Agreed. The stretch "limousines" are ridiculous. Abominable. A blight.
But the Town Car isn't much better. What prevents Ford from giving it a more current body style while they ponder what they really want to do with the Lincoln division? The 117" wheelbase is a good start for a better proportion than what it has now.
...seeing an episode of the "Anna Nicole" show where she's riding around in a stretched Expedition. What a perfectly tacky oversized conveyance for a tacky oversized woman.
...and that 1938 K Series Lincoln would have been one of 450 chassis made that year, with an additional 19,111 Lincoln Zephyr V12 alongside...(more Lincoln's built than Mercury's introductory year!) It was the drop in sales and subsequent discontinuation of the K V12 custom chassis that pushed Edsel & Bob Gregorie to build the Continental-Zephyr. Between 1939-1940 only 224 K series chassis were built, nine cars built per month...! The artisans normally building the K were shifted over to the "Special Convertible Coupe" as Gregorie called it...and Continental was born!.
There is a simple solution to eliminating the horrid dauchtsund-like Town Car stretch jobs: simply withdraw the warranties from any car converted beyond a certain factory approved and tested limit. Ferrari does that, and even wrote a letter to the owner of a Testerossa Convertible (a Fiat Executive!) telling him the non-factory converted car was "no longer a Ferrari, or sanctioned by Ferrari S.A.". There is certainly a market for the custom Limousine...just not the silly extremes allowed by fiberglass conversions. Someone, of course, has to have bad taste, so there is no preventing it. Yet Ford Motor and Lincoln can do something to protect themselves against extreme uses of their products.
Ghia-Imperial hand-built 132 Limousines between 1957 and 1965, yet their impact and impression remains a lasting one...as even I rode in former Governor (and later Vice President) Nelson Rockefeller's 1960 Ghia Limousine in 1965, an experience which I have never forgotten. Chrysler, in fact, is considering the revival of these cars with Imperial, a fact hinted at by Tom La Sorda in a recent interview in Automotive News. One reason why the 300 LWB was created, providing a platform from which Imperial can be based, with Pininfarina stepping into the role of Ghia.
One more reason why the Lincoln Town Car can't be relegated to the ash heep of history. 50% of all new Bentley Arnage and 60% of all Rolls-Royce sold have special customer features requested, special requests something that Cadillac and Imperial will do if they get back into the limousine trades once TC is discontinued. While I heartily dislike the four and five feet added to a car to 'make-it-into' a limousine or 'rolling bordello', the Town Car L is a nice package; something Lincoln should have offered begining with the 1969 Town Car interior trim package! (Lehmann-Petersen did build two 8" stretch sedans in 1967, but the cost was the same as the regular 34" stretch, and no "short" versions were subsequently sold.) Eliminate the Town Car, the TC-L, and you hand an even larger market share to your competitors, garanteeing that Imperial and Cadillac, along with Lexus will surge ahead.
DouglasR
(Sources: 'Chrysler & Imperial, the Post-war Years,' Richard Langworth, Motorbooks, 1976; 'Lincoln & Continental', Marvin Arnold, Taylor Publishing 1989; 'Edsel Ford & E.T. Gregorie', Henry Dominguez, SAE Publishing, 1999)
We'll see. Iacocca tried to reinvent the Imperial by overdoing a New Yorker. Course, it still had the six in it. Just like he did with the Versailles, it was very reminiscent. It died. Not sure that nameplate is resurrectable. Cadillac has scrapped their heritage names. Lincoln is in the process, and lo....here comes the Imperial? We'll see....
The Imperial died because it became a 6 cylinder two door hardtop with the name of a car which had been a luxury sedan. Then Chrysler built several versions of the K car, with different front and rear clips and wheelbases, but they remained clearly the same car. Who wants an Imperial that looks like a stretched K car with fake luxury glop troweled on?
...would LOVE to see a PROPER revival of the Imperial - not some stupid impractical coupe like 1981-83 and certainly no pimped-out K-Car like 1989-93. Lincoln could also help itself if they remembered who they were in 1961-65. Good God, what an elegant car! I'd buy a Lincoln in a New York second if it was as classy as the 1961-65 Continental!
But lemko, given what DCX has done with Chrysler today, what would it be? An S-Class derivitive? Too expensive... A stretched 300C? If it had a HEMI or a Diesel in it, it could be a hit..... DCX makes cars pretty, and makes them good - I expect it to be a decent offering - what I wonder is, is there really room for another "near luxury" entry into the N.A. market? I don't think so.
While Mr. LaSarda readies the 6.4litre SRT8 Hemi engine for production, producing 505Bhp@6,100Rpm for Imperial's debut...around 2008-9, the esteemed Mr. Fields has thrown down the gauntlet for his design staff to enhance North American car designs for future products. Automotive News reports that some products will be delayed as much as two years in order to "get the styling right". Right or not, the instant TC production ends, Mr. La Sorda's decision whether to proceed with Imperial full force will be so much easier, and Mr. Press will press ahead with Lexus.
With only 369 days left for Wixom, and the fate of a RWD Town Car replacement, or a unique factory from which to build Lincoln, Mr. Fields 'charge' to his Design Staff may yet gain time for other choices about Lincoln to be made. Just as our esteemed citizens dumped overtaxed Tea into Boston Harbor---rebelling against oppressive taxation, one can well image a "Designer's Tea Party" a.k.a. 'Detroit Clay Fight' within the halls of the two design studios at Ford Motor and Irvine California.... Rather it ought to be called "The Wixom Clay Fight" (WCF) being that the fate of Lincoln rides upon the outcome. I can just imagine the hair on the back of Mr. J. Mays' kneck standing up if Mr. Fields told him: "This isn't far reaching enough...". Or WE could surmise the scene the other way round: "Mr. Fields, what you want us to do will kill the company...let us do our work, let us show what we can do...these package plans you give us leave us no leeway..." Either way the battle is brewing within the halls of Detroit, Dearborn, and the studios in California. The "clay models" being pitched into the trashbins, and files "deleted", and plenty of midnight oil burnt in the days ahead.
Around June 10-15, 2007 when the last Town Car rolls out of Wixom, we can only hope that the 'WCF' will have yeilded some positive results, and Mr. Mays, and Horbury win the day, along with Freeman Thomas, and unveiling within the site of a new Lincoln factory, a new car to be built under its soaring new steel girders.
The Ford dealers can fight over their Shelby allocations, but what will the Lincoln dealer do? 45% of 300 buyers opt for the Hemi, where is the performance model for Lincoln?? The idea of the 'Hot Rod' Lincoln, based on a song still popular---written by Charlie Ryan in 1953 while returning home during a high speed drive from Lewiston, Idaho in his 1941 Zephyr V12!---hasn't died after 53 years! Imperial will most certainly trump its competitors in this respect... The Shelby's have returned to Ford, but where is the spirit of Mr. Ryan at Lincoln?
It's now up to The Designers, who for now, have the high cards...and notes to play. Between now and '07, it's going to be one raucus "WCF" in Dearborn. Mr. Ryan, who turned 90 last December, whose song "Hot Rod Lincoln" has been played more than a million times, could write a song or two about Lincoln...even today!
DouglasR
(Sources: Car Design News; Automotive News; Ford Motor Company; 'Hot Rod Lincoln', by Charlie & Ruthie Ryan Co. 1953)
Delayed as much as 2 years??? These people have to be insane. The problems Ford already have are based on delayed introductions, lack of new product, and too conservative redesigns.
I doubt there is any other auto company on earth that is selling as many ancient designs. You'd think they'd have the sense to be embarrassed about it. With Lincoln alone, you have the hoary old Town Car and now the 2007 Navigator update that is still using the 1998 body shell.
Across the company, it is much worse. Ford will be selling a 2007 Ranger that has had many updates, but still is clothed in a 1993 body. The Crown Victoria has had the same body since 1991, and in reality goes back to 1979. Ditto for the Grand Marquis. The Taurus is still in production, largely unchanged from 1996. The Freestar is an updated Windstar and still uses the same body shell introduced in 1994 (and it wasn't well done even then). The Explorer still has aspects of its body design that go back to its 1990 introduction. The Focus has been badly neglected the past few years for a car that won so many accolades.
When will this company learn that a critically acclaimed model needs constant attention to stay on top? Ford and Mercury and Lincoln will never get respect as world class until there is a commitment to keep ahead of the curve.
The Imperial died because it became a 6 cylinder two door hardtop with the name of a car which had been a luxury sedan.
The main problem with the Imperial is that Chrysler just never had the resources to adequately diffentiate it from the Chrysler New Yorker. The one truly good year that the Imperial had was 1957. That year they hit an all-time high, of about 37,000 units. That put them ahead of Lincoln, to be the #2 domestic luxury maker, although they were still a long way from Cadillac.
The '57 Imperial was radically different from a 1957 Chrysler, whereas the '55-56 Imperial had just been a stretched Chrysler with a 300 grille...beautiful looking car, but just not "special" enough. The one shortcoming of the Imperial, however, was its engine. It used a 350 hp 392-4bbl Hemi. Great engine, but it was the same engine used in the New Yorker, a car that cost considerably less, weighed a good 500-600 lb less, and would run circles around it.
I think the Imperial did outsell Lincoln again in 1958, by a small margin. However, Lincoln came out with a beautiful new body for 1961, and from then on I don't think the Imperial was a serious threat to it. The Imperial remained fairly unique through 1966, but that's because it stayed on the old 1957 platform. Meanwhile, the New Yorker was redesigned for 1960, had a major restyle for 1963, and another all-new design for 1965. By this time they were still using the same engines, a 413 wedge in this case, but now the Imperial had bulked up to about 1000 lb more than the NYer. And for 1966, IIRC, you could get a 440 in the NYer, but the Imperial was stuck with the 413!
For '67 the Imperial went to a stretched version of the New Yorker platform, and lost some status. It lost a bit more in '69, when the full-sized Mopar were redesigned again. It was a good looking car, with it hidden headlights and clean, if heavy styling, but it wasn't that vastly different from a New Yorker. In contrast, not too many people in 1969 were mistaking Cadillacs for Buicks!
By 1974-75, all the Imperial was was a New Yorker with hidden headlights and a nicer standard interior. Same wheelbase, length, etc. And for '76-78 what had been the Imperial BECAME the New Yorker!
I think those 1981-83 Imperials would have done better if it had not been for two problems. First, Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy back then, and everybody knew about it. That hurt their reputation in general, but I think it hurt the high end more, as luxury car buyers are more image conscious, and didn't want to get stuck with a loser. Second, 1981-83 were three of the bleakest years in Detroit's history. We were in a full-blown recession, gasoline was both expensive and scarce, and the automakers were struggling to make the cars more fuel efficient and emissions friendly. It was definitely NOT a good time to field a new luxury car!
Just taken on their own merits, an '81-83 Imperial was definitely the equal to an Eldorado or Mark VI. However, nobody was expecting GM or Ford to go out of business. Although Ford was closer to it than many people realize. FWIW, the '81-83 Imperial came standard with a 140 hp fuel injected 318. No 6-cyl was ever offered. The fuel injection was troublesome though, and many of them were converted to 2-bbl setups, which is a shame because the fuel injected models actually were fairly fuel efficient and reasonable performers for the time.
