Lincoln’s Continental $47k sedan has seen its sales drop over 30% this year so far. The solution? Starting this coming summer, for an extra $53k you can get suicide rear doors! That’s just $26,500 per door. If the average owner were to add up how many times they actually open the rear door, one could calculate a very interesting cost-per-opening number. Care to guess?
Silly me. As if the few lucky souls who end up with one of these cares about that sort of thing.
Full disclosure: You actually get a bit more for your $100k than just the suicide rear doors. Like an extra 6″ of wheelbase. And the Blackwood trim. Which means this is obviously targeted to the Chinese market, where lwb sedans are a must above the most utilitarian ones.
I hope there’s an automatic door closing assist, as otherwise this looks to be rather difficult to close manually.
If you must have one, better run with your checkbook to your Lincoln dealer to reserve one, as only 80 will be offered in the US in 2019. There will be a “limited” number available in the 2020 model year. If there is a 2020 model year, as the Conti is on a death watch, for the US, anyway.
So how much for some Lambo doors?
A commenter on another site suggested there should be a trim panel with “CONTINENTAL” spelled vertically on the B-pillar. I’m inclined to agree that the post itself needs to put on some kind of a show.
Sounds good, but the letters also need LED back lighting complete with a customizable color palette.
FWIW I think the Continental is far better looking than the XTS and I like that there are 3 flavors of power available in the Continental (3.7 V6, TT 2.7 V6, TT 3.0 V6)
But it doesn’t help the Continental that I would seriously consider one used after the depreciation stick has beaten it and beaten it hard.
I had suicide front doors on a couple of old cars (51 LIP Vauxhall & 39 Morris eight) not a great idea in my opinion, Suicide rear doors belong on cars that come with a door opening and closing device normally called a chauffeur.
So $100k for a tarted up Continental, which is a tarted up MKz, which is a tarted up Fusion? Goodie. The rear doors seem to open at an upward angle unlike the fronts oddly, but maybe it’s just the picture angles, but it’s not exactly photogenic like real suicide door cars, which is kind of the point
Though they should have done this from the beginning across the line if they were going to resurrect the name. I had a hard time seeing this Continental as comparable to the 61-69 rather than the 88-02s they actually remind me of. I’m quite vindicated in my cynicism despite the Lincoln defenders certainty that this model would turn the brand around.
I would’ve been more optimistic if Lincoln had brought the early 2000s Continental concept to production. And if they’d done so, oh, say, a decade before this Conty arrived.
+1 The Continental looks OK, but it could have been so much better.
If I wanted a tarted up, hideously expensive Fusion; I’d visit my Ford dealership.
THIS was the last real Lincoln; my “Forever Car” daily driver.
Well I agree with your point cp, that Lincolns are no more “tarted up” than Acuras, I take exception with your consistent use of silly nicknames for Japanese car companies.
It’s tedious and it detracts from whatever point it is you’re making, the end result being your comment looks like it’s in the comments section of a YouTube video decrying “ReTHUGlicans” and “DEMONcrats”.
Well said. Whatever badge is glued to the nose, it’s hard to imagine anyone who’s had actual seat time in a TSX/Euro Accord being such a downer after running that K24 through its toggle-switch 6MT to the 7100rpm redline more than a couple of times.
Where did I ever say nobody else did it? I don’t even have a problem with it, the Town Cars that I feel are better *Lincolns* than these were tarted up Crown Vic’s, same with Deville’s vs. Impalas for that matter.
These have a very real image issue in that the MKz(ephyr)/Fusion relationship isn’t insider knowledge to the general public, and because Lincoln foolishly squandered the new identity of the Continental by immediately facelifting the MKz with it, it became clear what they had done.
I have heard that Barnum insisted he never said “there’s a sucker born every minute”, but Ford only needs to find 80. I remember the last year of big Eldo production in the 70s, when Cadillac was urging people to buy two: one to drive and one to keep as a collectable. Just like those “individually numbered, with certificate of authenticity” Elvis plates.
The way things are going, Ford may be right. FCA keeps promising a $100,000 Wagoneer. I remember when the Range Rover didn’t have status symbol pretensions.
