Quickly name a few luxury large sedans on the market and ask yourselves this; out of the established BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar offerings, did you recollect an American luxury automaker?

Surely, Cadillac must have come to mind, however did the Lincoln Motor Company provoke any thoughts?

Unfortunately, instinct tells me Lincoln still sits at the backbenches of many car enthusiasts’ dream garage. So, how does the blue-oval’s luxury division recapture that former magic? Well, previously, I introduced a Lincoln coupe proposal, and now time has come for a rendered hypothesis in rear-wheel-drive ‘Continental’ format.

This study goes back to the future and delves into the past; firstly great inspiration has been taken from the Lincoln Continental of 1960’s vintage, with its clean bodywork and simple silhouette. Secondly, I’ve revisited the MKR Concept for those modern proportions and organic styling features. 
In doing this, the best visual aspects have been massaged together to exude presence; large four-door luxury sedans should scream ‘hey, look at me!’ towards any admiring bystander. Such vast sheet-metal acreage is beneficial in creating standout elements that would otherwise get lost on a smaller vehicle.

One design trick is a shoulder-line chrome strip that runs horizontally over the vehicle; emphasizing length, it also connects the viewer’s eye from front to rear whilst helping to segment the visual bulk. Gone is that split-wing grille from the current crop of Lincolns, replaced by an electric shaver-inspired inlay with chrome vertical bars.

Keen viewers will notice the position of the door handles; yes, that’s right folks – it has suicide doors! This and the chrome windscreen surround add a sense of theatre, perhaps with a hint of Rolls Royce?

Interior-wise, improving over the current Lincoln MKS wouldn’t be a hard task; while that car is nice, a huge dose of swathe elegance is needed to mimic the Continental’s opulent exterior. The MKC Concept cabin would be a great place to start and build upon with more premium design detailing, materials, features and occupant comfort.

Ideally, under the hood would lay something special like a V10, however if such a proposal came to fruition it would likely stick with Ford’s top-tier V6 engines from the Ecoboost family, the S550 Mustang’s 5.0-liter V8 or better yet, an EcoBoost V8.

Channeling power to the rear wheels could come via a 9-speed auto with paddle shifters for a more engaging driving experience, whilst dynamic damping would take care of the ride and handling equation.

Competition in this segment is stiff; tech-laden entrants like the BMW 7-Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8, Lexus LS and Jaguar XJ are considered the hierarchy to beat. However, apart from the Jaguar and Maserati Quattroporte, all of them seem, well a little bland.

Cadillac has made inroads with their ‘Art and Science’ design ethos (we’ll see where that takes us with their upcoming CT6 flagship), so there should be no reason why Lincoln can’t provide an visual knockout against the status quo.

Ultimately, while this is just my interpretation of a Lincoln luxury sedan, we’d love to know your thoughts on where the blue-oval division should head design-wise in the comments area below.

By Josh Byrnes

Photo Renderings Copyright Carscoops / Josh Byrnes

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