Those K-car Imperials really were in insult to the name, though.
Today, I could actually see a place for the Imperial. I look at the Chrysler 300 to be more of a contender for something like a Ford 500, Buick LeSabre/Lucerne, etc. I don't really see it as a luxury car. If this was the 50's, today's 300 would be more along the lines of a Mercury, Olds, cheaper Buick, DeSoto, or maybe a Chrysler Windsor or Saratoga. But it's not in the league of something like a Caddy, Imperial, Lincoln, Roadmaster, or New Yorker.
Andre69: Nice point, being that Imperial got shortsighted by the product planners, and that killed the car yet again.
But in 1957 Lincoln built 41,567 cars, including Mark II whereas Imperial built 37,557 cars including the Ghia Crown Imperial limousines. In 1958 when Lincoln went "hollywood" with the Najjar styling of radical nature, sales dropped with the economic down-turn of the time to 29,684 Lincolns. Imperial suffered too, to 16,102 in 1958. In terms of 'registrations' in 1957 Lincoln talleyed 37,298 calender year sales, versus 33,017 for Imperial. In 1958 the situation changed, 26,605 for Lincoln against 14,823 for Imperial. Chrysler as a company was #2 after 1945 when Ford Motor was in near ruin before its revival by Henry Ford II and Earnest Breech.
As a rule Lincoln has always outsold Imperial. Important to consider is the production capacity of the companies, with Lincoln able to build more cars than Imperial, and Cadillac outpacing them all. Packard died in part because they could not meet demand for their cars in 1954-55 when they shifted production to Connor Avenue from East Grand Bouldevard, and lost sales to Lincoln, Cadillac, and Imperial.
Lincoln finally surpassed Cadillac only to lose that crown because they have not invested in their products. Imperial is coming back precisely because they have not only the technology available to re-enter that market, but expanding production capacity to meet the demand that will be created by Lincoln's departure from that market. Mr. Field's is making it so much easier for Mr. La Sorda to put Imperial into production. Mr. Lutz can only be pleased because it will further his plans for Cadillac. There is nothing wrong with producing a given platform for a long time, but it has to be upgraded consistently to stay with the marketplace. Just look at what Bentley has done with Arnage since 1998.
WCF: designers today use a three dimensional imaging system a program CAD/CAM called ICEM/Surf among others to make their basic designs. VWAG has a virtual modelling system where they can create an image on a screen that looks finished. At some point the clay model has to be built, because, as Bill Mitchell once told his design staff: "You can't drive a computer..." The modern computer systems have merely shortened the build time, and eliminate overlap and mistakes, but it takes the three dimensional model to see the design.
DouglasR
Sources: 'Chrysler & Imperial, The Post War Years, Richard M. Langworth, Motorbooks International 1976; 'The Lincoln Motorcar, Sixty Years of Excellence,' Thomas Bonsall, Bookman Publishing, 1981
Ford listed Continental as a seperate division from 1956-58. Sales of the Continental Mark II and Mark III were listed separately from those of Lincoln during those years.
If Continental sales are not included with Lincoln totals for 1957 and 1958, it is plausible that Imperial did beat Lincoln during those years. Combine Continental and Lincoln sales, and Ford Motor Company outsells Chrysler Corporation in the luxury segment.
While Ford may have beat Chrysler in luxury car sales, for 1957 and 1958 (and through the 1960 model year), the Imperial was the better car.
Interestingly, when Lincoln introduced its luxury coupe in early 1968, it named it Continental Mark III, which ignored the 1958 Continental Mark III. According to legend, Henry Ford II held that the Marks of the late 1950s were not worthy of the name, so they were conveniently ignored when it came time to name the new model.
The 1968-71 Continental Mark III was the first Lincoln that outsold its direct Cadillac competitor, and laid the groundwork for the marque's sales successes during the 1970s.
At this weekend's Ford Nationals in Carlisle, the company had several new cars on display, including a new Zephyr and Fusion. The fit of the Zephyr's hood was actually WORSE than that of the Fusion's hood, and the chromed beltline trim on the Zephyr looked cheesy when compared to that of the Fusion.
To paraphrase the most famous quote made by a recently departed United States Senator from Texas: "Mr. Ford, I knew Lincoln, and the new Zephyr is no Lincoln."
GRB: ...ahh yes, quite right: WCF Sr. would have flogged me for that...and his cause then is what I champion now.
For 1957 Continental Division sold 439 Mark II's for the calender year, and built 572 cars for the 'model' year (C56L3418 to the last car, C56T3989 built May 13, 1957). For the calender year, in 1955 Mark II production talleyed 1,257 cars, 1956: 1,316 cars, and the final 439 cars in 1957, making a total of 3,012 production models.
The first year of Wixom Production, which opened weeks after Continental Division stopped production on the Mark II, 'Continental Mark III' labelled cars talleyed 12,550, leaving the balance of 17,134 cars labelled 'Lincoln'---just barely edging out Imperial's Crown's 16,102. Calender year production shows 37,946 for Imperial (a 300% jump from 1956: 12,130) in 1957; in 1958 the total is: 13,673. Imperial broke up their production between three models, Imperial, Imperial Crown & LeBaron, and model year production talleyed 16,102 for 1958.
There's NO question that the 1958-59 Lincoln and Continentals built at Wixom from the outset had a great deal of problems, given that it was a new car in a new factory which had been rushed into production. That resulted in numerous design changes in almost every major component of the car from the begining---for example: early '58 exhaust manifold bolts thread into the water jacket of the cylinder head, so removing the manifold requires draining the radiator; subsequent engines had different cylinder heads and the problem was rectified! Having worked on many of them I am well aware of their shortcomings, especially the wiring harness and arrangement in the car. Brake technology had also not been adjusted to compensate for the increasing weight of the unibody Lincolns. "Ok" when new, but you take great risk driving a 1958-60 Lincoln without changing the treadle-vac to a more modern booster and master cylinder arrangement. The disc brake system tested by Lincoln in the late fifties never made it into production until a decade later! By 1960 Lincoln had drastically improved any faults of the car, and in Hess & Eisenhardt Town Sedan or Limo form make an interesting car to drive. You have to REALLY like them to own a convertible. A properly restored or cared for '58-'60 Lincoln is still a flamboyant an unforgettable driving experience---having driven one overseas in Europe I can attest to that.
Yes, Imperial was no doubt the better car between 1957-1960, exclusive of the Mark II, especially if you consider the Ghia Limousine, for which even Cadillac had to admit had a panache they did not. One more reason why they had built Eldorado Brougham, and the subsequent PininFarina Bodied Sedans. (Which, entirely aside, having driven an original unrestored 1959 example were fabulous...including the automatic retracting side rear quarter-lite windows when you opened the rear door...!) GM really did worry about Mr. Exner. All you have to do is read concurrent road tests of the cars, and also some of the GM designer's recollections of the time to see Imperial had one of its 'finest hours' in the late 1950's.
By 1961 the baseline Imperial was $4,925, and Lincoln-Continental was $6,063, and Lincoln-Continental sales shot upwards threefold over the last of the big 1960 Najjar designed Lincolns. If you have ever seen a picture of the John Oras designed 1961 Lincoln to-be from the Ford studio---NO ONE would have bought it---Imperial would have beaten Lincoln soundly, and Mr. McNamara made good on his threat to "cancel Lincoln".
Potentially poor build quality of current Zephyr's is not unsurprising, given that it is merely a 'shift car', built alongside the next Mercury or Ford coming down the line, and that a third shift has been added to the Hermisilio plant to cope with demand. Zephyr sales have been off the charts, or at-least, beyond their expectations. Quality issues no doubt attended to in a hurry by Lincoln just as quickly as they want to change the name of the car! But as a harbinger of what is to come, it is indeed a place to start, but will not carry the day for Lincoln.
For that, after the denouement of the "WCF" in Dearborn, what remains of Lincoln or Continental design becomes paramount. One could easily surmise that Mr. Field's bromide to the designers is in part because the fate of Lincoln IS undecided. Perhaps the Senior William Clay Ford was not wrong afterall: Continental might indeed need to become a separate entity from Lincoln once again---being that the brand image of Lincoln needs a lot of polishing about now. Either way, unless Ford Motor brought Continental into an exclusive range, Lincoln still needs its own factory. It won't survive as the 'late-nite-lady at Hermisilio or Chicago on its own.
DouglasR
(Sources: 'Production Figure Book for U.S. Cars', Jerry Heasley, Motorbooks/1977)
Is that MKS ever going to be made though? I had heard it has fallen prey to the accountants, and been cancelled. Hope I'm wrong.....?
The other Five Hundred-based Lincoln, code-named D385, is on track to go on sale in 2008. It is the production version of the Lincoln MKS concept shown at this year's Detroit auto show.
The above appears in the following 6/05/06 article;
"I doubt there is any other auto company on earth that is selling as many ancient designs. You'd think they'd have the sense to be embarrassed about it. With Lincoln alone, you have the hoary old Town Car and now the 2007 Navigator update that is still using the 1998 body shell."
That's a generalization that won't fly. GM and even Toyota are doing the same, they just do it better. The Camry under the skin was designed in 1990, and produced starting in 94 for the 95 model year, and it's been thoroughly updated since, but so have the Panther cars, the Ranger, etc. Check out GM's cars. Many of those are the same, and then there's that 3800 V-6 power plant that started life in 1975, the transmission that started life in 1979. No different.
"The fit of the Zephyr's hood was actually WORSE than that of the Fusion's hood, and the chromed beltline trim on the Zephyr looked cheesy when compared to that of the Fusion."
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the Zephyr, by any other name. But this is just another example of why this car is not worthy of the Lincoln name that I have owned, and revered of the past.
The Ranger is an obsolete embarassment. It's a tuned up 1982. Shame on them.
The Crown Victoria is using a 15 year old body on a 1979 platform - Can you name another car using 15 year old sheetmetal?
The Expedition, and Navigator were basically all new in 2003, but with a old body on them to hide that fact- that's just bizarre. Same with the Sport trac.
By the way, that 3.8 GM V-6 started it's life in about 1962. And the Camry platform you mentioned came out in 1996, That's very different than 1979.
What Ford needs to do is get rid of jaguar.. it hasnt brought Ford any sort of profit what so ever.. so they should stop wasting all that money on jaguar and focus on Lincoln, they should make all Lincolns RWD or AWD only, with V8 power none of these FWD, V6 powered cars they are planning to sell.. i seriously think that with the right cars Lincoln could actually make ford some money unlike jaguar.
douglasr, I've seen the Lincoln originally planned for 1961. It was awful, but Gene Bordinat felt that the key to Cadillac's success was design continuity. He wanted to establish a look for Lincoln, so he tried to continue the themes of the 1958-60 monsters for the next generation of Lincolns.
Interestingly, it was Robert McNamara who told designers to use a blue-sky styling study for the 1961 Thunderbird as the basis for the next Lincoln. Elwood Engel's Thunderbird design was adapted to a sedan bodystyle, and Lincoln had its classic 1961 model...which was a hit, and ended up establishing the design continuity that Bordinat wanted!