Heck, with only 80 to offer, how many will be left after all the Ford honchos buy one so Hackett doesn’t give them the stink-eye? I count 47 vice-presidents.
http://annualreport.ford.com/corporate-governance/executive-team
I think this is more of a swan song than anything else. And I think the additional 6 inches enhances the design quite a bit.
I’ve never really understood why so many Curbivores have expressed their fondness for the Continental, heritage name aside. It’s not a bad car and it has a lovely interior with amazing seats but at this price point there are so many desirable options. Especially at the price point of the Black Label and this new Coach Door edition, there are rivals from Germany, South Korea and even the US that offer a more cohesive luxury car experience than this (admittedly well-disguised) Ford Fusion-derived sedan. This was a nice MKS replacement but it doesn’t really rise above the XTS/RLX segment.
The concept was truly attractive but the production vehicle underwhelmed. I don’t think that was because it looked different but because the design just didn’t have a long shelf life in terms of wow factor.
This Coach Door edition? I love they’re doing something for the Continental’s anniversary and kudos for doing something that isn’t commonly done, but that B-pillar looks awkward as hell and I guess I’m just not a huge fan of suicide… sorry, coach doors.
William, the Continental folks love their favorite just as you do with the Cadillacs. The heart does not listen to the head in most matters.
But, in my opinion, the reason for Continental to hold appeal comes down to one thing. The Kennedy association. Not just the tragedy of the assassination, but that the Continental was the ride of choice from that era. That is why many folks of a certain age (and they are right in the demographic for purchasing such a car now) think fondly of the name and model. It screams 1961 all over again, and that was a very good time for younger America and Americans.
When you realize that the sales will probably be to Chinese moguls, not Americans, then it all seems silly, but that Ford gave it a green light brings a smile to my face. Perhaps we should be celebrating choices rather than tearing down those who try, however ill-advised they may be.
My problem isn’t with the doors or the heritage, it’s that the new Continental otherwise has no real stylistic link to the 60s Continentals so the suicide doors don’t really fit.
Kudos to Lincoln for offering them, it’s clearly gotten some buzz and it’s something unique, but it doesn’t make me any more of a fan.
That’s the beauty of having many flavors available, as we all don’t prefer the same ones.
I can say that the current Cadillacs really have no stylistic link to their past, either, but then they really don’t try to make the most of that heritage, much to their loss. But really, other than selling a retro model, heritage in automobiles seems to be just playing up past successes, and this car does just that, in shorthand, with the coach doors. The CT6 does not evoke a Sedan de Ville, but that does not negate the heritage of Cadillac that it rests upon. Without that heritage, it would be a complete failure, and no one would be mentioning it, even disparagingly, unless it was offered as a Cadillac.
We don’t need to be fans of each other’s favorites, but I do applaud your enthusiastic embracing of your favorites and thoughtful critiques of others.
Front end still looks repulsive.
Oh that just looks silly. What will we do when China makes there own status symbol vehicles? Or so they already? I wonder how long before we are copying their stuff? What happened to the USA? That’s a lot of questions. Just thinking aloud, or at least in type. It is a nice color blue. There, I found something nice to say.
What happened to the USA?
Tesla.
Everyone is copying them, in China and in Europe. Go USA!!!
Thank you, Paul! You’re right, people the world over aspire to own American cars again. The difference is, these American cars wear the Tesla badge. For the first time in a long, long time, even the Europeans are if not copying then reacting to American cars. It’s a point that gets lost in all the chatter from the commentariat about Elon Musk and stock performances and so on.
Tesla should be a source of pride for Americans.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this wasn’t Tesla; it was bargain-basement Maybach. They might be able to pull that one off, provided anyone remembers (or has even heard of) Maybach.
Oh, yeah. Honestly, I just forgot about Tesla. I had a tough day and was waiting to have a flat tire repaired. I shouldn’t make half-assed comments when I am very tired. I feel better now after a long nap!
