Mr. Farley, meet Lincoln

[Mark B. Morrow]

Cadillac's 'credible effort' has not changed consideration among the poseur elite. That's per GM's own research, as reported in Ad Week last summer.

 

And for all the plaudits about the Continental concept being 'entirely identifiable' as Lincoln, that statement should be caveated thus:

 

"The 2000 Continental concept was identifiable as a Lincoln to anyone who has ever seen a 1961 Continental, because it looks like one, but with all the corners rounded off and an ugly face"

 

The Continental Concept did not look distinctively like a Lincoln because Lincoln itself has been a total hodge-podge since the early 80s at the least. Or perhaps you can tell me what these vehicles have in common besides their drivetrain?

 

 

Stand up grille, horizontally oriented Headlights and verticle taillights. There are common styling ques that made each easy to identify as a Lincoln. The late '80s Town Car had the slab sides and blade like fenders that harken back to the '61-'68 Lincolns. Certainly by today's standatds they look dated. They were good sellers in their time.

[RichardJensen]

Yeah, but Cadillacs had horizontal headlights and vertical taillights too.

 

The only Lincoln cue is the grille, and even that is a tough sell given that in later years only the Cartier Town Car had the same approximate grille as the Conti & Mark.

 

I mean, a grille is a pretty minuscule thing on which to claim that there is any cohesiveness.

 

----

 

And yeah, Mark, they were good sellers (except the Continental), but my point is you can't really say that this vehicle or that vehicle is 'obviously' a Lincoln because the brand itself has lost the stately long and low identity that it carved out with the Mark series & Continental sedans.

 

First stumbling point is arguably the Versailles, but at least it carried the continental kit, blade fenders and grille, even if the rear quarters were a disaster area..... You wouldn't've thought it possible for a vehicle to have cellulite, and yet the Versailles had it.

 

Front: Okay

See, it at least looks passably similar to the larger Town Car.....

 

Rear: Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!!!

[jpd80]

With a 121" wheelbase, I think this one would have been

right at home with the Americans:

 

Edited November 26, 2007 by jpd80

[Watchdevil]

Rear: Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!!!

 

Notice how the Zephyr/MKZ adadpted the Versailles taillamps and super sized them...

 

[one2gamble]

and notice how the ass end is ugly on both of them

[RichardJensen]

It's not just the taillamps make the Versailles rear end ugly.

[Moby Vic]

The 9-inch rear with disc brakes makes the Versailles rear attractive.

[Edstock]

"Notice how the Zephyr/MKZ adadpted the Versailles taillamps and super sized them..."

 

Huh? The color's the same, but that's about it. The shape is different, the construction is different (no aluminum trim ring around the tail light as on the Versailles), the lenses are different in surface and optical qualities, and the positioning on the body is different.

[syrtran]

I mean, a grille is a pretty minuscule thing on which to claim that there is any cohesiveness.

Tell that to Ford, Mercury, BMW, SAAB, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Cadillac, Acura, Mazda, Rolls Royce, Dodge, and Lexus. They all have "standard" grilles. There may be others, but this is off the top of my head, and I don't remember them.

 

The grille is how Giugiaro and Pininfarina show what make a concept is designed for, as the rest of the car is usually too "out there".

 

It's what nearly killed Subaru. It's what did (help to) kill Edsel.

 

It is always obvious when it is absent (see: original Q45, first rounded Crown Vic, and the original Taurus).

 

It is almost always what your eye sees first on an approaching vehicle (especially if it's massively chromed like the Fusion's). Yes, even more so than the headlights (except for Porsche, of course)

 

The grille is so important to the cohesiveness of a model line that Lincoln has now settled on its third "standard" grille. I didn't put them in the list because they still use both the blades and the retro-eggcrate.

[RichardJensen]

The 9-inch rear with disc brakes makes the Versailles rear attractive.

If only you could see such hidden beauties......

 

Actually, I think OFW has said something similar. That most surviving Versailles have been cannibalized for their rear ends.

 

 

 

Cannibalized for their rear ends?

 

That's disgusting.

 

Anyway, I remember the first Versailles I saw in real life, my response was "Hmm, interest...HOLY (unprintable)...WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REAR END OF THAT THING???"

 

Of course, the Fox Continental had a grotesque bustle back and looked entirely like a parody of the Cadillac Seville, itself a vehicle misplaced priorities.

[RichardJensen]

Tell that to Ford, Mercury, BMW, SAAB, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Cadillac, Acura, Mazda, Rolls Royce, Dodge, and Lexus. They all have "standard" grilles. There may be others, but this is off the top of my head, and I don't remember them.