Overnight Cadillac and Imperial looked dated and "overdone." It can honestly be said that, when it came to automobiles, the 1961 Lincoln ushered in the 1960s by making a complete break from the fins, spears and indiscriminate use of chrome that characterized 1950s American cars in general and GM cars in particular.
McNamara wanted to kill Lincoln after the 1958 debacle, but he gave it one last chance with the 1961 models. I wonder, however, if the Ford family would have let him kill Lincoln. Remember that prior to World War II Lincoln had been Edsel Ford's baby. There had to be some sentiment for the brand on behalf of the family.
If only a 21st century Lincoln had that level of class, sophistication and distinction! The 1961-63 Lincolns (with the curved side glass and shorter wheelbase - the 1964 changes didn't ruin the car completely, but they did take it down slightly) are some of the best-looking sedans and convertibles ever built.
As NVB warns, Zephyr's are potentially suffering as the late nite lady on the Hermisilio shift. That is what will happen to all of Lincoln, and the E385 chassis if things don't change. Only 32% of the parts comprising Zephyr are unique to the platform to make it a Lincoln vis a vis its Ford and Mercury counterparts.
Mr. Field's bromide to his design staff is not unlike what Robert McNamara did for Lincoln: "I'll cancel Lincoln..." he told them; "You wouldn't really do that...? was the retort. McNamara had worked for the Strategic Bombing Survey under Gen. Curtis LeMay during WWII and knew all too well how to pick a target, his threat was very real. As GRB points out the John Oras designed 1961 Lincoln-to-be from the Ford studio was a car NO ONE would have bought...
The famous basement 'stiletto-studio', or "E" studio (so named because it was by the elevator!) held room for one car---which at the time was a T-Bird proposal. McNamara's late nite walk-through in June 1958 and subsequent approval turned it into a four-door Continental for preview to executives the week of July 27, 1958. Bob Thomas, Elwood Engle, John Orf, and Gene Bordinat put in a lot of midnight oil to get the car ready for preview. When you look at photos of the full clay, they had been finished only 12 hours before the pictures were taken! The '61 was a smash hit...and made money for Lincoln, achieving what Mr. McNamara set out for the marque.
The average age of Lincoln buyers before the LS was somewhere around 62, after it dropped to 52!, and Zephyr might lower it still to 42! But where will buyers go after the Zephyr? Without proper chassis and upscale products at Lincoln...Zephyr will just create customers for GM, BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, if not Imperial. It is only an entry level car, and is built like it.
Mr. Field's tactic may yet well work for Lincoln...in a backhanded manner. By causing consternation and delay between the designers and engineers, he is indeed buying more time to sort out Lincoln, and potentialy reverse his disasterous decision to piggyback Lincoln production at Ford assembly plants. His rejoinder to this might be that Wixom assembled T-Bird's and Lincoln's from 1958-1976 so what is the difference? However, he forgets that the T-Bird was really a mini-Lincoln as a result of that association, in terms of design and quality, far above the average Ford. Wixom built Lincoln exclusively until the return of T-Bird and the addition of GT-40 after 1976. It was only then that Harbour & Associates began to rank Wixom as one of the most efficient and high quality plants in America. Something Mr. Wagoner boasted about yesterday at the GM Annual General Stockholders Meeting in Wilmington...that GM had 5 of the 10 most productive plants in North America according to Harbour awards, and those plants would not close. Wixom was one of the remaining five....
Plant & Product are tied together...something Lincoln drastically needs. Ford Motor has the cash on hand for both, with $25Bn in hand, and another $35Bn credit available. The new plant would cost $300Mn, a heritage museum $65Mn (the two items necessary for PR effect, and to quell rumors of Lincoln's demise), shifting TC production $65Mn to the new plant, and a new platform: $1.2-5Bn---not even 10% of Ford's cash on hand. Mr. Ford and Mr. Fields can argue all day long about plant flexibility, health care and materials costs, but without genuine Lincolns to build in them, they might as well turn out the lights. By piggybacking Lincoln design onto generic Ford chassis as they have done with Zephyr, no matter how good the results might be, they are repeating what Studebaker did with Packard in 1957. The public did not buy that then, nor did they accept the Versailles---the modern equivalent of the same---and they will not now. Not at $45K plus.
Surely with the design talent of J. Mays, Freeman Thomas, and Mr. Horbury, somewhere in the Ford Motor Empire between Irvine California, Dearborn, and London, is an "E" studio worthy of the Lincoln name. Nothing wrong with a fresh approach as the '61 proved. Yet the Mark II layed the groundwork for that car... Perhaps that is what the Mk S is supposed to be all about... (Though I don't see that, and think they are copying Cadillac by doing so.) Yet without unique designs to Lincoln, and a factory to build it in, the future for Lincoln looks very grim indeed.
"You S-B, you're lucky you don't have to pay for all this overtime." Elwood Engle barked at Bob Thomas when they worked all nite to finish the '61 Lincoln clay model for presentation the next morning. That is what Lincoln needs now...a lot of high grade midnight oil...NO swearing required (I'm doing enough of it for them!). The Aston DBS was done in a month, the four-door in six, from a drawing to a driving car. So it's not impossible to save Lincoln now,
...368 days & counting.
DouglasR
(Sources: "Confessions of a Car Designer' Robert Thomas, Independently Published 1977; Car Design News; Automotive News; Autoweek; Edmunds-Online; DouglasR interview with Robert McNamara 1978; Strategic Bombing Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1945)
...and he can take pride in the fact that Zephyr just won the Ward's Automotive Award for the "best cup-holders"...!!! That is what Lincoln is coming to...not being known for performance, cornering, build quality, customer satisfaction, best factory, or even design or style: cup holders.
Would Edsel Ford have told Bob Gregorie in 1939 he wanted the best "ash-tray" in the industry? It would have been better if Zephry had won the award for 'best ergonomic interior'...
Picture an obese slob like the "Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons with his Big Gulp from Kwik-E-Mart shoved in the console of his Zephyr - the seat belt buckle barely containing his obscene girth. Cup holders in cars are a huge symptom of all that is wrong with Americans' eating habits. The cupholders in my car are never used. I can wait until I arrive at my destination to have a Pepsi!
If you know what the 07 looks like and what's under the hood, please, pray tell us for we might be patient enough to wait. But, right now, we are not inclined to buy a warmed over, revised, bulbous 1998.
It has already been repeated many times....the 07 TC is like the 06 is like the 05 is like the 04 is like the 03....
You cannot expect anything new any time soon. The 500 based replacement was set for the 09 model year, but now that has been cancelled. Back to the drawing board. And further delays.
You'd think it would occur to them to at least re-skin the present car in the interim. Doesn't look like it will happen. And what is Lincoln without a traditional large sedan in its line-up? Getting close to burnt toast, I'd say.
Let us prey that Mr. Fields 'Finest Hour' is not winning the Ward's Automotive Cup-Holder GT for Lincoln.
Let us prey that the 500Bhp V8 in the Shelby GT finds its detuned (slightly to 499Bhp) into a special Lincoln Coupe, a revived "Capri".
Let us prey that Lincoln becomes a car that independent companies want to 'hot-rod' like AMG has done for Mercedes-Benz. AMG having taken over the slot at the top of the M-B pyramid occuppied now by Maybach!!
Let us prey that the next 'performance luxury Lincoln' can go toe to toe with Cadillac V at Nurburgring.
Let us prey that Lincoln has the where-with-all to introduce special performance and/or luxury versions separately labelled from the common platform to enhance their position, i.e. the 'Pan-America' or 'Road-Race' Lincoln; "Town Brougham"; "Deitrich" or "Lehmann-Petersen" etc. to counter what will surely come from Imperial---which will have its 6.4Litre 505Bhp SRT8 motor and a "Pininfarina" LWB edition.
Let us prey that Lincoln is given its own "team" of designers, engineers, managers, accountants, etc., separating it from the chaf at Ford Division, so that it might run and breathe free like the greyhounds that once graced the Model L Radiator. And that Lincoln advertising be given the same verve and dash it once had when the greyhound was new. As GM shifts back to its once formidable business management method established by Alfred Sloan, Mr. Fields should field his own teams.
Let us prey that amongst the parts bins of the Ford Motor Empire, that at least one group of men and women be given the pervue to create a new Lincoln, able to set its own tone within our times, just as L did when new, Zephyr for its time, Capri & Mark II...Continental & Mark III in theirs---the Mark S being but a short stepping stone...the production version of which should not render the "S" to mean "Sufficent".
Let us prey that upon the open fields somewhere within the realm of Ford Motor be given a fresh spade to turn over this earth yielding a new structure from which these ideas will come forth...setting free the ghosts of the greyhounds running yet again. William Clay's pennance be paid in morter and stone, the clank of a new Lincoln producion line rolling over to assauge what his Granfather tried but could never achieve. Lincoln may yet inspire the loyalty of those who know it best, but for Mr. Fields it is what he appears not to be aware of that gives us pause.
Doug, I do enjoy your passionate posts, but, in a way they are a bit pathetic. You are hoping for something that will not ever happen and need to move on with your life.
They remind me of someone who's obsessed with making their former girlfriend love them once again. Guess what? She moved away and is engaged to someone else and now you're just scaring her. Sitting around reading old Valentines ("but you said right here that you'd always love me...") isn't going to change that.
That stuff is no more relevant than stories about Montgomery Ward's past successes, or some middle-aged fat guy who breaks out pictures of his high school football glory days every time you see him. "Remember my pass in 1979 against Central High? That was great, wasn't it"?
Maybe it's sad that what Lincoln today doesn't match where they were apparently headed 60 years ago.
They have moved on, you need to also.
Lincoln is going to be fancy-Ford, or Mexican-Mazda Deluxe. Or Yamaha-Volvo.
If you don't like that, they don't care. Buy a Jaguar.
They have no loyalty to you, or what you think, or what could have been, but never will be.
I'm afraid you are right, Scooter. This seems to be the longest period in Lincoln history where nothing has been produced which will cause people to stop and notice when it drives by 30 or 40 years hence. Even the 90-97 Town Car is beginning to look awfully good to me in comparison to the 1998-2008 iteration.
Of course, given enough years and the junking of enough vehicles, even the Checker and the VW Beetle garner some attention again. But not like the original Zephyr, or a pristine "Mark I," or a 1967 Continental 4 door convertible, or a 1969 Mark III, or even a Mark VII LSC.
BTW, Douglas, I know I can be dumb and slow, but what did you intend to convey by using the word prey in place of pray?
But let there be no doubt: I fully expect, that when the last Town Car rolls out of Wixom, 367 days from now, that with it will come a spate of press reports about the "glory days" of Detroit, the use of Lincoln by Presidents, the whole history of Continental will be recounted. At the "wake" for Lincoln, nonsense about the superiority of foreign designs, construction and production will be further spouted by the press. But Ford Motor will have encouraged this point of view by closing Wixom, and not building a new car or factory.
