The Legend Returns

Lincoln’s Continental Seeks to Prove itself Worthy of its Storied Nameplate

- Christian Seabaugh

With the 2017 Continental, Lincoln is taking luxury seriously again.

At the Ford Motor Company, three legendary nameplates are treated with a hallowed reverence and respect: Ford F-150, Ford Mustang, and Lincoln Continental. The two Fords have been carrying the Blue Oval banner continuously since 1948 and 1965, respectively. But the Lincoln has seen better days, going from a mid-century modern luxury icon in the swinging ’60s to a mistreated rental-lot special by the time it went out of production in 2002. Lincoln went cold turkey on Continental—and on any true flagship—for the subsequent 15 years. With the new 2017 Continental, though, Lincoln is taking the luxury game seriously once again.

Truth is, Lincolns have been passionless for nearly a half-century—lazy in styling and execution, little more than gussied-up Fords. By all accounts the same story could have repeated itself with the new Continental. Numerous engineers said that when work began on what would become the new Continental, most thought they were building the second-gen MKS. Cautious conservatism reigned. As an indirect result, no one was happy with the initial product plan. Early concepts performed poorly in focus groups, both internally and with prospective buyers. Then one Friday afternoon, Jim Farley, the then-head of Lincoln, gathered the team and laid down the law: “Guys, you’re making the next Lincoln Continental here!” With a renewed sense of purpose and full backing from the executive suite, the 10th-generation Continental team got back to work.