Chinese people aren’t any more (or less) stupid or ignorant or gullible than any other nation. They prefer imports because for a mix of reasons and perceptions they consider domestic cars to be inferior. It probably doesn’t help that Chinese industry still has trouble quitting its longrunning habit of making products that (rightly or wrongly) come off as cheap imitations, starting with brand names. We laugh at The Simpsons’ nod to it (Magnetbox, Panaphonic, Sorny), but here in the real world there are dimly-regarded appliances from Haier (a fall-flat attempt at riding the coattails of noted high-end appliance maker Liebherr) and, directly relevant to the topic at hand here in this thread, there’s Lynk & Company, which—by utter, sheer, blind, dumb, pure-as-the-driven-snow coincidence, I’m so sure—sounds like “Lincoln [Motor] Company”, a little bit around the edges.
This is changing. Chinese brands are currently doing better than import brands, especially GM’s and Ford’s. This is a significant reason why GM and Ford are in a panic: their China market share is decreasing.
There are a number of new premium 100% Chinese EV-only brands patterned after Tesla that are off to a good start. This is the future for Chinese brands.
There is speculation that GM might even spin off its China JV. That would leave them to build just trucks and SUVs/CUVs in the US. Oh, and lots of EVs. Lots and lots of EVs. Because the Bolt has sold so well. Not.
This was in MITs Technology Review today. Seems the Chinese have given up on internal combustion and are going all in on electric.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612566/why-chinas-electric-car-industry-is-leaving-detroit-japan-and-germany-in-the-dust/?utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=68376386&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_2hynjQpsSUNYaoQASEHaNPUF682Q0dbOzLZTN2VCVhEkxQSUR4OoiRI9TusjLZGirE1s499NOIINneUW2hoJSYfoszA&_hsmi=68376386
VW is starting to falter too as Chinese domestic brands improve. Might be prudent for GM and other auto manufacturers doing business in China to at least consider an end game.
As for the Bolt, given what GM is losing on them I don’t think they are all too eager to move a lot of Bolts. Overall Tesla hasn’t been a profitable venture yet either. This will change soon for both of them however.
Agreed. The difference being Tesla makes all their own motors, electronics and batteries, and reaps the engineering and production experience that comes with that. GM buys their electric drivetrains from LG of Korea.
“Because the Bolt has sold so well. Not.”
But isn’t that more perception, and poor marketing, than the car itself?
I’ll mention again – because I think I wrote this on CC last week – it’s time to consider the ECONOMICS in building an electric car. No matter what your environmental convictions may be, it’s just plain less expensive to design and build an electric drivetrain.
The issue remains the battery, and once those issues are sorted out and the cost comes down to where an electric vehicle is fully cost-competitive with its ICE counterpart, the ICE will become a nostalgia thing, just like a stick shift in a world where modern automatics outperform them.
Haier now owns GE Appliances. I didn’t know this when I refitted my condo with all new GEs last year but they’re still made at Appliance Park here in the US for now at least. So for better or worse, Haier is no longer a bottom-tier brand.
Haier is still a bottom-tier brand, not company. GE gives them the brand mojo. Appliance companies are a lot like automotive. Offer base, mid and luxury brands based on the same basic technology to over the whole market. Whirlpool does it in the USA with Roper, Amana, Whirlpool and Maytag. Electolux does it well as a European company.
Ford never mastered the Sloan ladder concept like GM had invented. Lincoln hangs on, barely, which is the point of this article. Not that it is relevant for GM anymore.
I can’t imagine why anyone would want their product to remind someone of Lincoln, whose heyday is long behind it. The Link&Co name is somewhat surprising in that regard.