Lincoln will, indeed, go the way of Packard. Mr. Fields and Mr. Ford seem to have ensured that reality will come to pass. And worse still, they seem not to care, imperivous to the collective effect of their actions. I fully expect such incompetence to be justified by soothing words about "market-shift", "global economic conditions", and replaced by new "innovations" at Ford, etc, etc. Yes, you are probably correct that Lincoln will be marginalised into a Mazda platform, and Volvoised. Yes, you are probably right that its glory days are past and a will o' the wisp to beleive it can be saved. No doubt that as Lincoln fades from view, many of the L-M dealers will switch to competitors' products to stay in business, if the price of the real-estate under their lots has not already pushed them out of the auto business altogether. Nor would I doubt that a screaming match in Dearborn has already come to pass: "Why don't we just kill it now, since we haven't the funds to develop it?"
No...when the end comes for Lincoln, which seems to be approaching, it is only my fervent hope that what-could-have-been was brought forth to the public eye. I shed no tears for William C. Ford Jr. if he presides over the destruction of Ford Motor Company in the marketplace---as author Douglas Brinkley has pointed out might happen---had he not wanted the job, he should have acceeded to Edsel Ford II. I firmly believe that what is happening at Lincoln represents a case study for the fate of American Manufacturing in general.
No...we will all still be here the day after when Lincoln is but a distant memory, and the last spade of dirt thrown upon its grave. Affecting us in the same fashion as the end of Packard, Duesenberg, Marmon, Pierce-Arrow, etc. Lexus and other firms will take their place within the market. Yet when you want to get a job with a 'home team' company, the choices will be narrowed, the decisions affecting their fates, and yours, made far from our shores. And in the end, one asks: "What does that matter?"
DouglasR
PS: yes, indeed, haste on my part: pray indeed! But it is the competition that is doing the 'preying'!
would I not be concerned about the demise of my luxury line, Town Car? Other than taking on the Jaguar franchise to replace the TC, what would my options be so as to retain my traditional luxury clientel? :confuse:
As E has pointed out, Jaguar sales have not increased, rather retreating back to their traditional levels of 20-35,000 cars per year. Only the XK has increased in sales dramatically over its predecessor...and despite the excellence of the product, the XJ---winning J.D. Powers satsifaction index---its sales continue to at best remain consistent vis a vis its older model. The X & S class cars seeing those huge double digit drops in sales. Had Ford Motor invested in the XJ/Xk first, bringing back confidence and displaying engineering and production excellence, then proceeded with a smaller line of cars, their plans might have succeeded in the manner intended.
Without TC, what will the dealers sell for Lincoln? Trucks and Zephyrs while they wait.... But how long can the customers wait? In this market? With Mr. Watanabe & Mr. Press of Toyota & Lexus standing right behind them? Not to mention Mr. Zetsche and Lutz? Without an inside line to what is coming...I would be awfully nervous if I held an L-M franchise.
That's what I called my 98 Touring Sedan: the Oldsmobuick. It was both a comfortable car and a lemon. Stopped buying American sedans after that last attempt, although I've owned several American-built trucks since that have been trouble-free.
"...It would have been better if Lincoln had won for the best ergonomic interior..." DouglasR 06-09-06
Zephyr just won "Best Interior of the Year" Award from Ward's Automotive. 06-12-06
"This award emphasizes how we are changing the game at Lincoln, building world class interiors...that Lincoln is known for." Mr. Peter Horbury is quoted by Ward's and Automotive News, and Ford Motor Company. "The Zephyr was up against some very reputable competition and this honor is a telling sign of the levels of details we're pouring into our interiors across the line-up." He added.
"You're playing a very dangerous game, Mr. Bond," Auric Goldfinger tells James Bond in the infamous scene in the film "Goldfinger." So is Mr. Horbury...increasing the levels of trim on shared platforms, all a welcome sign, but what is in store for the bigger Lincolns? Raising the ante? We can only hope that his encouraging comments, about 'changing the game' are more telling than they reveal.
But no doubt about it: Hat's Off & Score One for Lincoln, and Mr. Horbury's Hopefuls. Let us hope that the next Lincoln show car is painted 'gold'...smuggling under the noses of the prattling executives something bold for Lincoln. We can hear Mr. Horbury's words when he reads the bromides of this public: "What to you expect me to do...?"
"Design it" Mr. Horbury: "Design it"
DouglasR
PS: 365 Days & Counting
(Sources: Ford Motor Company; Edmund's Inside Line; Ward's Automotive, Automotive News)
Actually, it was a '91, loaded up. Never had any engine problems, but the accessories were a nightmare to keep working. Sometimes it refused to start, but the problem was never isolated and fixed. The bucket seats adjusted something like 16 ways, but sounded like a buzz saw with the motors operating. You could burn yourself on the lighted steering wheel controls. And they never could line up the doors and trim pieces so that they aligned.
It came with painted trim, rather than chrome. I had the grill and most of the other painted trim re-painted body color (black), so with the gray leather and real wood trim (rare in that era) it looked pretty sharp. In fact, speaking of the wood trim, they installed one of the fake wood window control surrounds by mistake on one of the doors and it stood out like a sore thumb until they replaced it. Then the console wood trim cracked and they replaced it under warranty to the tune of $700--a lot in 1991. And of course it no longer matched the rest.
At 29,000 miles I traded it off for my first Mazda Millenia (I still have my second one). Parked it by a Zephyr the other day. The Z looked alright by comparison, but hardly looked six years newer.
Sure wish Lincoln had given it a less generic look. I'm hoping the MKS will be a looker in the actual metal. However, if I were to buy an American car again, I'd like it to be closer to the ES350/MKZ/CTS/Lincoln LS/A6/E Class in size. The MKS at 203 inches seems a bit long and bulbous for a 114 inch wheelbase. The Chrysler 300 is half a foot shorterthan the proposed MKS, and most people don't consider the 300 a small car.
"Sure wish Lincoln had given it a less generic look."
I so AGREE!! The trademark of Lincoln for years was that big Rolls Royce style waterfall grille....and it sold cars! Now, they've even done away with that, making me NOT want an 07 Navigator because of the horrendous front end treatment. I can't imagine the Focus Groups liking that. And the Zephyr is just so damn generic......
But that's what you get when you do a small car...they're hard to make special.
Rolls-Royce just tipped their hand once again, allowing CAR Magazine to print computer generated and/or real photos of prototypes of their 'Next Generation Sedan', the intermediate four-door placed below Phantom and slightly above Bentley Continental Series. Mr. Robertson's team at Goodwood has also 'campaigned' their 101EX prototype Coupe in 25 countries with private showings to prosective customers. The reaction favorable, and R-R proceeding ahead with production for both coupe and convertible V12's for 2007/8.
Jaguar is doing the same for its XKR 2007 Coupe. But where is Lincoln? MkS has been shown, but what of its production varient? Where is Lincoln teasing the public with what is to replace the Town Car? Since they've chosen to axe Wixom, and Lincoln will have no 'home' after that...how is it that the premium label in America gets such short shrift from Detroit, when Jaguar presses onwards? There's no doubting Ford Motor's attention to the cat, as they even maintain a 'Nurburgring Test Center' (JNTC) for Jaguar, and no doubt sneak other Ford Motor products through the door. Where is, however, that same level of commitment to Lincoln as at Jaguar? Replete with Jaguar signage, the JNTC makes a bold public statement to that commitment, as does the Aston-Martin signage adorning its various plants, including its engine plant in Koln, Germany. Ford Motor does not do that for Lincoln. You can now rent a Shelby GT at Hertz...rolling back 40 years of history, why then nothing for Lincoln?
If ever there was an example of reliving the 'glory days', or 'games past' both the renascent Shelby's and the GT-40 Ford's represent the same ethos. I wouldn't want Lincoln to recreate the 1960's cars whole cloth...with their inadequate front drum brakes between 1961-64, single master cylinders on disc brakes between 1965-66, and accessories that didn't last as long as the car, and overly heavy weight balance at the front wheels between 1961-1968.5. Nor would I want them to recreate the Lincoln Town Car's of the 1970's that had marginal road-holding at best (Though Collector's Series always beat all the others for chassis balance and handling!) despite an excellent straight line ride. Ford Motor did not do that for Ford GT nor Mustang, so I wouldn't expect them to do the same for a new Lincoln that was truly competitive and engendering its great past. No different a desire than any Green Bay fan wishing to return to the Super Bowl after its spate of victories under Lombardi. Bill Ford and Mr. Fields should take to the pavement in the best that Lincoln and Continental had to offer from the past, flog them about the old Packard proving ground they now own, get out and tell themselves: "Where going to do it better..."
Remarkably Crewe, even before the billions invested by BMW AG, often bested its worldwide competitors, relying on its small workforce of 5,500 people and a miniscule engineering staff headed by Harry Grylls and Fritz Feller. Today the quaint olde English methods are replaced by the keen efficiencies of BMW AG all while preserving the ethos of Rolls-Royce. Yet the 550 people at Goodwood and the still small engineering staff at Rolls-Royce headed by Mr. Robertson and backed by BMW produce something that Ford Motor, with ten times the staff available, should be able to do for Lincoln: Build the best car, except that it should also be here in America too---one seventh the price of a Phantom. The perfect Lincoln at $50K, with hot editions priced above that.
The Mk S...may well succeed below that point, and Mr. Horbury pleased about his interiors for the Zephyr. Yet if Mr. Robertson can tip his hand, showing his cards for the few people able to afford cars the prices of condos in New York City, a nice flat in London, or a country house almost anywhere in America, then where is the tipping hand at Lincoln? Where is the leader of Lincoln?
Ohh, but I forgot, there will be no home for Lincoln from which to gather the forces, to array the engineers, stylists, test people and QC staffs, no where from which the ethos of Lincoln will be preserved other than car number #116 of 350 rotating down the second shift in Chicago. Ohh, but I forgot too, such notions as loyalty to a product or a brand, or even a company are quaint, and old fashioned, nothing at all like hanging onto a team for decades waiting for them to win again. Yes, by the time I go rent my Hertz Shelby Mustang, there won't be any big Lincolns left to rent---will there?
Lincoln could, of course, stuff a Shelby engine under the hood of a new Lincoln chassis---scaring the day-lites out of the big money comeptitors as Mr. Robertson at Rolls-Royce and Dr. Paefgen at Bentley---running a 450Bhp plus Lincoln...and they could, of course, tease us with that. But that would be dreaming wouldn't it?
DouglasR
(Sources: Rolls-Royce Motors Ltd, CAR Magazine, Edmunds Online)
Where is, however, that same level of commitment to Lincoln as at Jaguar? Replete with Jaguar signage, the JNTC makes a bold public statement to that commitment, as does the Aston-Martin signage adorning its various plants, including its engine plant in Koln, Germany.
Lincoln hasn't really had a champion since Edsel, has it?
Personally, I'm confused. The re-naming of the Lincoln fleet (though personally, I don't care for it) seems to bode well for the brand, that it has a future, and a redesigned future at that. Yet, the product we see coming down the pipe is unremarkable, tentative and precarious at best. If I didn't see the re-naming effort, I would suspect that the brand was on a respirator.....
