As we all know, Lincoln is undergoing a renaissance, its twelfth over the last decade. The Continental concept that debuted at NYIAS cribs some styling notes from Bentley – which ain’t a bad thing unless you’re Bentley – and offers yet another take on what the company wants to be the corporate grille. It also dragged a venerated name out of a decade-plus slumber to hopefully serve as the vanguard in replacing their present alphabet soup of model names.
If that’s what actually happens then all the next generation MK-Marky-Marks will need to adopt new sobriquets, and perhaps those will also leverage Lincoln’s past. With that in mid, let’s help out America’s baroque brand by letting them know – they read this stuff, oh yeah they do – what names and models should be the next to be reborn. Which ones do you think Lincoln should bring back?
Image: Wikipedia
Hooniverse Asks: What Should be the Next Car/Name That Lincoln Resurrects?
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SS-100-X What could go wrong?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-100-X-
You are bad man. A very bad man.
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I refer you to my previous comment.
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Or perhaps MKUltra?
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Only if it is fitted with the MEL engine. Because a car named that deserves an engine named after at least two dead brands…
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The first that came to mind was the Versailles. I don’t know why. I couldn’t even tell you what a Lincoln Versailles looks like (huh, it turns out that is what you have pictured above), but when I hear the name Lincoln, my mind completes it with Versailles.
The simplest would be to start calling the MKZ the Zephyr again.
I couldn’t think of any others, so I went to the Google, and came to the conclusion that Lincoln doesn’t really have a rich history of noteworthy car names.-
Sure – Versailles is a great choice symbolically. It signifies great luxury, a revolution, and a defeat of the Germans. What name could be better? *
*Except the Abraham -
We had a Versailles growing up. The name should be given to whichever sedan model has ZERO rear legroom.
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Given the results of Lincoln’s marketing braintrust these last several years, the “MKSuicide Door” Lincoln would be appropriate.
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TOWN CAR.
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I want a Mark IX, just because I’m partial to big coupes. FWD crossovers do nothing for me, so they’ll probably just slap the badge on another one of those in Ford’s stable. I think they have about 17 left that haven’t yet been Lincolnified.
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Low hanging fruit: MKT Town Car aside, they need to properly resurrect the Town Car. A distinctive livery car to increase brand awareness but not dilute the Continental.
Other than that I’d rather see them build on previous Lincoln Mercury themes rather than revive names. Navigator, Aviator, and Mariner invoke a sense of adventure so I’d stick with that for SUV/CUV vehicles.
Capri and Cougar evoke lithe and nimble handling so I’d think along those lines for smaller sporty sedans. Just no Lynx please. Please.-
I think the slang meaning that “Cougar” has picked up since Mercury last used it has pretty much ruined it as a product name. Or perhaps, depending on the target demographic, greatly enhanced it.
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I agree. To me the challenge is to create a family of names that works. Ford Expedition, Explorer and Escape work. Vehicle issues aside, Excursion didn’t.
Is the whole cat thing played out? I’m not sure. How about something high tech that goes with Navigator? Voyager? Constellation? Defiant? I see myself going off track here.-
Voyager is in Chrysler’s camp, and Constellation makes me think Royal Enfield (or Lockheed), but I like where you’re going, there. “Deep Space Nine” and “Klingon Battle Cruiser” aren’t taken yet.
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Lincoln Defiant and Lincoln K’t’inga-class have a nice ring to them.
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There could be a new entry-level model called the Lincoln Next Generation…
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No question, Lincoln should have a Zephyr in their lineup. It’s one of the brand’s most iconic model names that also has a very evocative meaning and unusual, attention-getting spelling. Renaming the newest Zephyr the MKz seemed colossally stupid to me at the time. My only guess is that older customers still associated the name with Mercury’s Fairmont-clone from the ’70s. That may have sullied the name.
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Can we also get a V12 with the Zephyr? That would be boss. Maybe make it based on the Ecoboost 2.7L V6, sort of how the A-M v12 started life as the FoMoCo duratec V6?