Some (many?) of the newer Chinese designs are actually quite attractive, some of the companies definitely have a Western influence in regard to design on hand. I know nothing of the actual quality but also haven’t seen a Buick Envision or any other vehicle currently made in China and sold here actually broken down at the side of the road. There are definitely instances and a history of shortcuts and poor quality products (Hyundais and Kias from Korea used to suck too), but increasingly there are quite a few good, high tech ones as well. A Mercedes isn’t quite what it once was either, all new automobiles are objectively quite close as far as initial quality goes. Takata proved conclusively that the Japanese can also completely disregard morals as well as common sense in the pursuit of the mighty dollar (or yen). Ford had the Pinto. Mercedes STILL hasn’t seen fit to replace the airbags in most GL450’s, almost four years after issuing their recall but seem to have plenty of engineering chops to create yet more form factors for their offerings, each of which curiously needs/gets a new airbag module etc…It’s a global business and the Chinese are all of a sudden the largest market, they aren’t going to just suck up every other country’s autos forever and the EV drive/push of the Chinese government has all of a sudden leveled the playing field quite a bit (or at least “reset” the clock).
While there are plenty of people that cast a wary eye on China and will try to avoid their offerings (in any capacity), there are vastly more that do not care about that whatsoever. It’s going to be an interesting decade going forward, that’s for sure.
Notice that the little side window behind the rear doors is a blank – you can’t see out of it, Damned sloppy, Ford.
Used to be the C pillar was broad to give the back seat passengers some privacy.
I would have just left off the fake window and painted the entire C pillar body color, yielding an obviously triangular pillar which I think would have looked fine.
»blink«
»blink blink«
BUWAAAhahahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh, you’re good! You seriously had me going there for a minute. Hey, pull the other one; it jingles! Hee hee hee…!
…uh…wait…y’mean…they’re actually…?!
If the Continental had been designed this way from the get-go with a starting price of $70k, this would have been an interesting proposition. If it were intended to be truly mass-produced, that price might be achievable.
I agree. The Continental needed something to set it apart. This combination of longer wheelbase and suicide doors would have provided the car with some real personality. It might have been a short term fad, but it would have done better than the Continental we got. A V8 and RWD would have completed the package.
It begs, just BEGS, for the faux spare tire hump of yore.
If I was looking to throw money away (and some people are) I might grab one of these rather than a tacky Roller or Kia-like Jag.
Kahn (who blingify Range Rovers) were/are offering warmed over TX4 taxis for 100k sterling, with dodgy 100 horse VM diesel engine. There’s only 5 of those, but 80 of these
Continentals in the US means they won’t frequently be spotted in Shitkicker, IA.
It’s an OK car for $35,000. But with these doors it’s just tacky. Stick a fork in it, it’s done. Move on.
They’re doors, how are they tacky?
It simply comes across as trying too hard. They are giving it something that people will focus on instead of the rest of the package that didn’t work out as planned. If it were on a completely different (new) car that’d be different. Or it should have been built this way from the beginning. The Lamborghini Countach didn’t get its interesting doors halfway through the production run. Neither did the Model X. Nor did the 4th generation Continental in ’61.
Are suicide doors on a Lincoln frivolous? I would say that the 1966 Lincoln Continental coupe was a much better looking car than the 4 door. Who remembers the Coupe? It was a sweet looking car, but as good as it looked it just didn’t have those totally cool back doors that nobody else had. Win for the suicide doors.
Is there any kind of sound, practical reason for them? I guess maybe there’s more room to maneuver one’s legs in and out of a vehicle but they really don’t seem any better than front-hinged doors.
It’s the novelty, it’s always been the novelty, that’s the point. You want sound practical reasoning in cars there are many many to choose from. Lincoln isn’t a brand that thrives on it, the 39 Continental stretched and chopped out all the sound reasoning the Zephyr it’s based on had, the 61 Continental, for all its classiness, had frivolous suicide doors and tight coupe like packaging, the Mark III had a fake rolls Royce radiator grille and spare tire hump, and these were THE brand defining Lincolns. Lincoln could not exist without novel gimmicks to prop it back into the zeitgeist now and then,.
Suicide doors are more practical if you are in and out of the car very frequently and you never exceed 30ish MPH. But suicide doors on the rear doors only is nonsense.
Sure they’re nonsense, but so are 400+ horsepower engines, AWD in the sunbelt, and autonomous driving. So what? Suicide rear doors is iconic with Lincoln, and unless they bring back the fake RR grille or spare tire hump motifs there’s not much else brand identity Lincoln can cultivate than these doors, every single other deviation has failed miserably for them.