And it's true, Lincoln hasn't had much of a champion since Edsel. Iacocca was briefly interested in L/M in the late 60's and early 70's, when the Cougar and Mark III were invented. That's back when Mercury was the "Man's Car".... You can't do that today, and with Elena in charge of Mercury (I can just hear Bill. "Give her Mercury to mess with - not much damage she can do there") it's not the Man's car, for sure.
NVB is quite right: no one has really championed Lincoln since the days of WCF Sr., and the McNamara Threat...plus the Iacocca-Bordinat-Brunn Mark III. The success thoose cars enjoyed after 1961 meant that Lincoln did not need such a person; that the 61 style was not abandoned after McNamara went to the Defense Department is a credit to the style, the people, and the cars. Whose designs laid, as we all know, the foundation of Lincolns later success an ability to overtake Cadillac---albeit briefly. All the more reason NOW that a champion need appear: a command personality to direct the fate of Lincoln. Battles are won or lost on that issue alone. (McArthur and Rommel, come to mind, to name two great commanders who tipped the scales in battle.) In the auto industry it takes "Guts" as Mr. Lutz wrote in his memoir to win. True then, true today.
As for the redoubtable Mr. Fields, his education and career impressive: its what got him the job in the first place, I for one being only envious that I am not in his shoes. Wouldn't mind having a lunch with him when he comes to the National Press Club someday. I would 'press' him indeed. We are the 'second voice', with respect to Lincoln he has no chance to hear unless the words and deeds are spoken and done. We are the loyal public who have, as in my case, driven Lincoln for 32 years. We remain potential customers if only they would build the great cars again, and the better ones still. Zephyr is a begining, but barely so. Each generation puts its imprimature upon the marque, and MR. Fields and Mays are trying to do the same with Mr. Horbury for Lincoln. I raise the greater outside issues of where will these cars be built and by whom? Who will decide its design, and impress upon the workers the nature of the quality demanded. What is more 'American' than having cars named both for the Great Emancipator, and the founder of Detroit? Companies founded by the same person(s)? Would we want to cast aside decades of tradition for the latest fashion? And settle for an upmarket Hyundai (whose Chairman is in jail for bribery, slush funds pay-offs, and racketeering). I think not. The line has to be drawn somewhere: thus as Lincoln goes, so goes the nation.
For Mr. Fields I do not begrudge him his place, nor honor, nor education, even his experience at Mazda. I do however question placing the fate of the entire Ford Motor Empire in the hands of just 50 people to decide the 'Way Forward Plan', its parameters and end-results dependent upon so narrow a view. These are not Earnest Breech's Wiz Kids, and it is not 1945. Ford is in no where near as much harm as it was in 1945, but the parallels can be drawn. It is the current management that has brought Ford down from its traditional market-share in America to the Nadir now facing the company. And that this public voice speaks, if for nothing else, to speak for the generations of my family that have worked 'Over to Fords', and the pathos of my Grandfather who worked for Mr. Leland. I have no more greater right than anyone else to venture forth with ideas. But Mr. Fields should not, like Mr. Ford fall prey to believing that his own point of view is 'correct' only because they thought of it. Due consideration of options, plans, points of view are necessary in any great company to successfully proceed. Once adopted, to proceed at will. But I do not see that happening, with errant closures, delays, no ameliaration nor consideration for a longstanding loyal workforce in the best of factories. I speak from my own opinion, but also kindred spirits of many who wish a speedy revival of Lincoln and Continental.
More than just the fate of a marque, or product is at stake. Make no doubt about that. It is about doing the best, building, designing, putting forth the best efforts to raise the bar, and to make something with which the hands that created it can point with pride. (It is not for nothing that a stained glass window the former Rolls-Royce Crewe factory is dedicated to the RAF Pilots in the Battle of Britain inscribed: "They turned the work of our hands into the salvation of our nation.") Without which, this world will be a lessor place, homoginized, with little or no individuality or spirit to speak for what we have done. Who would want to be a designer, or engineer knowing that the best can never be done because it is not economically feasible? Why bother then? This is my challenge to you, Mr. Fields.
Yes, MR. Fields, you have less now than a year left to make amends, and leave your own marque, or rather: 'Mark'.
Comments
But the Town Car isn't much better. What prevents Ford from giving it a more current body style while they ponder what they really want to do with the Lincoln division? The 117" wheelbase is a good start for a better proportion than what it has now.
If you think thats bad there is a stretched Hummer running around here. :confuse:
I have a friend that has a '38 Lincoln KB that we used for the daughters wedding. :shades:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
There is a simple solution to eliminating the horrid dauchtsund-like Town Car stretch jobs: simply withdraw the warranties from any car converted beyond a certain factory approved and tested limit. Ferrari does that, and even wrote a letter to the owner of a Testerossa Convertible (a Fiat Executive!) telling him the non-factory converted car was "no longer a Ferrari, or sanctioned by Ferrari S.A.". There is certainly a market for the custom Limousine...just not the silly extremes allowed by fiberglass conversions. Someone, of course, has to have bad taste, so there is no preventing it. Yet Ford Motor and Lincoln can do something to protect themselves against extreme uses of their products.
Ghia-Imperial hand-built 132 Limousines between 1957 and 1965, yet their impact and impression remains a lasting one...as even I rode in former Governor (and later Vice President) Nelson Rockefeller's 1960 Ghia Limousine in 1965, an experience which I have never forgotten. Chrysler, in fact, is considering the revival of these cars with Imperial, a fact hinted at by Tom La Sorda in a recent interview in Automotive News. One reason why the 300 LWB was created, providing a platform from which Imperial can be based, with Pininfarina stepping into the role of Ghia.
One more reason why the Lincoln Town Car can't be relegated to the ash heep of history. 50% of all new Bentley Arnage and 60% of all Rolls-Royce sold have special customer features requested, special requests something that Cadillac and Imperial will do if they get back into the limousine trades once TC is discontinued. While I heartily dislike the four and five feet added to a car to 'make-it-into' a limousine or 'rolling bordello', the Town Car L is a nice package; something Lincoln should have offered begining with the 1969 Town Car interior trim package! (Lehmann-Petersen did build two 8" stretch sedans in 1967, but the cost was the same as the regular 34" stretch, and no "short" versions were subsequently sold.) Eliminate the Town Car, the TC-L, and you hand an even larger market share to your competitors, garanteeing that Imperial and Cadillac, along with Lexus will surge ahead.
DouglasR
(Sources: 'Chrysler & Imperial, the Post-war Years,' Richard Langworth, Motorbooks, 1976; 'Lincoln & Continental', Marvin Arnold, Taylor Publishing 1989; 'Edsel Ford & E.T. Gregorie', Henry Dominguez, SAE Publishing, 1999)
With only 369 days left for Wixom, and the fate of a RWD Town Car replacement, or a unique factory from which to build Lincoln, Mr. Fields 'charge' to his Design Staff may yet gain time for other choices about Lincoln to be made. Just as our esteemed citizens dumped overtaxed Tea into Boston Harbor---rebelling against oppressive taxation, one can well image a "Designer's Tea Party" a.k.a. 'Detroit Clay Fight' within the halls of the two design studios at Ford Motor and Irvine California.... Rather it ought to be called "The Wixom Clay Fight" (WCF) being that the fate of Lincoln rides upon the outcome. I can just imagine the hair on the back of Mr. J. Mays' kneck standing up if Mr. Fields told him: "This isn't far reaching enough...". Or WE could surmise the scene the other way round: "Mr. Fields, what you want us to do will kill the company...let us do our work, let us show what we can do...these package plans you give us leave us no leeway..." Either way the battle is brewing within the halls of Detroit, Dearborn, and the studios in California. The "clay models" being pitched into the trashbins, and files "deleted", and plenty of midnight oil burnt in the days ahead.
Around June 10-15, 2007 when the last Town Car rolls out of Wixom, we can only hope that the 'WCF' will have yeilded some positive results, and Mr. Mays, and Horbury win the day, along with Freeman Thomas, and unveiling within the site of a new Lincoln factory, a new car to be built under its soaring new steel girders.
The Ford dealers can fight over their Shelby allocations, but what will the Lincoln dealer do? 45% of 300 buyers opt for the Hemi, where is the performance model for Lincoln?? The idea of the 'Hot Rod' Lincoln, based on a song still popular---written by Charlie Ryan in 1953 while returning home during a high speed drive from Lewiston, Idaho in his 1941 Zephyr V12!---hasn't died after 53 years! Imperial will most certainly trump its competitors in this respect... The Shelby's have returned to Ford, but where is the spirit of Mr. Ryan at Lincoln?
It's now up to The Designers, who for now, have the high cards...and notes to play. Between now and '07, it's going to be one raucus "WCF" in Dearborn. Mr. Ryan, who turned 90 last December, whose song "Hot Rod Lincoln" has been played more than a million times, could write a song or two about Lincoln...even today!
DouglasR
(Sources: Car Design News; Automotive News; Ford Motor Company; 'Hot Rod Lincoln', by Charlie & Ruthie Ryan Co. 1953)
They're not still building full-size clay mockups, are they? I would hope the putty knives had been sent out to pasture before now.
I doubt there is any other auto company on earth that is selling as many ancient designs. You'd think they'd have the sense to be embarrassed about it. With Lincoln alone, you have the hoary old Town Car and now the 2007 Navigator update that is still using the 1998 body shell.
Across the company, it is much worse. Ford will be selling a 2007 Ranger that has had many updates, but still is clothed in a 1993 body. The Crown Victoria has had the same body since 1991, and in reality goes back to 1979. Ditto for the Grand Marquis. The Taurus is still in production, largely unchanged from 1996. The Freestar is an updated Windstar and still uses the same body shell introduced in 1994 (and it wasn't well done even then). The Explorer still has aspects of its body design that go back to its 1990 introduction. The Focus has been badly neglected the past few years for a car that won so many accolades.
When will this company learn that a critically acclaimed model needs constant attention to stay on top? Ford and Mercury and Lincoln will never get respect as world class until there is a commitment to keep ahead of the curve.
The main problem with the Imperial is that Chrysler just never had the resources to adequately diffentiate it from the Chrysler New Yorker. The one truly good year that the Imperial had was 1957. That year they hit an all-time high, of about 37,000 units. That put them ahead of Lincoln, to be the #2 domestic luxury maker, although they were still a long way from Cadillac.
The '57 Imperial was radically different from a 1957 Chrysler, whereas the '55-56 Imperial had just been a stretched Chrysler with a 300 grille...beautiful looking car, but just not "special" enough. The one shortcoming of the Imperial, however, was its engine. It used a 350 hp 392-4bbl Hemi. Great engine, but it was the same engine used in the New Yorker, a car that cost considerably less, weighed a good 500-600 lb less, and would run circles around it.
I think the Imperial did outsell Lincoln again in 1958, by a small margin. However, Lincoln came out with a beautiful new body for 1961, and from then on I don't think the Imperial was a serious threat to it. The Imperial remained fairly unique through 1966, but that's because it stayed on the old 1957 platform. Meanwhile, the New Yorker was redesigned for 1960, had a major restyle for 1963, and another all-new design for 1965. By this time they were still using the same engines, a 413 wedge in this case, but now the Imperial had bulked up to about 1000 lb more than the NYer. And for 1966, IIRC, you could get a 440 in the NYer, but the Imperial was stuck with the 413!