If we just took the specs of the 2.7L as found in the MKX and doubled ’em, that’d give us a 5.4L V12 with 670hp and 760torques. Yesplease. The uprated engine can be based on the ‘Gator-spec 3.5L, which would net us a 7.0L V12 with 760hp and 920torques. That’ll show ’em. -
AFAIK, the only reason that Zephyr became MKZ was because of changing all names to alphas.
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I think they’re called the MKXXXXZZZZEWQWESD because that’s easier for the Chinese. In other words, they’re discarding Lincoln’s past to please potential Chinese customers who are currently buying Buicks because of Buicks past. Must make sense to an MBA somewhere…
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I agree that name recognition is very important so I propose that Lincoln reintroduce the “Abraham” – most people still know that name even though there hasn’t been one on the market for four score years, at least. One of my forefathers had one, I think.
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It would be great to see it brought forth upon this continent. But they would have to spin Lincoln off as an independent brand. I don’t think it would end well if they brought it into Ford’s theater of operations.
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It’s worth a shot.
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“Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
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“The Town Car that took me to the cemetery was quite nice.”
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Lucy Hale. The original booth babe.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Lucy_Hale.jpg/405px-Lucy_Hale.jpg-
Excellent observation, Pete. Therein lies the rub – Booth was infuriated at the possibility that a Lincoln would drive her home. Perhaps the junior model should be called the “Robert Todd”.
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Hot Rod
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Cosmopolitan? Premiere? Aside from the Continental and the Zephyr, that’s all I can find with the Google in my head. Not real so much crazy about the Marks, there are too many numbers and they don’t really mean anything. And the malaise era ones are meh – no reason to remind people of that.
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It was only ever used on a concept car once, but Machete. Because you know you would want to drive a Machete.
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Danny Trejo could sell the hell out of that.
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For some reason I initially read that as “Deney Terrio could sell the hell out of that.”
…which for some reason seems oddly appropriate.
https://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m19shnJ1PX1qga5e2o1_500.jpg
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Versailles would be a big hit with the assisted living center crowd.
Continental, Zephyr, and Town Car are the only Lincoln names that have any equity. Zyphyr, though nifty , does have that musty, depressing Malaise era whiff to it.
Continental should only come back as a breathtaking RWD flagship.
Overall, Lincoln needs to look forward, not back, in this new model name phase. It needs to find names that are grown up, but not antique. Forward-looking, but not precious or trendy. Want to get people to believe your car is new and different and not some tired retread? Start with a new name.-
Yeah, something grown up, mature, like “Powerfist Turbo Pussy Magnet Mega Phallus Launcher….Brougham.“
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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Futura#/media/File:LincolnFutura.jpg
No one said it had to be a production Lincoln, right? I long for the sort of Jet Age retro-futurism that the Futura evokes.
And, as a bonus, get BatAffleck behind the wheel of a Futura concept (maybe as Bruce Wayne). Or not, I’m not sure if anyone is actually excited for Batman Vs Superman.-
Futura is caught in some sort of legal quagmire involving Pep Boys, isn’t it? They were considering naming the Fusion that back in the day but lost the rights or something.
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Premiere would be a good one to revive. So would Cosmopolitan, though at this point the owner’s manual would probably have “913 Bedroom Tricks to Drive Him Wild!” taking up a quarter of the cover.
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I’ve always been partial to “Lincoln L-Series 4-Door Sport Phaeton”.
Or, you go another way and name the cars such that there is no confusion between the Lincoln and the lesser Ford. For example, the MKZ gets renamed “Lincoln Not A Fusion” and MKS is renamed “Lincoln Not A Taurus”. This way, we know exactly what we’re talking about.-
I like Not A Real Fusion, because it would be shortened to Lincoln NARF.
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What are we going to do tonight, Brain?
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“Sockets for all your electronic devices, including refrigerators and clothes dryers!”
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