Rear hinged doors should be illegal, indeed, I think they are in Europe but could be wrong on that.
Why should they be illegal?
Safety! If you open a front-hinged door and a passing vehicle clips it as you are stepping out you probably get away with it unharmed.
If you open a rear-hinged door and a passing vehicle clips it as you step out the door slams shut on you quite likely doing you severe damage.
I thought we had been through all of this 30 or 40 years ago. Do we never learn from our mistakes?
How often has this scenario actually happened?
I strongly doubt it’s illegal in Europe considering the entire current Rolls Royce lineup has them too, even their SUV.
If the lock fails on a suicide door while driving and you grab it to close it the airstream will pull you out of the car, people have died this way and Ive had the doors open on an ancient rusty Vauxhall while driving modern locks and better build quality solve the problem but suicide doors never made a comeback.
Yeah! They don’t call them suicide doors for nothing!
Still some Fairway taxis in service in UK too. They are banned from taxi service in London because they’re old, but not because of suicide doors.
When I saw the tease a couple of days ago I half thought Lincoln was going to introduce a Navigator with suicide doors … Or maybe a Navigator with SLIDING doors.
That blanked-out rear quarter “window” is just tacky. On a $100k car ???
And how much more expensive is the replacement cost of the unicorn rear door windows going to be compared to the front ones?
Why all the hate? I like it and applaud Lincoln for doing something daring and unexpected! It’s actually really amazing they are creating a bespoke model like this for the 80th anniversary of Continental, rather than just slapping in some badges and special paint! It shows they are well aware of their legacy and how iconic the 60’s Lincoln’s are in today’s public view…it’s wise for them to mine that. Let’s celebrate that they did something unexpected in the car realm, especially while Cadillac is dropping their large sedans.
Agreed, Ken A.
Agreed. They created a legitimate collector’s item for the anniversary. No one cares about a special badge, but these are unique, different and an improvement over the standard Continental. I feel that if the nameplate manages to survive in the future as some sort of A7-type slinky 4-door coupe on the Mustang platform, it will have these doors for sure.
“I hope there’s an automatic door closing assist…” Assisted suicide? Maybe it is Lincoln’s time.
Desperation is right. What next? Vinyl roofs and wire wheel covers? What about the two door version with the faux spare tire hump and the faux Rolls Royce grille?
Bingo on the Chinese market, where in addition to favoring LWB sedans, people who can afford cars like these – any many lower-priced ones, too – have chauffeurs. That blank quarter window is extreme, but the difference between inside and outside door cuts and glass openings is one of my pet peeves with many of today’s designs.
Smart move by Lincoln, I say. It shouldn’t cost them that much since a third party coachbuilder is doing the mods. Had they simply ordered up 80 cars to be stretched and fitted with nicer rear seat environs, it would have gone largely unnoticed. But because of the
suicidecoach doors, it’s getting loads of attention, like on the CNN home page. Lincoln can also use this experiment to gauge interest in adopting center-opening doors on future Lincolns from the get-go, particularly their SUVs. It may even remind people that this car exists.As alluded to above, this exercise is to accommodate the Chinese market which likes extended wheel base chauffeured cars. I suspect the “80” units will blossom to 800 (or become the standard) in the Asian market.
Also agree that the B post needs some type of ornamentation or just blacked out.
A small non turbo V8 would be preferred.
The actual production Coach Door Continental was at the NY Auto Show and displayed changes, such as a the black filler piece on the B pillar, actual rear quarter glass and an improved rear console with a pull out metal tray.
The original center opening doors from 1961-1965 where very symmetrical in design including the door handles, and the B pillar was rather slender. Also, the door windows had no frame. All of these features created the elegant look of the doors.
These features are not present in the new Lincoln center opening doors, and the result simply does not work. Huge B pillar with large wraparound black rubber molding like a refrigerator door, non-symmetrical doors including including heavy thick window frames.
The center opening doors are a non-starter. Factory doors actually look much better.