For '67 the Imperial went to a stretched version of the New Yorker platform, and lost some status. It lost a bit more in '69, when the full-sized Mopar were redesigned again. It was a good looking car, with it hidden headlights and clean, if heavy styling, but it wasn't that vastly different from a New Yorker. In contrast, not too many people in 1969 were mistaking Cadillacs for Buicks!
By 1974-75, all the Imperial was was a New Yorker with hidden headlights and a nicer standard interior. Same wheelbase, length, etc. And for '76-78 what had been the Imperial BECAME the New Yorker!
I think those 1981-83 Imperials would have done better if it had not been for two problems. First, Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy back then, and everybody knew about it. That hurt their reputation in general, but I think it hurt the high end more, as luxury car buyers are more image conscious, and didn't want to get stuck with a loser. Second, 1981-83 were three of the bleakest years in Detroit's history. We were in a full-blown recession, gasoline was both expensive and scarce, and the automakers were struggling to make the cars more fuel efficient and emissions friendly. It was definitely NOT a good time to field a new luxury car!
Just taken on their own merits, an '81-83 Imperial was definitely the equal to an Eldorado or Mark VI. However, nobody was expecting GM or Ford to go out of business. Although Ford was closer to it than many people realize. FWIW, the '81-83 Imperial came standard with a 140 hp fuel injected 318. No 6-cyl was ever offered. The fuel injection was troublesome though, and many of them were converted to 2-bbl setups, which is a shame because the fuel injected models actually were fairly fuel efficient and reasonable performers for the time.
Those K-car Imperials really were in insult to the name, though.
Today, I could actually see a place for the Imperial. I look at the Chrysler 300 to be more of a contender for something like a Ford 500, Buick LeSabre/Lucerne, etc. I don't really see it as a luxury car. If this was the 50's, today's 300 would be more along the lines of a Mercury, Olds, cheaper Buick, DeSoto, or maybe a Chrysler Windsor or Saratoga. But it's not in the league of something like a Caddy, Imperial, Lincoln, Roadmaster, or New Yorker.
But in 1957 Lincoln built 41,567 cars, including Mark II whereas Imperial built 37,557 cars including the Ghia Crown Imperial limousines. In 1958 when Lincoln went "hollywood" with the Najjar styling of radical nature, sales dropped with the economic down-turn of the time to 29,684 Lincolns. Imperial suffered too, to 16,102 in 1958. In terms of 'registrations' in 1957 Lincoln talleyed 37,298 calender year sales, versus 33,017 for Imperial. In 1958 the situation changed, 26,605 for Lincoln against 14,823 for Imperial. Chrysler as a company was #2 after 1945 when Ford Motor was in near ruin before its revival by Henry Ford II and Earnest Breech.
As a rule Lincoln has always outsold Imperial. Important to consider is the production capacity of the companies, with Lincoln able to build more cars than Imperial, and Cadillac outpacing them all. Packard died in part because they could not meet demand for their cars in 1954-55 when they shifted production to Connor Avenue from East Grand Bouldevard, and lost sales to Lincoln, Cadillac, and Imperial.
Lincoln finally surpassed Cadillac only to lose that crown because they have not invested in their products. Imperial is coming back precisely because they have not only the technology available to re-enter that market, but expanding production capacity to meet the demand that will be created by Lincoln's departure from that market. Mr. Field's is making it so much easier for Mr. La Sorda to put Imperial into production. Mr. Lutz can only be pleased because it will further his plans for Cadillac. There is nothing wrong with producing a given platform for a long time, but it has to be upgraded consistently to stay with the marketplace. Just look at what Bentley has done with Arnage since 1998.
WCF: designers today use a three dimensional imaging system a program CAD/CAM called ICEM/Surf among others to make their basic designs. VWAG has a virtual modelling system where they can create an image on a screen that looks finished. At some point the clay model has to be built, because, as Bill Mitchell once told his design staff: "You can't drive a computer..." The modern computer systems have merely shortened the build time, and eliminate overlap and mistakes, but it takes the three dimensional model to see the design.
DouglasR
Sources: 'Chrysler & Imperial, The Post War Years, Richard M. Langworth, Motorbooks International 1976; 'The Lincoln Motorcar, Sixty Years of Excellence,' Thomas Bonsall, Bookman Publishing, 1981
If Continental sales are not included with Lincoln totals for 1957 and 1958, it is plausible that Imperial did beat Lincoln during those years. Combine Continental and Lincoln sales, and Ford Motor Company outsells Chrysler Corporation in the luxury segment.
While Ford may have beat Chrysler in luxury car sales, for 1957 and 1958 (and through the 1960 model year), the Imperial was the better car.
Interestingly, when Lincoln introduced its luxury coupe in early 1968, it named it Continental Mark III, which ignored the 1958 Continental Mark III. According to legend, Henry Ford II held that the Marks of the late 1950s were not worthy of the name, so they were conveniently ignored when it came time to name the new model.
The 1968-71 Continental Mark III was the first Lincoln that outsold its direct Cadillac competitor, and laid the groundwork for the marque's sales successes during the 1970s.
At this weekend's Ford Nationals in Carlisle, the company had several new cars on display, including a new Zephyr and Fusion. The fit of the Zephyr's hood was actually WORSE than that of the Fusion's hood, and the chromed beltline trim on the Zephyr looked cheesy when compared to that of the Fusion.
To paraphrase the most famous quote made by a recently departed United States Senator from Texas: "Mr. Ford, I knew Lincoln, and the new Zephyr is no Lincoln."
For 1957 Continental Division sold 439 Mark II's for the calender year, and built 572 cars for the 'model' year (C56L3418 to the last car, C56T3989 built May 13, 1957). For the calender year, in 1955 Mark II production talleyed 1,257 cars, 1956: 1,316 cars, and the final 439 cars in 1957, making a total of 3,012 production models.
The first year of Wixom Production, which opened weeks after Continental Division stopped production on the Mark II, 'Continental Mark III' labelled cars talleyed 12,550, leaving the balance of 17,134 cars labelled 'Lincoln'---just barely edging out Imperial's Crown's 16,102. Calender year production shows 37,946 for Imperial (a 300% jump from 1956: 12,130) in 1957; in 1958 the total is: 13,673. Imperial broke up their production between three models, Imperial, Imperial Crown & LeBaron, and model year production talleyed 16,102 for 1958.
There's NO question that the 1958-59 Lincoln and Continentals built at Wixom from the outset had a great deal of problems, given that it was a new car in a new factory which had been rushed into production. That resulted in numerous design changes in almost every major component of the car from the begining---for example: early '58 exhaust manifold bolts thread into the water jacket of the cylinder head, so removing the manifold requires draining the radiator; subsequent engines had different cylinder heads and the problem was rectified! Having worked on many of them I am well aware of their shortcomings, especially the wiring harness and arrangement in the car. Brake technology had also not been adjusted to compensate for the increasing weight of the unibody Lincolns. "Ok" when new, but you take great risk driving a 1958-60 Lincoln without changing the treadle-vac to a more modern booster and master cylinder arrangement. The disc brake system tested by Lincoln in the late fifties never made it into production until a decade later! By 1960 Lincoln had drastically improved any faults of the car, and in Hess & Eisenhardt Town Sedan or Limo form make an interesting car to drive. You have to REALLY like them to own a convertible. A properly restored or cared for '58-'60 Lincoln is still a flamboyant an unforgettable driving experience---having driven one overseas in Europe I can attest to that.
Yes, Imperial was no doubt the better car between 1957-1960, exclusive of the Mark II, especially if you consider the Ghia Limousine, for which even Cadillac had to admit had a panache they did not. One more reason why they had built Eldorado Brougham, and the subsequent PininFarina Bodied Sedans. (Which, entirely aside, having driven an original unrestored 1959 example were fabulous...including the automatic retracting side rear quarter-lite windows when you opened the rear door...!) GM really did worry about Mr. Exner. All you have to do is read concurrent road tests of the cars, and also some of the GM designer's recollections of the time to see Imperial had one of its 'finest hours' in the late 1950's.
By 1961 the baseline Imperial was $4,925, and Lincoln-Continental was $6,063, and Lincoln-Continental sales shot upwards threefold over the last of the big 1960 Najjar designed Lincolns. If you have ever seen a picture of the John Oras designed 1961 Lincoln to-be from the Ford studio---NO ONE would have bought it---Imperial would have beaten Lincoln soundly, and Mr. McNamara made good on his threat to "cancel Lincoln".
Potentially poor build quality of current Zephyr's is not unsurprising, given that it is merely a 'shift car', built alongside the next Mercury or Ford coming down the line, and that a third shift has been added to the Hermisilio plant to cope with demand. Zephyr sales have been off the charts, or at-least, beyond their expectations. Quality issues no doubt attended to in a hurry by Lincoln just as quickly as they want to change the name of the car! But as a harbinger of what is to come, it is indeed a place to start, but will not carry the day for Lincoln.
For that, after the denouement of the "WCF" in Dearborn, what remains of Lincoln or Continental design becomes paramount. One could easily surmise that Mr. Field's bromide to the designers is in part because the fate of Lincoln IS undecided. Perhaps the Senior William Clay Ford was not wrong afterall: Continental might indeed need to become a separate entity from Lincoln once again---being that the brand image of Lincoln needs a lot of polishing about now. Either way, unless Ford Motor brought Continental into an exclusive range, Lincoln still needs its own factory. It won't survive as the 'late-nite-lady at Hermisilio or Chicago on its own.
DouglasR
(Sources: 'Production Figure Book for U.S. Cars', Jerry Heasley, Motorbooks/1977)
The other Five Hundred-based Lincoln, code-named D385, is on track to go on sale in 2008. It is the production version of the Lincoln MKS concept shown at this year's Detroit auto show.
The above appears in the following 6/05/06 article;
http://tinyurl.com/nbnbq
That's a generalization that won't fly. GM and even Toyota are doing the same, they just do it better. The Camry under the skin was designed in 1990, and produced starting in 94 for the 95 model year, and it's been thoroughly updated since, but so have the Panther cars, the Ranger, etc. Check out GM's cars. Many of those are the same, and then there's that 3800 V-6 power plant that started life in 1975, the transmission that started life in 1979. No different.
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the Zephyr, by any other name. But this is just another example of why this car is not worthy of the Lincoln name that I have owned, and revered of the past.
The Ranger is an obsolete embarassment. It's a tuned up 1982. Shame on them.
The Crown Victoria is using a 15 year old body on a 1979 platform - Can you name another car using 15 year old sheetmetal?
The Expedition, and Navigator were basically all new in 2003, but with a old body on them to hide that fact- that's just bizarre. Same with the Sport trac.
By the way, that 3.8 GM V-6 started it's life in about 1962. And the Camry platform you mentioned came out in 1996, That's very different than 1979.
