), in fact many people my age and younger presume Edsel was a failed Ford MODEL, ala Aztec, not a failed attempt at a brand, and it tends to get implied that way on a lot of those awful internet lists of worst cars ever – it’s always “2) Edsel. What an ugly car, what was Ford thinking!”, no mention of of Corsair, Citation, Rangers or general specifics.
Corsair is a good name, I may be dissatisfied with the shrinking availability of body styles and styling stuck in a rut somewhere between hideous and dull, but with proper names I at least don’t have to think up the right combination of digits like I do in stressful dreams where i’m back in high school struggling to open my locker!
So we’ll have
Navigator
Aviator
Nautilus
Corsair
Sadly it doesn’t look like the MKZ will last long enough to regain its Zephyr moniker and the Continental doesn’t look like it will hang around much longer.
I applaud Lincoln’s return to actual names, but “Corsair” seems like a poor choice. Of course the Edsel connection, but beyond that it just sounds sort of stuffy, something I thought Lincoln was trying to get away from.
Agreed. But then maybe I just have PTSD from the mediocre rebadged Nissan that wore the name.
I actually thought Lincoln would dust off Capri (Cosmopolitan would’ve been too Sex and the City). Corsair will probably grow on me though, but it’s just not as cool as the other Lincoln SUV names.
I was kind of thinking that it might be Capri but I wonder if it was considered too soon to reuse it as there are more likely to be people who recall at least one of its 3 incarnations as a Mercury than there are people who will remember the Edsel at all let alone the model names.
However the Mercury Zephyr was not that old of a name when Lincoln took it back and Mercury was still a brand at the time.
A fair number of people still remember the imported Capri, as well as the Mercury version of the Fox Mustang that was offered through 1986.
Personally, I like the name Corsair over Capri by a landslide, and Capri to me is a Ford or Mercury, and was most memorable and successful under those brands, while the 50s Lincoln Capri was pretty much an also-ran.
Guess they have the rights to the name already – what’s it cost to register a new name?
Lincoln has yet to revive the Cosmopolitan name.
It may as well be Lincoln Sex On The Beach. I like the Cosmopolitan name but the cocktail is so well-known at this point.
Wait, what???? 😉
I drive up Oakwood, past the Ford proving grounds on my way to Greenfield Village. See nothing but SUVs in camo, sometimes two or three different ones in a row, as you would expect given Hackett’s edict.
Sweltering in the reviewing stands during the Motor Muster last weekend, for a moment I pondered the great sounding model names of the past, as I looked at two huge convertibles with “Bonneville” and “Catalina” emblazoned on their sides.
Lincoln should have a model called “Liberator.” It would work on at least 2 levels!
(It would be perfect if they put it on a Lincoln version of the Mustang, which would be a great 3-series competitor now that the platform has IRS.)
They could build that one at Willow Run…
Someone else already has the Liberator trademark…
Man, this really is conflicting my emotions.
I love that Lincoln is using real names, not alphanumerics.
It’s another small CUV.
It is reviving corporate history.
That history is Edsel.
Talk about highs and lows… I may need meds by the time it reaches dealers.
How about Lincoln Bombadier?
There’s already a LRV company called Bombardier. I don’t think they’d like that. Cool name though!
And Bomardier ale over here. Pronounced differently though.
Based on the comments, a good QOTD would be something along the lines of “What Disgraced Auto Names Can Never Come Back?” I’ve always wondered what would happen if Chevrolet revived VEGA, for example (ducks and runs).
Corsair is an okay, if somewhat ‘meh’ name as far as I’m concerned. There’s been well enough time since the Edsel, although if the new Corsair should have teething issues, I’m sure the car mags would be quick to dredge up the ‘Edsel was a failure” meme.
SS Jaguar pretty unlikely too.
“What Disgraced Auto Names Can Never Come Back?”
Studebaker Dictator.
Never heard that song; it is pretty horrible. But that made me find an image of Dictator coupes. The ’37 looks great.
Then there is the ’70s New York band the Dictators.
Yeah it’s not quite as catchy as “Little GTO” (which precedes it on the album). The other Ronny & the Daytonas hit was “Sandy” which seems to have been forgotten though it is quite nice. Still, let it be known that there is a song about a Studebaker Dictator…. the record was released in January 1964, so it was likely written and recorded just before South Bend was abruptly closed. The only other song I can think of that has a Studebaker in it of any sort is Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” which is pretty horrible too.
And the brand name SS – changed to Jaguar in 1945.
And probably the brand name Playboy.
Well…. I’m glad to see names back at Lincoln, but I’m not sure the Corsair is the best choice. Not because of the Edsel association (mostly just people on this site would connect those dots….), but rather because it just isn’t a particularly compelling or retro/modern name–it just seems somewhat dated.
For the luxury cute ute target audience, I would think a retro Lincoln name with more appeal would be Cosmopolitan, which target buyers could associate with “style” or a cocktail. Premiere would be another retro Lincoln option that could still be relevant–and we are far away from the slow-selling Eagle that once bore that name. If retro Edsel is the goal, then Bermuda seems like a better bet, since it is at least a cool and upscale vacation destination. From more recent times, the new product could be called the Sentinel, in deference to the Lincoln concept car from the mid-1990s. Plus that name also sorta fits with Navigator and Aviator.
Still I’ll take Corsair any day over the MKwhatever….
I’m probably in the minority on this, but I think of the WWII fighter, the Vought F4U Corsair. That goes back even further than the Edsel model.
