Lincoln MKS

[g48150]

Is it my imagination or is Lincoln, with the MKS and Jaguar with the XF following Lexus styling themes? To be fair I think Lexus styling has come a very long way, maybe Jag and Lexus are recognising this and pinching their styling cues.....not an altogether bad move if they pick the right Lexus.

 

Its because they are all the same "guys" that are doing the styling. Look at it this way, Camillo Pardo designed the Ford GT, he's not an auto designer, he's just a regular artist, he's done other auto designs in the past.

 

That's how these upper management 'tards are recruiting talent, like it or not, look for this trend to continue. They look at these peckerhead's resumes and have a gigantic nerdgasm at the very thought of Mr. Artist So-and-So designing a car for them!

 

Why do all the modern cars look the same? Because its the same small pool of talent with spotless resumes that's doing all the designs. You got to remember folks, lowest common denominator, that's how cars are designed.

 

So much for design diversity... :reading:

[rmc523]

The MKZ is embarrassingly similar to the Fusion (a great car, don't get me wrong, but my $15,000 fresh-outta-the-fleet V6 Fusion shouldn't have the exact same shape as a car Lincoln's trying to sell for twice that), but I think if it didn't exist people wouldn't be proclaiming the MKS a Taurus rebadge at all. The MKS looks like the Taurus should look, maybe. But nobody, and I mean nobody, who doesn't have a working knowledge of Ford's platforms is going to see the giant-greenhoused Taurus and then this car and guess they're in any way related, even if they're side by side.

 

Don't let the MKZephyr's gussied-up-Fusion looks color your view of this car, which looks to be Lincoln's best and most differentiated entry since the LS. (And just in time; is Lincoln selling anything that doesn't look exactly like its Ford counterpart in profile at this point?)

 

I wish they would've come out w/ this! IMO this would've lit up the sales charts.

 

[LincolnFan]

I wish they would've come out w/ this! IMO this would've lit up the sales charts.

 

 

Yea, +200 cars per year in that segement is a paper burner.

[Mark B. Morrow]

I wish they would've come out w/ this! IMO this would've lit up the sales charts.

 

 

I agree. The lines are just better looking and richer than the production model.

[rmc523]

I agree. The lines are just better looking and richer than the production model.

 

The car's lines are more curved and subtle, theyre not 'chiseled' and boxy like the MKZ.

The design flows well, it's graceful and clean looking, like a luxury car should be IMO. I think there's a point where you can try to do too much w/ a car's design. If you go too far it makes the car look gaudy.

 

All that said, I never saw this concept in person. I'm sure it looked amazing in person. Also, I noticed the pictures make it look larger than MKZ. I'd assume it's probably similar in size to MKZ? Maybe it's an affect of the cars design?

[wescoent]

The car's lines are more curved and subtle, theyre not 'chiseled' and boxy like the MKZ.

The design flows well, it's graceful and clean looking, like a luxury car should be IMO. I think there's a point where you can try to do too much w/ a car's design. If you go too far it makes the car look gaudy.

 

All that said, I never saw this concept in person. I'm sure it looked amazing in person. Also, I noticed the pictures make it look larger than MKZ. I'd assume it's probably similar in size to MKZ? Maybe it's an affect of the cars design?

 

Ah yes... the concept versus production battle arises once again. The Lincoln Zephyr concept was directly based on the Mazda6, as the Fusion underpinnings were yet to be developed. Therefore, it is a significantly smaller (and I suppose sleeker) design. The most area this is most obvious is the trunk. The taller and cavernous MKZ trunk couldn't accomodate the sleek tail-lights of the concept without looking ridiculous, so they had to make them much taller. Another factor is the beltline, which is much higher on the production Zephyr/MKZ. Combine it with smaller rims (17" production versus 19" concept), and the car looks much taller.

 

The production Zephyr/MKZ, when you really look at them side by side in person, looks almost exactly the same as the concept. This is because we look down at the car in person, as opposed to the side view in pictures. Therefore, the much taller beltline isn't as dramatic, and we end up with two cars that look almost exactly the same. Bringing the concept to production as-is would have resulted in a cramped Lincoln that drives pretty much the same in spite of its smaller size. You thought sales were tepid now...

 

Fortunately, things are going to be rectified in MY2009 with the refresh. The new design takes inspiration from the MKR (as well as some elements from the concept Zephyr), and significantly reduces the boxiness of the interior while still capturing the Lincoln spirit. Toss in the 3.7L V6, and we have a very nice refresh.

 

Another thing to consider is that Lincoln styling lends itself much better to larger cars, being their historical forte. I believe the Zephyr/MKZ is among the smallest Lincolns ever built since the 50's. So, a small Lincoln is going to look a little weird no matter how you slice it. The LS was a similar size, but drew its design inspiration from the BMW 5-Series, and not Lincolns of the past. I always felt that Lincoln would have a beauty queen on its hands if it applied a Zephyr-like reskin in and out to the Town Car, and got rid of the atrocious Jaguar-cues on the current one.

[Watchdevil]

I always felt that Lincoln would have a beauty queen on its hands if it applied a Zephyr-like reskin in and out to the Town Car, and got rid of the atrocious Jaguar-cues on the current one.

 

I'll agree Lincoln would have a hot seller with an appropriately revised Town Car with neo-Lincoln styling regardless of the Panther platform. If Lincoln can maage to sell Navigators then certainly they can sell updated Town Cars just for the cool bling factor... I guess no one wants the Town Car as is looking so hopelessly dated like it's going to a funeral procession...

[Watchdevil]

The MKZ is embarrassingly similar to the Fusion (a great car, don't get me wrong, but my $15,000 fresh-outta-the-fleet V6 Fusion shouldn't have the exact same shape as a car Lincoln's trying to sell for twice that), but I think if it didn't exist people wouldn't be proclaiming the MKS a Taurus rebadge at all. The MKS looks like the Taurus should look, maybe. But nobody, and I mean nobody, who doesn't have a working knowledge of Ford's platforms is going to see the giant-greenhoused Taurus and then this car and guess they're in any way related, even if they're side by side.

 

Don't let the MKZephyr's gussied-up-Fusion looks color your view of this car, which looks to be Lincoln's best and most differentiated entry since the LS. (And just in time; is Lincoln selling anything that doesn't look exactly like its Ford counterpart in profile at this point?)

 

The Fusion in black with the sports appearance package looks just as sharp as an MKZ. What I am noticing is that I have developed a distaste for the blocky 1980's style dash of the MKZ which is really looking dated to me. The 1960's retro-effect was a nice gesture but it translated more into something that would look more at home in a Farmont.

[timmm55]

I combined the spy photo with the pre-production MKR show car. It seems like the cheese grater grill was only destined for the MKX.

[armadamaster]

I'll agree Lincoln would have a hot seller with an appropriately revised Town Car with neo-Lincoln styling regardless of the Panther platform. If Lincoln can maage to sell Navigators then certainly they can sell updated Town Cars just for the cool bling factor... I guess no one wants the Town Car as is looking so hopelessly dated like it's going to a funeral procession...

 

Sad thing is, the Town Car, dated as it may now be, STILL looks better than the rest of the crap getting spewed out of the Lincoln desigh studio these days. They even managed to fugly up Navigator, saw one of those in the flesh the other day. A lack of styling to go with the lack of nameplates.

 

[suv_guy_19]

Sad thing is, the Town Car, dated as it may now be, STILL looks better than the rest of the crap getting spewed out of the Lincoln desigh studio these days. They even managed to fugly up Navigator, saw one of those in the flesh the other day. A lack of styling to go with the lack of nameplates.

 

 

 

My friend, you truly are blind.