Lincoln, as I said when the blue prototype came out, keep the concepts lower body chrome trim. Big mistake to delete it – resulting in just another generic car of today.
I agree, the execution is terrible, the result is that of an existing car that has been retrofit for these doors, rather than designed for them(much like aftermarket lambo doors). Frameless glass is seemingly impossible to get away with in this day and age, but Rolls Royce manages to pull it off well despite it, with its slim pillar and unintrusive sills.
Compare this and the new Continental in the article and you’ll see the difference between a modern car designed from the getgo for these and one retrofitted as an afterthought.
After looking at these old pics I suddenly see the point to center opening doors. It’s to make it easier and quicker for the chauffeure to open and close the doors for the passengers. If you have one guy opening all four doors at every stop the center opening doors is the way to go.
I figured it out. Center opening doors do make perfectly good sense but only in a very narrow very rare set of conditions. When the owner of the vehicle sits in the back seat and the driver is his employee center opening doors make sense. However in this day and age we now have something called mini vans and those mini vans have remote controlled motorized sliding doors which are vastly superior to center opening doors.
Sliding doors on vans *are* center-opening doors, aren’t they? They even have the same adjacent door handles when closed.
Good point
Minivans are the modernized sensible safe version of the center opening doors. Now, I wonder if someone could design a front door that slides the opposite direction of the rear doors!
It’s ugly. Already read about this over at TTAC and most of the comments there were pretty scathing. The suicide door are ridiculous, look stupid and are totally impractical. Oh, and 100k for a six cylinder car? A great big NO!
I suggest that FoMoCo could had made better use of the money spent on this car by modernizing and updating the Panther platform for future Lincoln usage?
Ford spent the money on developing a new platform for the next Conti. This one was never intended to be more than a stop gap until the RWD platform was ready. Unfortunately due to the fact that people are running away from sedans means that project was apparently recently canceled as they neared the finish line.
It appears that people that grouse the loudest about new cars never buy them, right Paul?
IDK about others here; but my over 40 years of new car payment booklets/coupons receipts prove otherwise.
Until today, that is.
There’s just nothing in today’s new car showrooms that could entice me to go into debt for 5, 6, 7 years again. Much less the huge bump in insurance rates.
I do keep on looking…..
Right.
Well, good on you Mark, you are one of the exceptions to the rule.
I have to agree at least in part with Barry. Most of the folks on this and any enthusiast sites tend to hold older cars dear and while they may be purchasing new cars occasionally, they are not doing it as often as the general public. The folks on this site tend to either work on their own cars, or have maintenance done regularly, and plan on keeping cars well past the date of the last payment.
OEMs really don’t like that. They want the days of people buying new every 2-3 years. Now, pricing means that 5 years or more of payments is common, with 7 or more year terms coming into play. That affects how often one purchases new. Leasing took over as a replacement for that 2-3 year cycle, and while it does ensure new products get sold, it affects overall profit as the residual value of the leased car has to stay up there to make the lease affordable.
It does not matter to an OEM if you own 25 cars, or who they are from, it only matters that you are going to pay for one of their cars they just produced. So unless you are currently shopping for a new car, you really are just grousing as far as the OEMs think. Window shopping does not help them at all. And those with the most scornful opinions are often the ones who proudly say that they will never buy new no matter what.
This article may be an act of desperation but the car certainly isn’t.
This car did not come into existence as a response to the sales falling this year. Work on it would have started some time ago, well before they would have had any clue as to the 2018 sales total.
Sure you can call it a cheap marketing gimmick, but this article is proof that it worked.
My take is that this car was intended to serve a couple of purposes. I think the number one reason was to judge the public reaction to “coach doors” and allow them to make an informed decision as to offer a factory built version, either as the only version or a LWB version of the replacement that was due in 21. Cheap advertising to keep the Conti name in the news until the replacement was ready was probably another significant reason as well as getting the Lincoln name some buzz too.
Of course from what I’ve read elsewhere the replacement was recently canceled so keeping the buzz going for the Conti name plate appears to be off the table, however it still has the Lincoln name getting plastered everywhere far cheaper than it would have been to place ads.
