Lincoln C
The interesting, surprising, thoroughly Lust-worthy little fellow shown at right held pride of place in the Ford section of the Cleveland Auto Show. It's about as long as a Focus, or my GTI, and a bit wider, wide enough to seat three across without too much squeezing. It has a four-cylinder turbocharged direct-injected engine which produces an "estimated" 180 HP (according to a Ford press release) mated to a dual-clutch gearbox similar to Volkswagen's DSG. That combination would be enough for some serious straight-line zip in a car this size. The fat tires on the 20" wheels promise equivalent cornering.
Oh, and the surprising part?
It's a Lincoln.
For those of us who grew up in the 1970s, when "Lincoln" meant "immense, vinyl-roofed, opera-windowed wallowing large-barge Detroit battleship sedan for members of the 101 Strings Fan Club," the idea of a small, light Lincoln with a performance envelope in hot-hatch territory is a little hard to get your mind wrapped around. Still, there it was on the turntable, and it looked as cool and futuristic as a car-show concept should look.
The Lincoln C's suicide center-opening doors are a deliberate callback to the legendary '61 Continental.
The interior has contoured bench seats with discreet detailing laser-etched into the white leather.
They look like something out of Star Trek or the Ikea catalog, and are said by those who have sat in them to be quite comfortable. On the other hand, there's a lack of lateral support bolsters that could prove problematic during a speed run down the twisties.
The gray trim, which is said to be recycled driftwood, looks very sharp against the white interior. The lack of armrests on the doors might be an issue, though.
The no-center steering wheel and the Bride of the Andromeda Strain electronic instrument panel with on-board wireless Internet in the passenger seat (see Ford's demonstration video here, starring "Eva from Uncanny Valley" as the voice of the computer) have that nice twenty-minutes-into-the-future look, but the ergonomics may be a bit much. The Lincoln-star-shaped glass roof panel looks neat, but would require a funny-shaped roof stamping and perhaps a fair bit more welding than the normal production car. A lot of these "features" are the sort of nifty show-car details that rarely make it into production.
The brakes looked intriguing, too.
It's not a disc, it's a ring, and the brake calipers seem to be on the inside of the ring. Cross-drilled, no less. The official Ford pitch-man did not know anything about them--wasn't in the PR script, I guess--but they seem like the sort of geeky little hidden engineering improvement that could turn out to be very important someday.
There's a lot to like about the Lincoln C, providing it lives up to its promised performance. The reports from the professional automotive press (for example, 1, 2, 3) seem to indicate that Ford is seriously exploring putting something like the C concept into production. Build one with front buckets and a proper stick shift, and you could get me hooked.
The action shot at the top of the article, and the photo at right, are official Ford press release photos. The others were taken by your humble narrator at the Cleveland Auto Show.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Scott on March 02, 2009 at 11:11 AM
It's a "wide small car", as the AMC Pacer was billed. But Lincoln did well at stretching the width without making the car look odd.
That Car Guy on March 02, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Cookie, I didn't know you had a GTI! I drove one last weekend as well as a C30, and I'm looking forward to the Mk6 since it's already out in Europe.
Remember when I read your mind a while back? Well, I've done it again. I'm finishing a post on "Suicide", er... "Coach", er... "Rear-hinged", er... "Freestyle", er... "Center-opening Doors" LOL.
I can't wait to see a fun Lincoln on the road!
Shawn on March 02, 2009 at 04:06 PM
I saw this Lincoln at the local auto show myself last month. I couldn't wrap my head around what they're trying to do with it. It had no cargo usefulness to speak of as the rear end stops right behind the seats. Is this supposed to be luring away Scion buyers with a little more change in their pockets?
Smoke_Jaguar4 on March 02, 2009 at 08:39 PM
The brakes are very interesting but what exactly are they connected to? Regular disks connect with the hub. With no internal support, could the ring be directly bolted to the wheel? That would make for interesting tire changes (unless this car has the dreaded runflats)
Jared on March 03, 2009 at 08:44 AM
It's growing on me. I thought it was butt-ugly heck-no, A Lincoln? What? But now, I can see it a little more. You have to admit the shape is a little ungainly, but it could be acceptable. I am still not sure about it being a Lincoln.
The brakes look similar to ones on motorcycles, but if the caliper is on the inside, hm.... http://swancomposites.com/images/wheel.jpg
Either way, Ford will ruin it by giving it a normal interior, normal brakes, and most of them that you see will have 15" rims. Makes me shudder just to think about it.
ERIC D on March 03, 2009 at 12:10 PM
The first picture kinda looked like a 2 door pick up and i got excited for a second haha. i wonder what the rear looks like . . .
meccano on March 03, 2009 at 01:49 PM
From the front - Aggressive. I like it.
From the sides - Suicide doors are a nice touch.
Interior - Hmm, maybe. Some interesting ideas. Might grow on me.
From the rear - Well that is funny. There are no pictures of the car from the rear. I'll just click here and find some more pictu....OMG, I need eye bleach!
salguod on March 04, 2009 at 07:56 PM
Saw this at Detroit, interesting. Dad thought it was wrong, Lincolns shouldn't be small.
The suicide doors are common on show cars, stylists like them because they give a great view of the interior.
Ronnie Schreiber on March 04, 2009 at 10:15 PM
The C looks great from every angle except the rear, which is just plain load in the pants funny looking.
As for the brakes, rim brakes are found in some high performance and racing motorcycles. I think the advantage is a greater swept area and maybe better cooling.