True; however, the well done examples you cite (BMW, Volvo, and older MBs) have far more cues unifying the vehicles. Even today, absent the kidney grille, BMWs are quite recognizable as a matched set, ditto Volvos, and once upon a time, the Mercedes were so as well; the grille on these vehicles is the keystone to the design. You cannot build an arch with just a keystone.

 

There is no point trying to find some historical link that people 'recognize' as Lincoln; it is a disadvantage and an advantage at the same time.

 

Over the next few design cycles (MKS, MKFlex, MCE MKZ, MCE MKX, MCE MKS, MCE MKFlex, EUCD MKZ, EUCD MKX), we should see some signature Lincoln cues appear which I hope Ford keeps, for cryin' out loud.

 

I totally agree with Pete DeLorenzo, that 1) Lincoln has had no consistent direction for almost three decades, and 2) that Lincoln needs consistent direction.

 

However, I disagree that you can find cues for Lincoln's direction by looking at its past. Why? Because its recent past is so checkered.

Edited November 26, 2007 by RichardJensen

[goingincirclez]

Anyway, I remember the first Versailles I saw in real life, my response was "Hmm, interest...HOLY (unprintable)...WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REAR END OF THAT THING???"

 

Ha ha, the very first Versailles I saw - in a southern KY Wal-Mart parking lot in 1998 (key point, no?) - brought a similar reaction. As it turned into a parking space it was "Ah goody, and old Granad- ! - How the hell did they shrink a Town Car front en- ! - WTF did they do to the trunk?!?"

 

Needless to say I was all around that car once the owners left. Oh the horror! Lincolns darkest days for sure. And yes indeed, the Versialles survives in more Mustangs (courtesy of that rear end) than it does as a Granada clone... Some Granadas also had the 9" coupled to a 351.

 

....

 

The styling of the 80's Fox Conti never bothered me much, until the suspension bags inevitably broke. Then it was just a garden slug.

[Mark B. Morrow]

The 9-inch rear with disc brakes makes the Versailles rear attractive.

 

 

Well from underneath anyways. The beauty of the Versailles 9" rear is that it is a direct bolt in for a '64.5 - '66 Mustang. The down side is the rear gearing was 2.80 or 3.08 and the disc brake parts are expensive. My dad had a '76 Monarch sedan with the Sport package. Bucket seats, center console and a 302. The Versailles wasn't as well disguised as the Mark IV was from the T-Bird or the Seville was from the Nova. The slope back Continental was just an abomination even in the Disco years of automotive styling.

[Mark B. Morrow]

With a 121" wheelbase, I think this one would have been

right at home with the Americans:

 

 

jpd80, What is that? From the side it looks a little like our '70-'71 Torino/Fairlane

[syrtran]

jpd80, What is that? From the side it looks a little like our '70-'71 Torino/Fairlane

Just a guess, but maybe an old Australian LTD?

[Watchdevil]

Just a guess, but maybe an old Australian LTD?

 

 

It is an Australian LTD wearing it's last facelift from 1976-79 before it went totally Euro-boxy... However to many of us the front favors a Chrysler Cordoba... Notice the use of Mercury Marquis wheel covers. In 1979 they had a limited edition called LTD Town Car which literally borrowed the nameplates from the US Lincoln Town Car.

 

 

In late 1979 It gave way to the new body look but it retained a vertical bar grille as a hallmark that the LTD retained to the lastest model.

 

 

Cool Landaus!... The Coupe version of the Australian LTD...

 

 

Edited November 27, 2007 by Watchdevil

[one2gamble]

However, I disagree that you can find cues for Lincoln's direction by looking at its past. Why? Because its recent past is so checkered.

 

 

suicide doors!

[Watchdevil]

"Notice how the Zephyr/MKZ adadpted the Versailles taillamps and super sized them..."

 

Huh? The color's the same, but that's about it. The shape is different, the construction is different (no aluminum trim ring around the tail light as on the Versailles), the lenses are different in surface and optical qualities, and the positioning on the body is different.

 

Both feature dual horizotal taillamp pods that wrap around into the quarter panels with the same canted style.They both also feature a horizontal inset detail that houses the back-up lamps. The MKZephyr just expands it to include amber turn signals.

 

It is visually similar the same way the new Mustang's taillamps are suggestive of classic models and give recognizable heritage. They don't have the same exact shapes or lens detail. The new Mustangs do not have the chrome surrounds or flash highlighting like the classic models have. Nor do they have the same optics as classic models.

 

Anyway, the Versailles tire hump just doesnt match the Granada's boxy decklid and is not as well integrated as the ones that were featured on the Mark Series. However, to create a Lincoln then it was all about the vertical radiator grille and spare tire hump. The Mark Series did a wonderful job updating that look of heritage while adapting to evolutionary newer design language with modern redesigns. The Mark VII and Mark VIII are still great looking cars to me.