Lincoln is back as a major player in a game it never should’ve left in the first place.
For years, the Lincoln Continental was the benchmark for classic American luxury cars — the choice for limousine fleets across the country. It was the chauffeur’s constant companion and ran back and forth from hotels to airports with all manner of big shots riding comfortably in the back seat. Then, in 2006, Lincoln shocked the automotive world by announcing it would discontinue the Continental.
It seemed the problem with making a car that fleet buyers love is said fleet buyers tend to keep the vehicles they’ve already bought in service until they drop. S0 – and here’s a scoop — when buyers don’t buy new cars, sales dip. When it became clear the continental wasn’t selling as well anymore, Lincoln moved to retire it.
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But, like popular characters in sci-fi movies and comic books, cars don’t have to stay dead. Lincoln picked NAIAS 2016 to announce the return of the iconic Continental. Along the way, they’ve built in many flares from the concept car Lincoln show off at last year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The 2017 Continental foregoes some of the boxiness of past generations in favor of a lower, smoother and more sporty. But, this isn’t intended as a sports car by any stretch of automotive imagination.
Thanks to a a 3.0 liter twin-turbo V6 engine, Lincoln reports the Continental will manage a full 400 horsepower with a choice of front-wheel or all-wheel-drive versions. The car puts that engine to work in three driving modes: Comfort, Normal and Sport. I doubt that “Sport” mode is going to be used very often. A Continental is about cruising in comfort — not at speed.
Final trim levels, pricing and official sales date are still inbound from Lincoln, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be in showrooms no later than summer of this year.
