Lincoln getting ready to dump MK naming convention?

[630land]

Springfield?

[twintornados]

Capitalizing on the Vignale name used overseas for ultra-lux Fords...

 

re-name MKC the Lincoln Vignale

[StangBang]

The Edsel has some good names - Citation, Pacer, Corsair. We do not need a Lincoln Ranger, that would cause an endless discussion here.

 

Citation and Pacer were already used on less than stellar products that have not been forgotten by a good number of people. Corsair is too much like Corvair. Anyway none of these names convey a sense of allure that goes with the Lincoln theme.

[Mad Hatter]

Lincoln could recycle old Packard names:

 

Caribbean

Clipper

Constellation

400

Panama

Pacific

Patrician

 

Studebaker had some good names, too:

 

Commander

President

Starlight

Starliner (which Ford used from 1960-61 on Galaxie hardtop coupes)

 

From Hudson, there is this one:

 

Commodore

 

From Nash:

 

Ambassador (picked up by Rambler/AMC)

Statesman

 

From Kaiser-Frazer:

 

Manhattan

Virginian

I'm already on record as liking Cosmopolitan. I like the idea of Constellation..even better with a fiber optic headliner like R-R has

 

Didn't Packard try to source bodies from Lincoln Division prior to merging with Studebaker?

[probowler]

This news makes me so happy

[jasonj80]

Sorry the "cosmopolitan" is something you'd see in P-Town, West Hollywood or driving to the boat to get to fire island.

[jpd80]

I'm thinking that Ford still doesn't know what to do with Lincoln and these little revelations

of watershed moments in focusing design teams are an example of just how Far Lincoln still has to go.

 

Ford is so desperate to change Lincoln's image that it probably went too far in the opposite direction,

almost like Cadillac in alienating existing buyers by being of the opinion that they're old and will only buy once,

that the stodgy Town Car livery sales were bad for its image yet MKT totally ignored is somehow an improvement?

 

Part of the issue is now that photography of concepts is tricking the eye as to vehicle proportions and when buyers

actually see production cars in the flesh, they don't look the same - which is a darned shame because that more than

anything is undoing all the good work of concepts.

[fou_bleu]

I've been pondering over this prospect for a while and I feel that a lot, if not most, names mentioned just feel old (most of these names sound like something my grandparents bought when they were young) and not representative of where Lincoln is trying to go (relatively youthful and 'alternative').

 

Anyway, I loved the name of the Ford concepts of the mid- to late-2000's so I feel those should really be brought to life, with a bit of an astronomy theme (it is the Lincoln star after all).

 

Focus-sized car: Iosis

2-seat sports car: Atria (a cookie for they who spot the possible irony here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Trianguli_Australis)

MKZ: Evos

MKS/Continental: Orion [final gen. Falcon codename] - but I'm happy with Continental

LincStang: MKR (sounds good to me... Don't look at me like that!)

Full-size sedan: Centaurus (ONLY if the Taurus dies IMO - pending a rethink)

Full-size coupe: R (maybe a 'sporty' sounding constellation?)

MKC: Vertrek

* dons flamesuit* MKX: Aviator [iMO should be an inbetweener model, 5 seat only etc.]

Navigator: same

 

Oh yeah, there's a few 'dream machines' in there!

[grbeck]

I'm already on record as liking Cosmopolitan. I like the idea of Constellation..even better with a fiber optic headliner like R-R has

 

Didn't Packard try to source bodies from Lincoln Division prior to merging with Studebaker?

Studebaker-Packard tried to work out an agreement with Ford to use the 1956-57 Lincoln body after several insurance companies, which often provided financing to car companies in those days, turned down its request for funds to bring the planned 1957 line to market.

 

The 1957 Packards and Studebakers were to be new, and share a common body. The insurance companies denied Studebaker-Packard's request for financing, which put the company in serious trouble. James Nance of Studebaker-Packard was friends with Henry Ford II, and he apparently knew that the 1958 Lincoln would be all-new. He tried to obtain the dies for the 1956-57 Lincolns, but I believe that Robert McNamara squelched that plan.

 

It's interesting to note that after Curtiss-Wright took over management of Studebaker-Packard as part of its rescue plan, James Nance ended up at Ford, where he led the effort to consolidate the Edsel, Mercury, Lincoln and Continental divisions.