Oh and it is on the Black Label version, not the Blackwood which was the failed pickup and it starts at $65k not $47k.
Always pleased to read that I am not the only person here with strong, blunt automotive opinions.
🙂
Wow!! so many knock down comments on this car. I like it (the car), it,s something old something new. In a time where all cars save a few, look a like….this is refreshing for me. This is what should have came at debut for this car. as for it being a tarted up this or that……. i dont care!!!! as i buy what i like not what car and driver or motor trend say is best. in the end i buy what moves me. I have many friends that have bought BMW’s and Benzes who have steadfastly returned them because “the ride is too harsh” or maintenance or some such. What gets me is that as a younger me…..i had loyalty to some car companies(specifically American car companies GM at the top) now i’m older and see things differently. theres no more looking forward to septembers new cars, the auto show does nothing for me and car styling is staid to say the least. On Sunday i found myself looking at the internet for a Toyota Tacoma instead of a Colorado or F150. Then i ask myself…….loyalty?? what for?? except for the time when the Mustang nearly became a probe…..companies don’t listen or care what you want(witness GM with Cadillac) they give us some real head turning concepts(that would arguably put Caddy back on top) and we may get a headlight or a feature of the car, but nothing like what the concepts look like. Anyway sorry for rambling on, but it’s a sad day when the passion for cars i’ve had since childhood slowly dies.
I also considered a new Toyota Tacoma.
The inability of any dealer within a 100 mile radius of New Orleans to find me a manual transmission model defeated me.
I hear you Mark! In NYC a manual would be tiring on my body. As it stands, the Tacoma seems to be the outstanding pick up out there and looks really tough in 4×4 Voodoo blue guise.
Go ahead Paul…..take your best shot!!! LOL!!!!
🙂
🙂
As much as I want to like it, the Continental is a very half-assed effort on FoMoCo’s part. Lots of gimmicks and doo-dads on a FWD compact car platform. I’d buy a Kia K900 before I would even look at this.
Most days there are so many comments complaining about how all new cars look alike.
Here we have one that looks very different, and there are so many comment complaining about the difference between it and those other, boring cars which all look alike.
Some people are just never satisfied, I guess.
Lincoln will have the last laugh, because the car is already a huge success, just based on the publicity alone. It’s been all over the news. Not just auto sites, but NEWS NEWS : CNN, USA Today, CBS, FOX, DAILY MAIL, FORBES, and on and on.
For a very small investment, they have made a very large statement. It’s a curiosity. It’s (other than Rolls) unique and it’s iconic to Lincoln heritage and a period of style that was the zenith of American design in the last century.
People will remember this and you know it will show up in music videos and driven by a celebrity or two. We are living in a time where almost all cars sold are really very good. And many of them are quite similar in an extremely crowded marketplace. Even as a reworked version of an underwhelming model, this stands out, and you can bet Lincoln is absorbing the reaction and the doors will show up on future vehicles, whatever they will be.
Agreed, brilliant marketing and I do think this was also done to gauge reaction for use on future vehicles but I do think it was specifically done with the intention of being used on the next Conti that doesn’t look like it will make it into production.
From where I sit they are toast, I didn’t realize the Continental sedan existed so adding an unnecessary expense won;t make me any more likely to buy it.
COme to that if I had $53k to spend I’d buy a used F150 and a used R1200RT
I’ve lived with two models of the suicide door Lincolns, 1963 and 1966. The feature made them very distinctive and made the sedan more desirable than the coupe. Had a couple of those also. In practice the door makes it very easy to exit and enter the car, even if you open it yourself. Coupled with the extended wheelbase it makes for a comfortable and practical chauffeur driven car. An electrical safety interlock would not be a problem to incorporate. Visually, a longer car is a more impressive car. The problem is that this design should have been released alongside the original model. Cadillac had great success with this at one time. The Fleetwood models had a longer wheelbase and taller roof. These were biased towards rear seat passenger comfort and convenience. I currently drive an extended wheelbase vintage Jaguar.
Unfortunately there is only a very limited market for vehicles of this type.