1978 Lincoln Continental Mark 5 on 2040-cars

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2019 Lincoln Continental will cost as much as $5,000 more

Rumors have been swirling for months about the fate of the slow-selling Lincoln Continental amid Ford's larger plans to pare cars from its lineup in favor of trucks and SUVs. But now comes word of official order guides that show the 2019 Continental priced as much as $4,925 more than the previous year's model. That price bump brings more perks for buyers, however. According to CarsDirect, all models will get adaptive cruise control and the Lincoln Co-Pilot360 suite of safety technology, which includes automatic emergency braking, blind-spot information system and rearview camera. The base level Continental Premiere will start at $47,140, including destination fee, which is $985 more than the 2018 model. The Reserve model is where the starting price jumps $4,925 to $60,705. It adds technology like a 360-degree camera, heads-up display and park assist, plus heated rear seats and steering wheel and windshield wiper de-icer. The top-of-the-line Black Label edition starts at $71,040, an increase of $4,630, and adds 30-way adjustable seats. Those prices are considerably cheaper than comparably equipped competitors like the Audi A8 or BMW 7 Series, of course, but that value proposition hasn't so far managed to help the sedan's fortunes. Lincoln sold 12,012 models of the Continental in 2017, according to CarSalesBase.com. Sales through August were 5,677, which is more than 29 percent off the pace at this same point last year. Lincoln revived the storied Continental nameplate back in 2015 to much fanfare, but its market release in 2016 was a victim of bad timing, coming amid a rising tide of crossovers. Earlier this year Lincoln reportedly showed dealers photos of a Continental with rear-hinged suicide doors that it said it planned to manufacture, which may be an attempt to drum up interest. Jalopnik, citing unnamed sources familiar with Ford's product plans, says the Continental is likely to be killed off at the end of the run of the current model in 2020. That aligns with what a user on the Blue Oval Forums is saying, that shift changes at the Flat Rock Assembly plant near Detroit are coming and that workers have been told the Continental can be phased out of production by next summer. One supposed possibility is Ford moving production to China, though any plans to import sedans to the U.S. from there would seemingly be negated by the same Trump administration tariffs that killed plans to import the Ford Focus Active. Related Video:

Autoblog Podcast #384

Episode #384 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing and Chris Paukert talk about rumors that the Subaru WRX Concept styling may influence the next production model, the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and Chris' time with the 2015 Lincoln MKC. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #384: Topics: Long-term 2015 Subaru WRX introduction Subaru WRX Concept styling may see production 2015 Lincoln MKC 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 In the Autoblog Garage: 2014 Mercedes-Benz E550 Cabriolet 2014 Volkswagen Jetta SEL 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Hosts: Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, Chris Paukert Runtime: 01:34:21 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Long-term WRX intro - 27:20 WRX Concept - 37:10 Lincoln MKC - 47:49 Corvette Z06 - 01:07:18 Q&A - 01:16:18 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Podcasts Rumormill Chevrolet Lincoln Mercedes-Benz Subaru subaru wrx concept

2019 Lincoln Nautilus First Drive Review | A refresh that's more than skin deep

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Its name is new, but the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus is really a rebranded, restyled and updated version of the second-generation Lincoln MKX, which has been on sale since 2016. Renaming your bestselling vehicle is risky, but Lincoln has been struggling, and it feels the names of its vehicles are partly to blame. Recall that since 2007, Ford's luxury brand has used letters to name some models, including MKZ and MKX, and traditional names on others like Navigator and Continental. Well, now it's ditching the letters and renaming those vehicles. The MKX is now the Nautilus. The smaller MKC is rumored to become the Corsair, which was a name used by Edsel back in the 1950s. The seven-passenger Aviator will go on sale in 2019, and the MKZ's new name is anybody's guess. Zephyr again, maybe? NordicTrack is already taken. Lincoln has also been rolling out a new grille design, which debuted on the Continental in 2017 and replaces the unloved winged look that was supposed to remind luxury buyers of the elegance of the 1939 Lincoln Continental — but didn't. Fitting the new grille to the 2019 Nautilus completes that rollout, and the five-passenger SUV is certainly more handsome than before. Its mesh is a repetition of the Lincoln Star logo, and it works. The SUV's front fascia, headlamps and hood are new as well, and the hood has grown a sizable and attractive center peak. Underneath that hood is a new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with direct injection. It's the same engine used in the smaller MKC and the Ford Edge, which shares the Nautilus' chassis, but Lincoln doesn't use the name EcoBoost for this and its other powerplants. The 2.0-liter replaces the naturally aspirated 3.7-liter V6 as the standard engine, and it's rated 250 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 280 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm on 93 octane fuel. Those numbers are down from the V6, which was rated 303 hp at 6,500 rpm and 278 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. But Lincoln has also replaced the antiquated six-speed automatic transmission with an eight-speed, so overall performance is comparable, and city fuel economy is up significantly. With the V6 and front-wheel drive, the MKX was rated 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. The new combination has a 21 mpg city rating. The considerably more powerful twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6 remains optional, rated 335 hp at 5500 rpm and 380 lb-ft of torque at 3250 rpm.