Interestingly, it was Robert McNamara who told designers to use a blue-sky styling study for the 1961 Thunderbird as the basis for the next Lincoln. Elwood Engel's Thunderbird design was adapted to a sedan bodystyle, and Lincoln had its classic 1961 model...which was a hit, and ended up establishing the design continuity that Bordinat wanted!
Overnight Cadillac and Imperial looked dated and "overdone." It can honestly be said that, when it came to automobiles, the 1961 Lincoln ushered in the 1960s by making a complete break from the fins, spears and indiscriminate use of chrome that characterized 1950s American cars in general and GM cars in particular.
McNamara wanted to kill Lincoln after the 1958 debacle, but he gave it one last chance with the 1961 models. I wonder, however, if the Ford family would have let him kill Lincoln. Remember that prior to World War II Lincoln had been Edsel Ford's baby. There had to be some sentiment for the brand on behalf of the family.
If only a 21st century Lincoln had that level of class, sophistication and distinction! The 1961-63 Lincolns (with the curved side glass and shorter wheelbase - the 1964 changes didn't ruin the car completely, but they did take it down slightly) are some of the best-looking sedans and convertibles ever built.
I love the Fusion. It makes an excellent Ford. It does not, however, make an excellent Lincoln.
Mr. Field's bromide to his design staff is not unlike what Robert McNamara did for Lincoln: "I'll cancel Lincoln..." he told them; "You wouldn't really do that...? was the retort. McNamara had worked for the Strategic Bombing Survey under Gen. Curtis LeMay during WWII and knew all too well how to pick a target, his threat was very real. As GRB points out the John Oras designed 1961 Lincoln-to-be from the Ford studio was a car NO ONE would have bought...
The famous basement 'stiletto-studio', or "E" studio (so named because it was by the elevator!) held room for one car---which at the time was a T-Bird proposal. McNamara's late nite walk-through in June 1958 and subsequent approval turned it into a four-door Continental for preview to executives the week of July 27, 1958. Bob Thomas, Elwood Engle, John Orf, and Gene Bordinat put in a lot of midnight oil to get the car ready for preview. When you look at photos of the full clay, they had been finished only 12 hours before the pictures were taken! The '61 was a smash hit...and made money for Lincoln, achieving what Mr. McNamara set out for the marque.
The average age of Lincoln buyers before the LS was somewhere around 62, after it dropped to 52!, and Zephyr might lower it still to 42! But where will buyers go after the Zephyr? Without proper chassis and upscale products at Lincoln...Zephyr will just create customers for GM, BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, if not Imperial. It is only an entry level car, and is built like it.
Mr. Field's tactic may yet well work for Lincoln...in a backhanded manner. By causing consternation and delay between the designers and engineers, he is indeed buying more time to sort out Lincoln, and potentialy reverse his disasterous decision to piggyback Lincoln production at Ford assembly plants. His rejoinder to this might be that Wixom assembled T-Bird's and Lincoln's from 1958-1976 so what is the difference? However, he forgets that the T-Bird was really a mini-Lincoln as a result of that association, in terms of design and quality, far above the average Ford. Wixom built Lincoln exclusively until the return of T-Bird and the addition of GT-40 after 1976. It was only then that Harbour & Associates began to rank Wixom as one of the most efficient and high quality plants in America. Something Mr. Wagoner boasted about yesterday at the GM Annual General Stockholders Meeting in Wilmington...that GM had 5 of the 10 most productive plants in North America according to Harbour awards, and those plants would not close. Wixom was one of the remaining five....
Plant & Product are tied together...something Lincoln drastically needs. Ford Motor has the cash on hand for both, with $25Bn in hand, and another $35Bn credit available. The new plant would cost $300Mn, a heritage museum $65Mn (the two items necessary for PR effect, and to quell rumors of Lincoln's demise), shifting TC production $65Mn to the new plant, and a new platform: $1.2-5Bn---not even 10% of Ford's cash on hand. Mr. Ford and Mr. Fields can argue all day long about plant flexibility, health care and materials costs, but without genuine Lincolns to build in them, they might as well turn out the lights. By piggybacking Lincoln design onto generic Ford chassis as they have done with Zephyr, no matter how good the results might be, they are repeating what Studebaker did with Packard in 1957. The public did not buy that then, nor did they accept the Versailles---the modern equivalent of the same---and they will not now. Not at $45K plus.
Surely with the design talent of J. Mays, Freeman Thomas, and Mr. Horbury, somewhere in the Ford Motor Empire between Irvine California, Dearborn, and London, is an "E" studio worthy of the Lincoln name. Nothing wrong with a fresh approach as the '61 proved. Yet the Mark II layed the groundwork for that car... Perhaps that is what the Mk S is supposed to be all about... (Though I don't see that, and think they are copying Cadillac by doing so.) Yet without unique designs to Lincoln, and a factory to build it in, the future for Lincoln looks very grim indeed.
"You S-B, you're lucky you don't have to pay for all this overtime." Elwood Engle barked at Bob Thomas when they worked all nite to finish the '61 Lincoln clay model for presentation the next morning. That is what Lincoln needs now...a lot of high grade midnight oil...NO swearing required (I'm doing enough of it for them!). The Aston DBS was done in a month, the four-door in six, from a drawing to a driving car. So it's not impossible to save Lincoln now,
...368 days & counting.
DouglasR
(Sources: "Confessions of a Car Designer' Robert Thomas, Independently Published 1977; Car Design News; Automotive News; Autoweek; Edmunds-Online; DouglasR interview with Robert McNamara 1978; Strategic Bombing Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1945)
Would Edsel Ford have told Bob Gregorie in 1939 he wanted the best "ash-tray" in the industry? It would have been better if Zephry had won the award for 'best ergonomic interior'...
My cup runneth over...
DouglasR
Source: Automotive News, Wards Auto Reports, FT
You cannot expect anything new any time soon. The 500 based replacement was set for the 09 model year, but now that has been cancelled. Back to the drawing board. And further delays.
You'd think it would occur to them to at least re-skin the present car in the interim. Doesn't look like it will happen. And what is Lincoln without a traditional large sedan in its line-up? Getting close to burnt toast, I'd say.
Let us prey that the 500Bhp V8 in the Shelby GT finds its detuned (slightly to 499Bhp) into a special Lincoln Coupe, a revived "Capri".
Let us prey that Lincoln becomes a car that independent companies want to 'hot-rod' like AMG has done for Mercedes-Benz. AMG having taken over the slot at the top of the M-B pyramid occuppied now by Maybach!!
Let us prey that the next 'performance luxury Lincoln' can go toe to toe with Cadillac V at Nurburgring.
Let us prey that Lincoln has the where-with-all to introduce special performance and/or luxury versions separately labelled from the common platform to enhance their position, i.e. the 'Pan-America' or 'Road-Race' Lincoln; "Town Brougham"; "Deitrich" or "Lehmann-Petersen" etc. to counter what will surely come from Imperial---which will have its 6.4Litre 505Bhp SRT8 motor and a "Pininfarina" LWB edition.
Let us prey that Lincoln is given its own "team" of designers, engineers, managers, accountants, etc., separating it from the chaf at Ford Division, so that it might run and breathe free like the greyhounds that once graced the Model L Radiator. And that Lincoln advertising be given the same verve and dash it once had when the greyhound was new. As GM shifts back to its once formidable business management method established by Alfred Sloan, Mr. Fields should field his own teams.
Let us prey that amongst the parts bins of the Ford Motor Empire, that at least one group of men and women be given the pervue to create a new Lincoln, able to set its own tone within our times, just as L did when new, Zephyr for its time, Capri & Mark II...Continental & Mark III in theirs---the Mark S being but a short stepping stone...the production version of which should not render the "S" to mean "Sufficent".
Let us prey that upon the open fields somewhere within the realm of Ford Motor be given a fresh spade to turn over this earth yielding a new structure from which these ideas will come forth...setting free the ghosts of the greyhounds running yet again. William Clay's pennance be paid in morter and stone, the clank of a new Lincoln producion line rolling over to assauge what his Granfather tried but could never achieve. Lincoln may yet inspire the loyalty of those who know it best, but for Mr. Fields it is what he appears not to be aware of that gives us pause.
DouglasR
I do enjoy your passionate posts, but, in a way they are a bit pathetic. You are hoping for something that will not ever happen and need to move on with your life.
They remind me of someone who's obsessed with making their former girlfriend love them once again. Guess what? She moved away and is engaged to someone else and now you're just scaring her. Sitting around reading old Valentines ("but you said right here that you'd always love me...") isn't going to change that.
That stuff is no more relevant than stories about Montgomery Ward's past successes, or some middle-aged fat guy who breaks out pictures of his high school football glory days every time you see him. "Remember my pass in 1979 against Central High? That was great, wasn't it"?
Maybe it's sad that what Lincoln today doesn't match where they were apparently headed 60 years ago.
They have moved on, you need to also.
Lincoln is going to be fancy-Ford, or Mexican-Mazda Deluxe. Or Yamaha-Volvo.
If you don't like that, they don't care. Buy a Jaguar.
They have no loyalty to you, or what you think, or what could have been, but never will be.
Of course, given enough years and the junking of enough vehicles, even the Checker and the VW Beetle garner some attention again. But not like the original Zephyr, or a pristine "Mark I," or a 1967 Continental 4 door convertible, or a 1969 Mark III, or even a Mark VII LSC.
BTW, Douglas, I know I can be dumb and slow, but what did you intend to convey by using the word prey in place of pray?
But let there be no doubt: I fully expect, that when the last Town Car rolls out of Wixom, 367 days from now, that with it will come a spate of press reports about the "glory days" of Detroit, the use of Lincoln by Presidents, the whole history of Continental will be recounted. At the "wake" for Lincoln, nonsense about the superiority of foreign designs, construction and production will be further spouted by the press. But Ford Motor will have encouraged this point of view by closing Wixom, and not building a new car or factory.
Lincoln will, indeed, go the way of Packard. Mr. Fields and Mr. Ford seem to have ensured that reality will come to pass. And worse still, they seem not to care, imperivous to the collective effect of their actions. I fully expect such incompetence to be justified by soothing words about "market-shift", "global economic conditions", and replaced by new "innovations" at Ford, etc, etc. Yes, you are probably correct that Lincoln will be marginalised into a Mazda platform, and Volvoised. Yes, you are probably right that its glory days are past and a will o' the wisp to beleive it can be saved. No doubt that as Lincoln fades from view, many of the L-M dealers will switch to competitors' products to stay in business, if the price of the real-estate under their lots has not already pushed them out of the auto business altogether. Nor would I doubt that a screaming match in Dearborn has already come to pass: "Why don't we just kill it now, since we haven't the funds to develop it?"
No...when the end comes for Lincoln, which seems to be approaching, it is only my fervent hope that what-could-have-been was brought forth to the public eye. I shed no tears for William C. Ford Jr. if he presides over the destruction of Ford Motor Company in the marketplace---as author Douglas Brinkley has pointed out might happen---had he not wanted the job, he should have acceeded to Edsel Ford II. I firmly believe that what is happening at Lincoln represents a case study for the fate of American Manufacturing in general.