I also wanted to remind folks that the Eagle Premier was the model and that Oldsmobile had the Silhouette Premiere sub model which was the top of that line.
With all of that, Premiere, Cosmopolitan or even Edsel is STILL light years ahead of MKXYZ….
Lincoln already uses Premiere as a trim level, the lowest rung, it was the top trim at Mercury.
Of course after Ranger was an Edsel it was a trim level on pickups and Explorer also started as a pickup trim level and both became models eventually.
Explorer was used by DeSoto on some station wagons in the late 1950s.
Premiere [sp?] is also the top Chevy trim nowadays, in place of ‘LTZ’.
MK-This , MK-That , HuH? Lincoln really pulled a stupid when they went to the alphabet soup model names. They seem to realize that now?? If Only Acura could have such an awakening….
Well why not? What goes around comes around, as they say. AMC used Pacer, and Ford used Ranger for their compact pickups, and Chevy had the Citation.
I am waiting to see what they’ll do in the 2020’s with Versailles.
When Ford was doing consumer surveys on what to name their new brand, Corsair, along with Citation, Ranger, and Pacer were the most popular names consistently. But instead they decided to name it after some guy nobody had heard of.
In their defence, most of the existing car brands were named after some guy that nobody had heard of.
Nice point! In 1958, out of the sixteen US makes all but Plymouth, Mercury and Rambler were named after some guy. Funny, all three of them are gone now.
And the newest US make today? Named after some guy nobody had heard of.
Charlie Chaplin? 🙂
I wonder how well received the company would be is it were named Musk…
Most of them were founded in the era before professionalized market research
I think there was a belief that if a man (always a man back then) put his name on a product then his reputation was at stake.
> always a man back then
Mercedes!
In those days the market is what they made it, and people weren’t near as superficial as they are now, and lacked negative connotations and baggage attached to certain words or just ring of them. This is one of the actual instances where the good old days really were better.
Today’s level of market research would pretty much rule out any big name that’s been with us for 100+ years in favor of something as inane as excelsia. Edsel may be some guy nobody’s heard of, but unlike, say, Acura, it isn’t made up out of thin air because a positivity clinic thought it sounded dynamic and cutting edge.
As Greg mentioned below, a whole lot of people would have recognized the name Edsel. After all, he was the president of Ford Motors for some decades, and dies just some 15 years earlier. The age of typical Edsel buyers would invariably have had lots of exposure to Edsel Ford, and I doubt there’s hardly anyone in that demographic who couldn’t tell you whose name it was.
The reality is that Edsel’s widow and HFII were not at all happy with that choice. Ernie Breech rammed it through at the last minute when the naming committee couldn’t decide on the other recommendations.
FWIW, Edsel was a mighty uncommon name, and if folks hadn’t known of Edsel Ford, it might well have struck them as a made-up name like Acura.
In the 1950s, a fair number of people still knew who Edsel Ford was.
This piece made me think of some fine model names that are now in the dustbin – Buick Roadmaster, Electra, Invicta and Super, Packard Carribean and Panama, Ford Galaxie and Fairlane, Chevy Delray, Nomad, Cameo, Biscayne and Bel Air, Hudson Hollywood, Studebaker Champion, President and Lark, Lincoln Cosmopolitan and Capri, Imperial Southampton, Chrysler Windsor and Saratoga, Dodge Lancer and Polara. I could go on …..
I still think that Electra is way too much of a good name and REALLY do want to see it in an electric Buick
A few folks may remember the Lockheed Electra airliner. Its success was cut short by several fatal crashes of early production examples. The cause was fixed, and the design evolved to the highly successful P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, still in service today. Royal Canadian air force version CP-140 Aurora.
https://goo.gl/images/zhMdnj
Is Corsair better than MKXYZ? Yes. But my eyes see CORSE-HAIR. Don’t they want the name to identify an emotional attachment and superb luxury? There’s got to be something that they can come up with that’s better than Corsair. Lincoln Corsair. It doesn’t flow. It doesn’t read or sound nice. smdh.
When I hear the name Corsair, my first thought was of ‘The Phantom Corsair’ built in 1938 on a modified Cord 810 chassis by Rust Heinz. Not a bad role model actually.
What about Utopian Turtletop.
There’sa van/bus conversion company called Turtle Top
Or “Mongoose Civique”? From a poet* hired by FoMoCo to name the eventual Edsel.
*Marianne Moore
From Wiki:
Marianne Moore’s unorthodox name contributions
(“Utopian Turtletop,” “Pastelogram,” “Turcotinga,” “Resilient Bullet,” “Andante con Moto” and “Mongoose Civique”)
You missed the first use of the name for a “super-deluxe” Henry J. New! Improved! Now with secret ingredient Trunk Lid!
I think it’s fine. Obviously Edsel itself wouldn’t work, but as others have mentioned, Ford used “Ranger” successfully for decades.
I always thought that AMC went wobbly with the names like Eagle (with Talon as a model) like toenail!! I believe the Hudson name, owned by Chrysler for ages, should have been used for a performance division (“Hudson Rules the Road, and America Knows It!”). Some of the model names, based on armed insects, like Hornet: Bembex, Sphex could have had some viability. I once sort of photoshopped a 1951 Hudson grille onto a Dodge Magnum. Looked good to me like a newer Step Down Hudson.
Here’s a snippet from Popular Science in July 1961, just 1 year after Edsel closed its doors. Chevrolet was, or at least was rumored, to call the car that would become the Nova, the Corsair.