2008 Lincoln Navigator Limited Editon 4x4 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lincoln teases a new Continental with suicide doors

Lincoln posted a photograph of its Continental from the 1960s on its social media channels today with a cryptic message to go along with it. Here's the post below: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The last line, "#TBT ... or is it?" sounds like Ford's luxury arm is trying to tell us something about what's to come for its current Continental. If we use Lincoln's post as an opportunity to speculate, one might presume that a Continental with suicide doors is coming our way soon. Beyond planting the idea in our heads, Lincoln doesn't appear to have anything else to say for the time being. Right now, the only car you can buy with suicide doors is a Rolls-Royce, most recently in Wraith form. If Lincoln decides to offer suicide doors again, you can bet the car is going to get some attention. The question would be if a special car like this could draw any of that attention away from Lincoln's SUVs such as the Navigator and new Aviator. We've seen reports that the Continental would not be moving on past this generation, so maybe Lincoln is trying to get as much play out of this car as possible. A more recent report calls it dead after the 2020 model year, meaning that if we do see a suicide-door Continental, it wouldn't be in this world for very long. Lincoln says to "stay tuned" at the end of its post caption, so watch out for Continental news dropping in the near future. We can all hope it's going to be good news ... View 20 Photos Related video:

2019 Lincoln Nautilus replaces MKX crossover as new naming system takes hold

Goodbye, Lincoln MKX, hello Nautilus. And while you're at it, you can start saying goodbye to Lincoln's arcane alphanumeric nomenclature altogether. Lincoln unveiled the 2019 Nautilus midsize crossover in Los Angeles, taking the wraps (literally) off a ceramic gray version that had been hoisted to the rooftop penthouse of the Dream Hollywood hotel via crane ahead of its formal introduction Wednesday at the L.A. Auto Show. Latin for "sailor," the Nautilus joins the Continental and Navigator to establish a travel theme in the luxury brand's lineup. Robert Parker, global director of marketing, sales and service for Lincoln, said the significant changes made to the midsize SUV made this the right time to switch to a more traditional model name. "We'll do it with other products in the future, we're gonna do it one at a time," he said, without committing to a timetable. The company said nothing about renaming the recently refreshed 2019 MKC compact crossover, for example, nor the MKZ midsize sedan. Parker said the letter-based nomenclature was particularly challenging for customers in China, which has emerged as a key market in Lincoln's third year selling vehicles there. "There's an old adage that the name doesn't make the car, the car makes the name. So there's a degree of that that's played into this," Parker said. "This kind of connection that consumers have, especially with American brands and names, we felt like, is something that Lincoln could own, it's something we've owned in the past, and bringing those two back together, it does make it a bit more effortless for customers." The Nautilus gets its siblings' new signature grille and sidebody badging, welcome lighting from the undercarriage and cabin, and a choice of five new wheel options (out of six total) and three premium Black Label interior trim themes and other perks. It boasts an all-new front end, with everything redesigned from the A-pillar forward, plus a suite of driver-assist technologies like a lane-centering feature that pairs with adaptive cruise control; evasive steering assistance, which uses radar and cameras to lower the risk of rear-end collisions and can help the driver steer around the vehicle if needed; pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection; and active park assist. Inside, there's dark-stained wood trim on the console and minimal controls, with Lincoln opting to keep the cabin spacious, quiet and uncluttered. The rear seats offer best-in-class head and legroom.

Lincoln previews the blingier Navigator it will launch for 2022

Lincoln's current-generation Navigator will receive a mid-cycle update for the 2022 model year to fend off a growing list of rivals. The company published a short video on social media to preview some of the changes it has made. Up front, the refreshed Navigator features new-look headlights with LED accents and a subtly revised grille fitted with what looks like a backlit Lincoln emblem. There's also a new piece of trim labeled "The Lincoln Motor Company," which is the carmaker's official name. All told, the changes made to the front end look relatively minor. We're guessing that the rear fascia will be similarly nip-and-tucked, but it doesn't appear in Lincoln's 18-second video and it was completely camouflaged in the last batch of photos we received from our spies. However, we've seen enough of it to tell that the massive light bar will be either significantly trimmed down or removed altogether. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Technology updates will likely round out the changes made for 2022. It's too early to tell if Lincoln will mix things up under the hood. As of writing, the Navigator's only available engine is a twin-turbocharged, 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 rated at 450 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. Its most direct rival is the recently-redesigned Cadillac Escalade, which eschewed downsizing and still offers a V8, and it now needs to worry about the new Jeep Grand Wagoneer, which is V8-only. Could Lincoln surprise us by giving the big Navigator its V8 engine back? Lincoln will unveil the 2022 Navigator next Wednesday, August 18, and sales will start in the following weeks. Unsurprisingly, the Ford Expedition that the Navigator is related to will also enter 2022 after undergoing a series of changes. Visual tweaks will help the new model stand out from its predecessor, and spy shots suggest at least two new variants will join the range. One is a performance-oriented ST-badged model, and the other is an outdoorsy Timberline trim.