No...we will all still be here the day after when Lincoln is but a distant memory, and the last spade of dirt thrown upon its grave. Affecting us in the same fashion as the end of Packard, Duesenberg, Marmon, Pierce-Arrow, etc. Lexus and other firms will take their place within the market. Yet when you want to get a job with a 'home team' company, the choices will be narrowed, the decisions affecting their fates, and yours, made far from our shores. And in the end, one asks: "What does that matter?"
DouglasR
PS: yes, indeed, haste on my part: pray indeed! But it is the competition that is doing the 'preying'!
Without TC, what will the dealers sell for Lincoln? Trucks and Zephyrs while they wait.... But how long can the customers wait? In this market? With Mr. Watanabe & Mr. Press of Toyota & Lexus standing right behind them? Not to mention Mr. Zetsche and Lutz? Without an inside line to what is coming...I would be awfully nervous if I held an L-M franchise.
DouglasR
"Oldsmobuicks" back in the day.....
Zephyr just won "Best Interior of the Year" Award from Ward's Automotive. 06-12-06
"This award emphasizes how we are changing the game at Lincoln, building world class interiors...that Lincoln is known for." Mr. Peter Horbury is quoted by Ward's and Automotive News, and Ford Motor Company. "The Zephyr was up against some very reputable competition and this honor is a telling sign of the levels of details we're pouring into our interiors across the line-up." He added.
"You're playing a very dangerous game, Mr. Bond," Auric Goldfinger tells James Bond in the infamous scene in the film "Goldfinger." So is Mr. Horbury...increasing the levels of trim on shared platforms, all a welcome sign, but what is in store for the bigger Lincolns? Raising the ante? We can only hope that his encouraging comments, about 'changing the game' are more telling than they reveal.
But no doubt about it: Hat's Off & Score One for Lincoln, and Mr. Horbury's Hopefuls. Let us hope that the next Lincoln show car is painted 'gold'...smuggling under the noses of the prattling executives something bold for Lincoln. We can hear Mr. Horbury's words when he reads the bromides of this public: "What to you expect me to do...?"
"Design it" Mr. Horbury: "Design it"
DouglasR
PS: 365 Days & Counting
(Sources: Ford Motor Company; Edmund's Inside Line; Ward's Automotive, Automotive News)
It came with painted trim, rather than chrome. I had the grill and most of the other painted trim re-painted body color (black), so with the gray leather and real wood trim (rare in that era) it looked pretty sharp. In fact, speaking of the wood trim, they installed one of the fake wood window control surrounds by mistake on one of the doors and it stood out like a sore thumb until they replaced it. Then the console wood trim cracked and they replaced it under warranty to the tune of $700--a lot in 1991. And of course it no longer matched the rest.
At 29,000 miles I traded it off for my first Mazda Millenia (I still have my second one). Parked it by a Zephyr the other day. The Z looked alright by comparison, but hardly looked six years newer.
Sure wish Lincoln had given it a less generic look. I'm hoping the MKS will be a looker in the actual metal. However, if I were to buy an American car again, I'd like it to be closer to the ES350/MKZ/CTS/Lincoln LS/A6/E Class in size. The MKS at 203 inches seems a bit long and bulbous for a 114 inch wheelbase. The Chrysler 300 is half a foot shorterthan the proposed MKS, and most people don't consider the 300 a small car.
I so AGREE!! The trademark of Lincoln for years was that big Rolls Royce style waterfall grille....and it sold cars! Now, they've even done away with that, making me NOT want an 07 Navigator because of the horrendous front end treatment. I can't imagine the Focus Groups liking that. And the Zephyr is just so damn generic......
But that's what you get when you do a small car...they're hard to make special.
Jaguar is doing the same for its XKR 2007 Coupe. But where is Lincoln? MkS has been shown, but what of its production varient? Where is Lincoln teasing the public with what is to replace the Town Car? Since they've chosen to axe Wixom, and Lincoln will have no 'home' after that...how is it that the premium label in America gets such short shrift from Detroit, when Jaguar presses onwards? There's no doubting Ford Motor's attention to the cat, as they even maintain a 'Nurburgring Test Center' (JNTC) for Jaguar, and no doubt sneak other Ford Motor products through the door. Where is, however, that same level of commitment to Lincoln as at Jaguar? Replete with Jaguar signage, the JNTC makes a bold public statement to that commitment, as does the Aston-Martin signage adorning its various plants, including its engine plant in Koln, Germany. Ford Motor does not do that for Lincoln. You can now rent a Shelby GT at Hertz...rolling back 40 years of history, why then nothing for Lincoln?
If ever there was an example of reliving the 'glory days', or 'games past' both the renascent Shelby's and the GT-40 Ford's represent the same ethos. I wouldn't want Lincoln to recreate the 1960's cars whole cloth...with their inadequate front drum brakes between 1961-64, single master cylinders on disc brakes between 1965-66, and accessories that didn't last as long as the car, and overly heavy weight balance at the front wheels between 1961-1968.5. Nor would I want them to recreate the Lincoln Town Car's of the 1970's that had marginal road-holding at best (Though Collector's Series always beat all the others for chassis balance and handling!) despite an excellent straight line ride. Ford Motor did not do that for Ford GT nor Mustang, so I wouldn't expect them to do the same for a new Lincoln that was truly competitive and engendering its great past. No different a desire than any Green Bay fan wishing to return to the Super Bowl after its spate of victories under Lombardi. Bill Ford and Mr. Fields should take to the pavement in the best that Lincoln and Continental had to offer from the past, flog them about the old Packard proving ground they now own, get out and tell themselves: "Where going to do it better..."
Remarkably Crewe, even before the billions invested by BMW AG, often bested its worldwide competitors, relying on its small workforce of 5,500 people and a miniscule engineering staff headed by Harry Grylls and Fritz Feller. Today the quaint olde English methods are replaced by the keen efficiencies of BMW AG all while preserving the ethos of Rolls-Royce. Yet the 550 people at Goodwood and the still small engineering staff at Rolls-Royce headed by Mr. Robertson and backed by BMW produce something that Ford Motor, with ten times the staff available, should be able to do for Lincoln: Build the best car, except that it should also be here in America too---one seventh the price of a Phantom. The perfect Lincoln at $50K, with hot editions priced above that.
The Mk S...may well succeed below that point, and Mr. Horbury pleased about his interiors for the Zephyr. Yet if Mr. Robertson can tip his hand, showing his cards for the few people able to afford cars the prices of condos in New York City, a nice flat in London, or a country house almost anywhere in America, then where is the tipping hand at Lincoln? Where is the leader of Lincoln?
Ohh, but I forgot, there will be no home for Lincoln from which to gather the forces, to array the engineers, stylists, test people and QC staffs, no where from which the ethos of Lincoln will be preserved other than car number #116 of 350 rotating down the second shift in Chicago. Ohh, but I forgot too, such notions as loyalty to a product or a brand, or even a company are quaint, and old fashioned, nothing at all like hanging onto a team for decades waiting for them to win again. Yes, by the time I go rent my Hertz Shelby Mustang, there won't be any big Lincolns left to rent---will there?
Lincoln could, of course, stuff a Shelby engine under the hood of a new Lincoln chassis---scaring the day-lites out of the big money comeptitors as Mr. Robertson at Rolls-Royce and Dr. Paefgen at Bentley---running a 450Bhp plus Lincoln...and they could, of course, tease us with that. But that would be dreaming wouldn't it?
DouglasR
(Sources: Rolls-Royce Motors Ltd, CAR Magazine, Edmunds Online)
Lincoln hasn't really had a champion since Edsel, has it?
And it's true, Lincoln hasn't had much of a champion since Edsel. Iacocca was briefly interested in L/M in the late 60's and early 70's, when the Cougar and Mark III were invented. That's back when Mercury was the "Man's Car".... You can't do that today, and with Elena in charge of Mercury (I can just hear Bill. "Give her Mercury to mess with - not much damage she can do there") it's not the Man's car, for sure.
Oh, wait, that describes me
Yup! That's how I see it too.....with a degree in Marketing, right? Damn, you guys are smart!!
And minimize the other guys
Whose enterprise has made them rise
Above the guys that criticize."
As for the redoubtable Mr. Fields, his education and career impressive: its what got him the job in the first place, I for one being only envious that I am not in his shoes. Wouldn't mind having a lunch with him when he comes to the National Press Club someday. I would 'press' him indeed. We are the 'second voice', with respect to Lincoln he has no chance to hear unless the words and deeds are spoken and done. We are the loyal public who have, as in my case, driven Lincoln for 32 years. We remain potential customers if only they would build the great cars again, and the better ones still. Zephyr is a begining, but barely so. Each generation puts its imprimature upon the marque, and MR. Fields and Mays are trying to do the same with Mr. Horbury for Lincoln. I raise the greater outside issues of where will these cars be built and by whom? Who will decide its design, and impress upon the workers the nature of the quality demanded. What is more 'American' than having cars named both for the Great Emancipator, and the founder of Detroit? Companies founded by the same person(s)? Would we want to cast aside decades of tradition for the latest fashion? And settle for an upmarket Hyundai (whose Chairman is in jail for bribery, slush funds pay-offs, and racketeering). I think not. The line has to be drawn somewhere: thus as Lincoln goes, so goes the nation.
For Mr. Fields I do not begrudge him his place, nor honor, nor education, even his experience at Mazda. I do however question placing the fate of the entire Ford Motor Empire in the hands of just 50 people to decide the 'Way Forward Plan', its parameters and end-results dependent upon so narrow a view. These are not Earnest Breech's Wiz Kids, and it is not 1945. Ford is in no where near as much harm as it was in 1945, but the parallels can be drawn. It is the current management that has brought Ford down from its traditional market-share in America to the Nadir now facing the company. And that this public voice speaks, if for nothing else, to speak for the generations of my family that have worked 'Over to Fords', and the pathos of my Grandfather who worked for Mr. Leland. I have no more greater right than anyone else to venture forth with ideas. But Mr. Fields should not, like Mr. Ford fall prey to believing that his own point of view is 'correct' only because they thought of it. Due consideration of options, plans, points of view are necessary in any great company to successfully proceed. Once adopted, to proceed at will. But I do not see that happening, with errant closures, delays, no ameliaration nor consideration for a longstanding loyal workforce in the best of factories. I speak from my own opinion, but also kindred spirits of many who wish a speedy revival of Lincoln and Continental.
More than just the fate of a marque, or product is at stake. Make no doubt about that. It is about doing the best, building, designing, putting forth the best efforts to raise the bar, and to make something with which the hands that created it can point with pride. (It is not for nothing that a stained glass window the former Rolls-Royce Crewe factory is dedicated to the RAF Pilots in the Battle of Britain inscribed: "They turned the work of our hands into the salvation of our nation.") Without which, this world will be a lessor place, homoginized, with little or no individuality or spirit to speak for what we have done. Who would want to be a designer, or engineer knowing that the best can never be done because it is not economically feasible? Why bother then? This is my challenge to you, Mr. Fields.
Yes, MR. Fields, you have less now than a year left to make amends, and leave your own marque, or rather: 'Mark'.
DouglasR