2012 Lincoln Innovator Hybrid Crossover Sedan
C H O P — Lincoln luxury in its smallest production package yet, the Innovator Hybrid. Seating for four with Nappa Leather Recaro bucket seats in all positions, this crossover sedan may be short in length, but it's long on luxury and stretch out seating room due to its tall body. The interior is private and open at the same time, combining the raised seating position of an SUV and the glass roof of a concept vehicle. Fitted luggage would be standard in this Lincoln, emphasizing the sedan nature of this hatchback style, rather than having any wagon pretense. This is a luxury car, not a sport utility vehicle of any sort, hatch or not. Speaking of the back hatch, it would be split. The glass would glide up and over the roof electrically, as the bottom portion powered down and into the body if needed, moving under the luggage floor several inches to make loading/unloading as easy as possible. The tailgate wouldn't disappear entirely, like GM's full sized wagons of the '70s, but could embed itself enough to get out of the way, or could remain horizontal outside of the car for tailgating.
Although I've used Lincoln's now-trademark split grille, I've softened it a bit by making the central divider argent instead of body-colored. I've also raised the hood a bit, adding a harder contour instead of its more sloping hood. This made room for L-I-N-C-O-L-N to be spelled out clearly above the grille, a la Range Rover, in a bid to clearly announce Lincoln's arrival on the true luxury scene.
The body sides are clean and sheer, with just a slight depression highlighting the Lincoln name. The classic Lincoln star logo is proudly positioned on the C pillar, its historical placement on many classic and elegant Lincolns of the past.
Motivation is provided by FoMoCo's latest EcoBoost direct-injected four cylinder engine with hybrid assist at all four wheels for fully electronic all wheel drive. Pure electric drive is possible up to 65 mph with a range of 120 miles before the gas engine is needed and 0-60 is accomplished in less than 7 seconds. Mileage is rated 55 city/48 highway.
Base photo was of the new Kia Sportage, one of my favorite new designs, and one of Peter Schreyer's best cars, in my humble opinion.
Bonus Chop:
This is another of my chops using the new Kia Sportage as the base photo. This is my Mercury Villager crossover, but now that Mercury is no more, I've given the platform to Lincoln, lol.
Thanks for stopping by Casey. I love giving and getting little Holiday Sweet Treats, as mentioned before, just getting together with family and friends is the best celebration.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and I went to see "Waiting for Superman" a film by Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children's Zone on the status of education in America. It made me weep, children throughout the country hoping their name is drawn in a lottery to get in to a quality school. It is just so sad.
That movie just played in my town, but I didn't get to it. I'd heard it was a bit of a downer, serious, but not an uplifting movie. The state of education in the US is a mess and all our politicians do is argue their party's line and try to raise money instead of ever really doing anything.
ReplyDeleteI love this chop and especially the name that you christened it with. One can only wish that Lincoln will return to naming their vehicles with name's that are recognizable. Enough of the alphanumeric mumbo jumbo - I can't remember which is which myself, and I'm a loyal Lincoln fan. How can anyone else ?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I really like this little Lincoln too. I hadn't chopped in a while. I had "real" work to do, but it's Saturday night and this was my fun, lol.
ReplyDeleteOh Casey, your the best!!!
ReplyDeleteThere is always a little bit of humor I find your in your ideas. lol
This Lincoln is great. A small, really luxurious vehicle has got to have a market. I think this would be a good companion to the MKX (formerly Aviator) which I think is looking better after its recent facelift.
ReplyDeleteI think Lincoln had some good names -- I notice they are still calling the Navigator by a name -- I don't see why anyone thought this alphanumeric (in their case and Cadillac's just Alpha!) thing was a good idea. Work on new models not shared with Ford and give them decent names -- there are a lot of them in Lincoln's history.
Paul, NYC
GOOD NIGHT PAL GOOD NIGHT
ReplyDeleteGRANNY
Thanks Paul. I really like the MKX now after the facelift too. It's much more striking and elegant. That original grille SHOULD have worked, but it never did. I totally agree about the names! Hemming Classics this month has a great '38 Zephyr coupe, a preservation beauty. It's just phenomenal looking. That name deserves to be used on the proper car now.
ReplyDeleteZephyr was the perfect name for the MKZ. It was a smaller, lighter Lincoln, just as the original Zephyrs were in 1936. Continental, Cosmopolitan, Premiere, Capri, Mark __, Navigator, Aviator, Versailles. They could even take over some Mercury names like Mountaineer, Mariner, Marquis (ditch the Grand), etc. What's in a name?
ReplyDeletePaul, NYC
I agree with you 100% Paul !
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that someone from Lincoln reads this blog and takes it to heart. Lincoln is supposed to add up to a half dozen new models in the next several years - can you imagine them all being MK whatevers ? What a nightmare in the making !
This weekend I came across an article and photo of the car that's supposed to replace the Town Car. While I can understand that they can make the interior very luxurious, it sure didn't scream "luxury car" to me!
ReplyDeleteKatie
PS You guys are killing me. Now I'm looking at all these different cars! LOL
Since Ford used to own Range Rover, and since the Ford Flex is so heavily influenced by R-R, could you render a new full-sized Navigator based on the Ranage Rover?
ReplyDeletethat's not a bad idea at all. I'll add it to my list! in the meantime, I'll post a Mercury Mountaineer I made earlier this year. It was based on a Nissan Patrol/Infiniti QX56, but came out looking very much like a Range Rover competitor.
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