1985 Lincoln Mark Vii Lsc Sedan 2-door 5.0l on 2040-cars

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Tesla offered nuclear plant in France, and more | Autoblog Minute

Longtime GM design chief Ed Welburn retires, Lincoln says it has high customer interest in Continental, and could Tesla build the Model 3 in France? Senior Editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] General Motors' long time Vice President of design, Ed Welburn, announced his retirement this week. He joined GM in 1972 and he's just the sixth design chief in GM's 108 years. He's being replaced by Michael Simcoe who is Vice President of design for GM's international operations. Now Ed Welburn's time at GM dates back to when he was 11 years old. He wrote a letter to the company saying he wanted to be a designer. [00:00:30] Someone at General Motors got back to him and the rest is history. Lincoln already has 40,000 hand raisers for the new Continental. Now those aren't Tesla figures but it's still a very healthy number and shows a lot of interest for its new flagship sedan. The Continental will replace the MKS in Lincoln's lineup. Continental will be in showrooms this fall and it will offer a 3.0L V6 twin-turbo with 400 HP. Lincoln President Kumar Galhotra said, "No other Lincoln vehicle has [00:01:00] generated this much interest in this little time." This week in Tesla news, Reuters reports that a French government official has offered Elon Musk the site of a an old nuclear reactor to build a car factory. The reactor, which is located in the Alsace region of France, is set to close at the end of this year. Now this notion is not that far fetched. Musk says that he would consider it. Meanwhile demand for the Model 3 continues to be strong and has attracted hundreds of thousands of hand raisers. [00:01:30] Those are the highlights form the week that was. Be sure to come back this Saturday for my full recap where I'll have additional insights into the automotive industry. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. Lincoln Tesla Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video

Lexus ES 350 vs. Lincoln MKZ

Despite a lineup of well-received crossovers on the Lexus showroom, the midsize Lexus ES 350 four-door continues to appeal to consumers. Many of those customers are older, so you won't see marketing budgets directed toward them; no one, other than the pharmaceutical companies, is spending money marketing to baby boomers. But a midsize, moderately expressive sedan with an easy buying experience and almost coddled ownership still has its fans, and the Lexus ES 350 delivers those attributes in spades. We'd like to say Lincoln's MKZ (pictured above) is hot on the Lexus' heels, but Lincoln's lineup remains a work in progress. The Fusion-based MKZ offers a nice mix of attributes, but Lincoln's dealer count has shrunk, and many Lincoln outlets are located within – or immediately adjacent to – Ford stores. If a Fusion-based Lincoln credibly aspires to Lexus-like attributes, the same won't be said for the Ford showrooms. Here are the offerings: The Lexus ES 350 team has, over the sedan's several variations, worked hard to separate the volume Lexus from Toyota's similar Camry, and in 2017 that separation might actually be quantifiable. To its credit, the ES 350 (pictured at left) comes with but one non-hybrid drivetrain, a 3.5 liter V6 connected to a six-speed automatic driving the front wheels. With it, the ES 350 delivers a motoring experience bordering on the sublime. With the exception of its now-predictable big mouth grille, the balance of the ES sheetmetal is responsibly muted, inoffensive to the eye and should wear well through the typical payment cycle. Access to its moderately upscale interior is easy, and once inside you'll find expansive room (some 100 cubic feet) for four, along with adequate space for the occasional fifth. With a curb weight of just 3,600 pounds, the V6's 268 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque is responsive, and that's evident in the four-door's 7-second sprint to 60. This isn't a track day or autocross weapon, but if part of your day is a stressful commute, this will make it less so. With a base – albeit well appointed – spec, the ES 350 retails for just under $40,000. We would order ours in Atomic Silver, even if "atomic" seems so last-century. If you can forget – for a minute – the Matthew McConaughey connection, know that Lincoln's MKZ is fully credible as a midsize, mid-fashion sedan. If you like your Fords with more expressive interiors and additional driving refinement, there's a lot to like in Lincoln's MKZ.

2017 Lincoln Continental reimagined as a coupe

If nothing else, the production version of the Lincoln Continental has provided ample water-cooler fodder around the office. There are a few camps: the "it took guts to build it" folks giving credit where due on a handsome design with an ambitious interior, and the "MKZ misstep" group haranguing the Motor Company for blowing fancy new styling cues on a lesser beast. And yet, unifying forces exist. We can all agree that these artist renders depicting a Continental sans a pair of doors present a captivating notion. Back in 1939, the original Continental was a two-door. Over time, four doors of various types, including convertibles, infiltrated the lineup. The last time the Continental was on sale, it was a four-door front-driver based on the platform shared with the Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus. Even though the new production Continental, like that penultimate one, is based on a front-drive platform, the execution is much different. As you probably already know, it features a so-far unique 400-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 and an advanced torque-vectoring AWD system, standard. Some neat concept car touches, like the fancy door handles and patented 30-way adjustable seats, made it in. What a two-door would bring to the table is mainly stylistic, emphasizing the long parallel character line in the door with brightwork running under the window that's echoed in the lower door sculpting and chrome strip. It accentuates the car's length, and calls attention to the trim taillights and their interconnecting bar element. A longer door makes for a more elegant transition into the C-pillar. It makes the production Continental, with its blacked-out but still obviously chunky B-pillar, look fussy. We don't expect Lincoln to build a coupe – that may be too wild for a company that doesn't seem completely comfortable with the notion of reinvention – but these renders were just too good not to share. Let us know what you think in the comments below. Related Video: