The Handler

Medium Wedgewood Blue was a pretty color. Thinking back to '05, the only standard features that separated the Eddie Bauer from the XLT was leather and dual-zone climate. And maybe keyless entry. Everything else was cosmetic.

It was a popular trim, too. I don't think today's buyers care for the two-tone paint as much. The local dealers seem to order mostly monotone Lariats now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdSziIIs6t8

Lincoln faced a lot of peer pressure to appear youthful and avant-garde, especially after Cadillac's debut of Art & Science. Now they've discovered Lincoln's old conservative formula (Quiet Luxury) is still very desirable.

Yes.

Gerry McGovern considered using the split-wing for the MK9 Concept, but they feared it would look radical. There's a sketch of it somewhere on the internet. The egg-crate is classic Lincoln, in my opinion. Polished or chrome egg-crate might look good with the current grille design.

Rolls-Royce has not named Giles Taylor's successor yet.....

Good luck to him. I hope the next design head builds on the current design language rather than ditching it. Lincoln has a long history of design instability.

If you can't beat 'em, ban 'em!

Cheap money is the auto industry's drug. Take it away and things start to not look so pretty.

The face is a bit strange, but the rest looks very nice and premium.

You might be right. He certainly was not a terrible executive, especially if you study his tenure at Mazda.

Agreed. My '09 Explorer still looks and drives like new. The 2002-2010 Explorers have aged very well from an aesthetic point of view. There are very few new designs out there that can stand the test of time. Almost everything looks angry, bloated, and chaotic. I keep my vehicles for a long time so I try my best to pick vehicles that will look good for years to come.

Interestingly, most of those old Cadillac names originated from the pre-war era of coachbuilding. Brougham, Coupe de Ville, and Town Car were types of bodies. The Fleetwood name was taken from Fleetwood Body.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2019/03/11/ford-ceo-hackett-tells-employees-2019-turning-point/3129344002/

Hilarious. The DLR from the $30k Honda they copied doesn't have a fake window.

It must be nice getting paid a lot of money to come up with incredibly stupid ideas with no accountability. Only at GM.

In those days, you did not have to spend over $40k to get a nice-looking truck.

The Continental Mark II is still the most exquisite post-war American luxury car ever produced.

https://www.autonews.com/world-congress/toyotas-lentz-sees-car-sales-stabilizing-evs-languishing

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121044_2019-lincoln-continental-coach-door-edition-is-sold-out

It's not easy designing a utility vehicle to be graceful and elegant, but it could be done. The Maybach concept is an example of why the three-box layout is difficult to use on a tall-bodied vehicle. It would take an even shorter decklid to eliminate the stubbiness, which would end up being a bustle-back. That's basically what Rolls-Royce did with the Cullinan. They even call it a "three-box SUV".

They could transform the Continental into a '40s tall sedan-type ultra-luxury crossover. That's basically what the MKT Concept was. Too bad it had FWD proportions and an overly laid-back a-pillar.

It's just another one of Borg's pity ploys. Nothing new.

There's also FX4 Max.