Friday, September 3, 2010

Facelift Time for the MKS?

I find the new Lincoln MKS a strange bird. In photos, it seems exceedingly dumpy. In person, it has a much more elegant stance and look to it. From some angles, anyway... 

For this chop, I lowered the body on the suspension, the production version being almost tippy-toed looking to me. I also slammed the roof down a couple of inches so the car would look more planted. Lower cars look longer as well, the old Harley Earl mantra. I changed the C pillar, giving it more 'lean' and added a vertical pane of glass in it, my latest 'signature' look for Lincoln sedans, a la the '80s and '90s Town Cars. I also changed the shape of the taillights slightly, making the backup lights horizontal instead of vertical, and rounding the top edges of the main taillight lens. Quad pipes and an extension of the bright rocker panel trim to the rear quarters round out my changes. Of course, I've always thought the MKS looked quite a bit like the Scion tC coupe from the back, and my chop doesn't really address that concern, lol. I think I can see a bit of the mid '80s Topaz in the car now, again, not an awesome look to reprise. It's a facelift, OK, but for the next one, I'll probably totally redesign it!

Oh yeah, I gave it suicide doors which EVERY modern Lincoln ought to have. They could be electrically opened and closed to  quell any fears of them popping open at speed, the reason they were given the 'suicide' appellation in the first place. The street drama of watching them open and close would be great PR for Lincoln now that Mercury is gone and Lincoln really needs to step up its visibility and street cred.

6 comments:

  1. Good morning Casey, it's my Friday Off to Save the World Day, but before I go you got me to thinking...If I changed my C piller, would it give me more lean????

    Enjoy the day - I'm off with a smile.

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  2. Casey,

    You are really on a roll with these recent Lincolns. This one makes the MKS (oh, that name!) quite palatable. To me, the real one has the same problem that the new Cadillac SRX has -- there's too much body for the wheelbase. The rear end of this still doesn't say Lincoln to me although it's certainly better than the production model. I have to say I fear for Lincoln. As we discussed previously, the upcoming product plans don't inspire a lot of confidence that Ford has a clear picture of what Lincoln should be. The small 49-51s Lincolns and the 52-55 were aimed at the Buicks, Chryslers and Olds 98s. But there are no cars like that anymore! So what is Lincoln's target market -- where is their V8 engine?? There are many Lincolns of the past that I love but I just don't see where they are going right now.

    Paul, NYC

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  3. Annie: consider your C pillar leaned! : )

    Paul: This was a quick chop last night, in between other stuff I was working on, maybe 2 hours max, and when I was done, I realized that I hadn't really changed the back of the car, which is NOT Lincoln at all, lol. But don't worry, I'll be doing more Lincolns, and I'll address that issue at some point! I don't know if anyone will develop a V8 anymore, not mainstreamers, but I wouldn't mind if LIncoln was given and EcoBoost V6 that Ford didn't use somewhere else. If they could give LIncoln an Extra 100hp or something else 'special' it would go a long way to making LIncoln seem more bespoke.

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  4. GOOD MORNING CASEY, ANNIE AND PAUL.
    SAVE THE WORLD, CHOP CARS. PAUL AND I ARE GOING FOR COFFEE AND A DANISH.

    GRANNY

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  5. I think that Lincoln should grab the Mustang's Coyote V8 and build a proper Lincoln around it.

    I saw at another car blog that the Coyote already has the bits for direct injection just waiting. With that in place, it should make over 450 HP. That would do nicely.

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  6. Casey, I have to agree with Paul.
    The rear styling of this car is without a doubt it's weakest point, it doesn't say Lincoln to me either. More Jaguar XJ. Which usually would have been a good thing, but I'm no fan of that redesign either. Not that it's your fault, you can only use what they give you. Love the suicide doors. I think the complete redesign should be moved up to this model year.

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